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.

If there are people who yearn for the days when Saddam Hussein was in power, then I am not among them.

Work continuously to trim the White House staff from your first day to your last. All the pressures are to the contrary.

Oh my goodness gracious, what you can buy off the Internet in terms of overhead photography. A trained ape can know an awful lot of what is going on in this world, just by punching on his mouse, for a relatively modest cost.

Don't say 'the White House wants.' Buildings can't want.

It is worth reminding that being president is a tough job for anybody, and particularly so in the information age. There's such a glut of information. Anything a president says or does is picked up on the Internet or the 24/7 news media and criticized almost instantly. Leaders persuade through their words and as such their words need to be measured and well chosen. It is a tough job.

Don't think of yourself as indispensable or infallible. As Charles De Gaulle said, the cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.