Don't be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it.

The problem is the people who tend to be the best organized are the most radical and the most vicious.

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

Make decisions about the President's personal security. He can overrule you, but don't ask him to be the one to counsel caution.

We never believed that we'd just tumble over weapons of mass destruction in that country.

When cutting staff at the Pentagon, don't eliminate the thin layer that assures civilian control.

A terrorist can attack any time, any place using any technique and you can't defend everywhere against every technique at every moment.