When asked for your views, by the press or others, remember that what they really want to know is the President's views.

Reduce the layers of management. They put distance between the top of an organization and the customers.

Look for what's missing. Many advisors can tell a President how to improve what's proposed or what's gone amiss. Few are able to see what isn't there.

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.

There's no debate in the world as to whether people have weapons of mass destruction... We all know that. A trained ape knows that.

I am not going to give you a number for it because it's not my business to do intelligent work.

When it comes to reconstruction, before we turn to the American taxpayer, we will turn first to the resources of the Iraqi government and the international community.