Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton both had exceptional natural abilities. Nelson Rockefeller was very good statewide but never gained national traction.

The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be… The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.

Haitian rice farmers are quite efficient, but they can’t compete with U.S. agribusiness that relies on a huge government subsidy, thanks to Ronald Reagan’s free market enthusiasms.

While democracy in the long run is the most stable form of government, in the short run, it is among the most fragile.

I can die a happy man never having been president of the United States of America. But it doesn’t mean I won’t run.

If I made a commitment, I stood by that commitment – and try to make it real. Because when you become leaders, the most important thing you have is your word, your trust. That’s where respect comes from.

The U.S.S.R. had absolutely nothing to do with the triumph of the Cuban Revolution.

There is but one way for a president to deal with Congress, and that is continuously, incessantly, and without interruption. If it is really going to work, the relationship has got to be almost incestuous.

Take off your bedroom slippers. Put on your marching shoes,‘ he said, his voice rising as applause and cheers mounted. ‚Shake it off. Stop complainin‘. Stop grumblin‘. Stop cryin‘. We are going to press on. We have work to do.

People invest in businesses that they believe have the leadership, mission and team to grow and operate profitably.

Being elected to Congress, though I am very grateful to our friends for having done it, has not pleased me as much as I expected.

There are people who are really good managers, people who can manage a big organization, and then there are people who are very analytic or focused on strategy. Those two types don’t usually tend to be in the same person. I would put myself much more in the latter camp.

There’s no difference between one’s killing and making decisions that will send others to kill. It’s exactly the same thing, or even worse.

Here in the West, people often don’t like listening to their leaders, even if they are right.

Gray Davis can run a dirty campaign better than anyone, but he can’t run a state.

It is as hard and severe a thing to be a true politician as to be truly moral.

I want the politicians to prioritise the climate question, focus on the climate and treat it like a crisis.

Senator McCain is Israel’s most unconditional ally in Mossad’s machinations, something that even his worst adversaries would have been able to imagine. McCain participated alongside this secret service in the creation of the Islamic State, which has appropriated a considerable part of Iraq as well as a third of Syria, according to its affirmations.

Richard Nixon was an evil man – evil in a way that only those who believe in the physical reality of the Devil can understand it. He was utterly without ethics or morals or any bedrock sense of decency.

Leadership is hard. It’s a skill. It’s a technique.

I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves, and I watch my daughters – two beautiful, intelligent black young women – playing with their dogs on the White House lawn. And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters, and all our sons and daughters, now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States.

Being president isn’t anything like reality TV. It’s not about sending insulting tweets or making fiery speeches; it’s about whether or not the candidate can handle the awesome responsibility of leading this country.

The true history of my administration will be written 50 years from now, and you and I will not be around to see it.

Ronald Reagan used to alarm other constituencies by speaking freely about the End Times foreshadowed in the Bible.

Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people.

How do leaders serve their people? They may pay good wages and treat employees with respect.

I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.

We’ve switched from a culture that was interested in manufacturing, economics, politics – trying to play a serious part in the world – to a culture that’s really entertainment-based.

The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.

In a democracy, allegations will never improve situations. So, I’m against allegations, but I always welcome criticism.

What Britain needs is an iron lady.

President Obama is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.

When it comes to the qualifications that we should demand of our president, to start with, we need someone who will take the job seriously.

When the best leader’s work is done the people say, ‚We did it ourselves.‘

There is no more independence in politics than there is in jail.

A word of encouragement from a teacher to a child can change a life. A word of encouragement from a spouse can save a marriage. A word of encouragement from a leader can inspire a person to reach her potential.

In my opinion eight years as president is enough and sometimes too much for any man to serve in that capacity.

I know that campaigns can seem small, and even silly. Trivial things become big distractions. Serious issues become sound bites. And the truth gets buried under an avalanche of money and advertising. If you’re sick of hearing me approve this message, believe me – so am I.

I always believe the rule by king or official leader is outdated. Now we must catch up with the modern world.

I can move any crowd.

A lot of people are realizing they had the wool pulled over their eyes by Obama.

Barack knows the American Dream because he’s lived it, and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are or where we’re from or what we look like or who we love.

I hate letting my teammates down. I know I’m not going to make every shot. Sometimes I try to make the right play, and if it results in a loss, I feel awful. I don’t feel awful because I have to answer questions about it. I feel awful in that locker room because I could have done something more to help my teammates win.

I don’t say very much I don’t really think through. I know that sounds inconsistent with Joe Biden.

The topic of leadership is a touchy one. A lot of leaders fail because they don’t have the bravery to touch that nerve or strike that chord. Throughout my years, I haven’t had that fear.

I told y’all I didn’t vote, right? But if I would’ve voted, I would’ve voted for Trump.

A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don’t have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed.

All the political angst and moral melodrama about getting ‚the rich‘ to pay ‚their fair share‘ is part of a big charade. This is not about economics, it is about politics.

You’re president, if you conclude my judgment is not the right judgment, I abide by that, but I want an opportunity to have an input.

Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them.

In business, if you realize you’ve made a bad decision, you change it.

No man is good enough to govern another man without the other’s consent.

I just think overall there’s not as many female ministers than there are male ministers.

This country is being managed to death, being public related to death.

Lincoln said you cannot be President without spending some item on your knees. I have repeated that and a bunch of Atheists got all over me. Wait a minute. Does that mean that you cannot be President if you are an Atheist? I say yea that does mean that.

A faction willing to take the risks of making war on the ossified status quo in the Middle East can be described as many things, but not as conservative.

We are not going to be satisfied by politicians saying ‚we support you‘ and then walking away. We won’t be satisfied until they meet our demands and act. That’s why simply taking a selfie or posting support on Twitter isn’t enough. That’s why we have to keep striking.

Just as discipline and freedom are opposing forces that must be balanced, leadership requires finding the equilibrium in the dichotomy of many seemingly contradictory qualities between one extreme and another.

When the burdens of the presidency seem unusually heavy, I always remind myself it could be worse. I could be a mayor.

If people continue to feel like Democrats are looking after poor folks and Republicans are looking after rich folks and nobody is looking after me, then we don’t get a lot of stuff done. And the trend lines evidence the fact that folks have gotten squeezed. And obviously, 2007, 2008 really ripped open for people how vulnerable they were.