Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance.

It is the photographs that gives one the vivid realization of what actually took place. (On photographs from Abu Ghraib prison.)

No. That's someone else's business. Quagmire is - I don't do quagmires.

In our system leadership is by consent, not command. To lead a President must persuade. Personal contacts and experiences help shape his thinking. They can be critical to his persuasiveness and thus to his leadership.

Keep your sense of humor. As General Joe Stillwell said, 'The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind'.

After the German abstention at the UN, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle commented that Germany doesn't always have to stand on the side of its traditional allies. Berlin can look for new partners all over the world.

If the staff lacks policy guidance against which to test decisions, their decisions will be random.