There are a lot of people who lie and get away with it, and that's just a fact.

Control your time. If you're working off your in-box, you're working off the priorities of others. Be sure the staff is working on what you move to them from the President, or the President will be reacting, not leading.

Know that the amount of criticism you receive may correlate somewhat to the amount of publicity you receive.

If you are working from your inbox, you are working on other people’s priorities.

The reality is that [Barack] Obama has some 15 countries in the current Libya coalition. President Bush put together close to 50 countries for the Afghan coalition, some 40 countries for the Iraqi coalition, more than 90 countries for the Proliferation Security Initiative and over 90 countries in the Global War on Terror.

Don't automatically obey Presidential directives if you disagree or if you suspect he hasn't considered key aspects of the issue.

No terror state poses a greater or more immediate threat to the security of our people and the stability of the world than the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.