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Amidst all the clutter, beyond all the obstacles, aside from all the s...  
Arguments of convenience lack integrity and inevitably trip you up.  
Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do ...  
Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error ...  
Be yourself. Follow your instincts. Success depends, at least in part,...  
Being Vice President is difficult. Don't make it tougher.  
Beware when any idea is promoted primarily because it is "bold, exciti...  
Congress, the press, and the bureaucracy too often focus on how much m...  
Control your time. If you're working off your in-box, you're working o...  
Don't 'over-control' like a novice pilot. Stay loose enough from the f...  
Don't accept the post or stay unless you have an understanding with th...  
Don't automatically obey Presidential directives if you disagree or if...  
Don't be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President...  
Don't begin to think you're the President. You're not. The Constitutio...  
Don't blame the boss. He has enough problems.  
Don't divide the world into "them" and "us." Avoid infatuation with or...  
Don't do or say things you would not like to see on the front page of ...  
Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary t...  
Don't say "the White House wants." Buildings can't want.  
Don't speak ill of your predecessors or successors. You didn't walk in...  
Don't think of yourself as indispensable or infallible. As Charles De ...  
Enjoy your time in public service. It may well be one of the most inte...  
Find ways to decentralize. Move decision making authority down and out...  
First rule of politics: you can't win unless you're on the ballot. Sec...  
From where you sit, the White House may look as untidy as the inside o...  
Have a deputy and develop a successor. Don't be consumed by the job or...  
I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today will last five days...  
I don't do quagmires.  
I'm not into this detail stuff. I'm more concepty.  
If a prospective Presidential approach can't be explained clearly enou...  
If in doubt, don't. If still in doubt, do what's right.  
If in doubt, move decisions up to the President.  
If the staff lacks policy guidance against which to test decisions, th...  
If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much.  
If you develop rules, never have more than ten.  
If you foul up, tell the President and correct it fast. Delay only com...  
If you try to please everybody, somebody's not going to like it.  
Imagine, a September 11 with weapons of mass destruction. It's not 3,0...  
In our system leadership is by consent, not command. To lead a Preside...  
In politics, every day is filled with numerous opportunities for serio...  
In the execution of Presidential decisions work to be true to his view...  
Include others. As Senator Pat Moynihan said, "Stubborn opposition to ...  
Inspectors do not have the duty or the ability to uncover terrible wea...  
It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.  
It is very difficult to spend "federal (the taxpayers') dollars" so th...  
It isn't making mistakes that's critical; it's correcting them and get...  
Keep your sense of humor. As General Joe Stillwell said, "The higher a...  
Know that the amount of criticism you receive may correlate somewhat t...  
Know that the immediate staff and others in the Administration will as...  
Learn to say "I don't know." If used when appropriate, it will be ofte...  
Leave the President's family business to him. You will have plenty to ...  
Let your family, staff, and friends know that you're still the same pe...  
Look for what's missing. Many advisors can tell a President how to imp...  
Make decisions about the President's personal security. He can overrul...  
Many people around the President have sizeable egos before entering go...  
Members of the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate are not there by acciden...  
Most of the 50 or so invitations you receive each week come from peopl...  
Move decisions out to the Cabinet and agencies. Strengthen them by mov...  
Napoleon was asked, "Who do you consider to be the greatest generals?"...  
Oh my goodness gracious, what you can buy off the Internet in terms of...  
One of your tasks is to separate the "personal" from the "substantive....  
Our task, your task... is to try to connect the dots before something ...  
People say, 'Well, where's the smoking gun?' Well, we don't want to se...  
Plan backwards as well as forward. Set objectives and trace back to se...  
Politics is human beings; it's addition rather than subtraction.  
Preserve the President's options. He may need them.  
Presidential leadership needn't always cost money. Look for low- and n...  
Prune - prune businesses, products, activities, people. Do it annually...  
Public servants are paid to serve the American people. Do it well.  
Reduce the layers of management. They put distance between the top of ...  
Reduce the number of lawyers. They are like beavers - they get in the ...  
Remember where you came from.  
Secretary Powell and I agree on every single issue that has ever been ...  
See that the President, the Cabinet and staff are informed. If cut out...  
Strive to make proposed solutions as self-executing as possible. As th...  
Test ideas in the marketplace. You learn from hearing a range of persp...  
The Federal Government should be the last resort, not the first. Ask i...  
The most underestimated risk for a politician is overexposure.  
The price of being close to the President is delivering bad news. You ...  
The Secretary of Defense is not a super General or Admiral. His task i...  
The way to do well is to do well.  
There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There a...  
Think ahead. Don't let day-to-day operations drive out planning.  
Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned; it was - by a taxp...  
Visit with your predecessors from previous Administrations. They know ...  
Walk around. If you are invisible, the mystique of the President's off...  
Watch for the "not invented here" syndrome.  
Watch the growth of middle level management. Don't automatically fill ...  
When asked for your views, by the press or others, remember that what ...  
When cutting staff at the Pentagon, don't eliminate the thin layer tha...  
When someone with a rural accent says, "I don't know much about politi...  
When you raise issues with the President, try to come away with both t...  
With the press there is no "off the record."  
Work continuously to trim the White House staff from your first day to...  
You will launch many projects, but have time to finish only a few. So ...  
You're thinking of Eurpoe as Germany and France. I don't. I think that...  
Your performance depends on your people. Select the best, train them a...