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

We'll have to deal with the networks. One of the ways to do that is to drain the swamp they live in. And that means dealing not only with the terrorists, but those who harbor terrorists. This will take a long, sustained effort. It will require the support of the American people as well as our friends and allies around the world.

Politics is human beings; it's addition rather than subtraction.

The price of being close to the President is delivering bad news. You fail him if you don't tell him the truth. Others won't do it.

Strive to make proposed solutions as self-executing as possible. As the degree of discretion increases, so too does bureaucracy, delay, and expense.

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.

When I served as US Ambassador to NATO in the 1970s, the center of gravity in Europe was France and Germany.