Every president when he is elected has to live with the pluses and minuses his predecessor leaves, which includes benefits as well as burdens.

Move decisions out to the Cabinet and agencies. Strengthen them by moving responsibility, authority, and accountability their direction.

Remember where you came from.

If I look at the really important questions in [Middle East] region, I see Iran, where there is a strong desire for a freer society and where people are repressed by a small group of ayatollahs. I see Syria, where we can see a similar desire of the people to be free. These two countries fund Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations and are hurting our efforts in Afghanistan and have been extremely harmful in Iraq. Then I also see large, important countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much.

The most underestimated risk for a politician is overexposure.

Any country on the face of the Earth with an active intelligence program knows that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.