Reduce the number of lawyers. They are like beavers – they get in the middle of the stream and dam it up.
Make decisions about the President’s personal security. He can overrule you, but don’t ask him to be the one to counsel caution.
In politics, every day is filled with numerous opportunities for serious error. Enjoy it.
There are a lot of people who lie and get away with it, and that’s just a fact.
Test ideas in the marketplace. You learn from hearing a range of perspectives. Consultation helps engender the support decisions need to be successfully implemented.
Our task, your task… is to try to connect the dots before something happens. People say, ‘Well, where’s the smoking gun?’ Well, we don’t want to see a smoking gun from a weapon of mass destruction.
Members of the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate are not there by accident. Each managed to get there for some reason. Learn what it was and you will know something important about them, about our country and about the American people.
Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned; it was – by a taxpayer.
If a prospective Presidential approach can’t be explained clearly enough to be understood well, it probably hasn’t been thought through well enough. If not well understood by the American people, it probably won’t “sail” anyway. Send it back for further thought.
Plan backwards as well as forward. Set objectives and trace back to see how to achieve them. You may find that no path can get you there. Plan forward to see where your steps will take you, which may not be clear or intuitive.
With the press there is no ‘off the record’.
Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance.
Don’t speak ill of your predecessors or successors. You didn’t walk in their shoes.
Look for what’s missing. Many advisors can tell a President how to improve what’s proposed or what’s gone amiss. Few are able to see what isn’t there.
Don’t say “the White House wants.” Buildings can’t want.
It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.
If you foul up, tell the President and correct it fast. Delay only compounds mistakes.
Secretary Powell and I agree on every single issue that has ever been before this administration except for those instances where Colin’s still learning.
Many people around the President have sizeable egos before entering government, some with good reason. Their new positions will do little to moderate their egos.
Be yourself. Follow your instincts. Success depends, at least in part, on the ability to carry it off.
Listening to both sides does not necessarily bring about a correct judgment.
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