What kind of nation we will be, what kind of world we will live in, whether we shape the future in the image of our hopes, is ours to determine by our actions and our choices.

I had never expected that the China initiative would come to fruition in the form of a Ping-Pong team.

The memory of that scene for me is like a frame of film forever frozen at that moment: the red carpet, the green lawn, the white house, the leaden sky. The new president and his first lady.

We, this nation of ours, could be the richest nation in the world. We could be the freest nation in the world - but only if the arts are alive and flourishing can we experience the true meaning of our freedom, and know the full glory of the human spirit.

The presidency has many problems, but boredom is the least of them.

Economic power is not the same as strength of national character. Our country may be rich in goods, but we are poor in spirit.

The important thing is that we maintain plausible deniability.