Act right all the time, because someone's always watching.

We used to say in the black community that if somebody else caught a cold, we caught pneumonia.

We needed someone to recognize the importance of check and balances, accountability, transparency. There was a real systemic problem at South Carolina State, a problem that has gone on for 25 or 30 years

Barack Obama didn't get elected president, would never have been elected president, had he decided to run as a black candidate. In order to reach the broadest number of people you have to speak to their interests as broadly as you can.

People do still cheer for the President. And some of the military audiences are more likely to cheer than others. I have seen him speak lately in front of groups like Freedom House, where the applause was a long time coming.

Even marginal progress could be affected by investigations in Little Rock and in Washington.

I think I'm careful. My goal is to try to stay away as much from opinion journalism as possible.