Congress is best viewed from a distance - the farther the better - because up close, it is truly ugly.

One of my favorite little sayings is, 'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.

Power... Military success is not sufficient to win: economic development, institution-building and the rule of law, promoting internal reconciliation, good governance, providing basic services to the people, training and equipping indigenous military and police forces, strategic communications, and more of these, along with security, are essential ingredients for long-term success.

I had no difficulty as Secretary of Defense moving from the Bush administration to the Obama administration.

A wild and crazy weekend involves sitting on the front porch, smoking a cigar, reading a book.

Congress is best viewed from a distance—the farther the better—because up close, it is truly ugly. I saw most of Congress as uncivil, incompetent at fulfilling their basic constitutional responsibilities (such as timely appropriations), micromanagerial, parochial, hypocritical, egotistical, thin-skinned and prone to put self (and re-election) before country.

We should never lose sight of the ethos that has made the Marine Corps - where 'every Marine is a rifleman' - one of America's cherished institutions and one of the world's most feared and respected fighting forces