The notion that I had become a political lightning rod was painful for me to experience.

You have to make change.

The notion that -- which some people are trying to suggest, that by asking for the identity of an American person, that is the same as leaking it, is completely false. There's no equivalence between so-called unmasking and leaking.

We have to know who we are and know what we believe.

I've been very lucky to have had a supportive family, a great education, enormous opportunity and challenge.

What I learned is that policymakers have to force consideration of actions that may not have occurred to them at the time.

I was working with a number of African heads of state. And after their initial surprise, I think many of them just treated me as they would anybody else. They had to deal with me as a representative of the United States of America, and the United States of America was too important to be dismissed or ignored on any grounds.