Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned; it was - by a taxpayer.

Leave the President's family business to him. You will have plenty to do without trying to manage the First Family. They are likely to do fine without your help.

If in doubt, don't. If still in doubt, do what's right.

You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.

If I know the answer I'll tell you the answer, and if I don't I'll just respond cleverly.

You will launch many projects, but have time to finish only a few. So think, plan, develop, launch and tap good people to be responsible. Give them authority and hold them accountable. Trying to do too much yourself creates a bottleneck.

If you foul up, tell the President and correct it fast. Delay only compounds mistakes.