There were two unpleasant surprises [about Washington]. One was the inertia of Congress, the length of time it takes to get a complicated piece of legislation through ... and the other was the irresponsibility of the press.

Governance should be designed as an equalizer. Democrats are more inclined towards working families and those who are struggling for a better life.

When people are intimidated about having their own opinions, oppression is at hand.

There's no way to have a peace agreement unless the mediator or negotiator looks at both sides from an equal basis.

My opinion of the Russians has changed most drastically in the last week than even (sic) the two-and-a-half years before that. It's only now dawning upon the world the magnitude of the action that the Soviets undertook in invading Afghanistan.

Standing alone among great democratic nations in imposing the death penalty is another moral decision that Americansare being forced to confront.

Rosalynn said, "Jimmy, if we could only get Prime Minister Begin and President Sadat up here on this mountain for a few days, I believe they might consider how they could prevent another war between their countries." That gave me the idea, and a few weeks later, I invited both men to join me for a series of private talks. In September 1978, they both came to Camp David.