Democrats are going to proudly run on the fact that we turned the economy around. It was our policies under President Obama's leadership through the Recovery Act through investing in the automobile industry.

The person who takes the oath of office in the next four months will shape not just the next four years but the next forty years of our nation. In these next four years we need proven leadership proven judgment and proven values. America needs four more years of President Barack Obama.

Nixon was an awful president in many ways including in some of his foreign-policy choices. But he left no doubt that foreign policy and America's leadership in the world outside its borders was of paramount importance to him.

The one thing that the President can do is to establish a real energy independence plan. We have all the recources we need right here in this country to establish energy independence if we had the leadership.

Ever since Israel has been a nation the United States has provided the leadership. Every president down to the ages has done this in a fairly balanced way including George Bush senior Gerald Ford and others including myself and Bill Clinton.

Presidential leadership needn't always cost money. Look for low- and no-cost options. They can be surprisingly effective.

In our system leadership is by consent not command. To lead a President must persuade. Personal contacts and experiences help shape his thinking. They can be critical to his persuasiveness and thus to his leadership.

For example I spent a lot of time with Reagan both before he ran for governor and when he was running for president. As a print reporter without the cameras I was able to really test the quality of their minds and their knowledge base.

In the past I used to counter any such notions by asking myself: 'Would you really want President Hattersley?' I now find that possibility rather cheers me up. With his chubby Dickensian features and his knowledge of T.H. Green and other harmless leftish political classics Hattersley might not be such a bad thing after all.

I wish I had known more firsthand about the concerns and problems of American businesspeople while I was a U.S. senator and later a presidential nominee. That knowledge would have made me a better legislator and a more worthy aspirant to the White House.

The standard rumor at the time was that Rumsfeld as chief of staff had persuaded President Ford to appoint George H.W. Bush as director of Central Intelligence assuming that that got rid of a potential competitor for the presidency.

President Obama called for a 'we' nation in his Inauguration Address. Art convenes. It is not just inspirational. It is aspirational. It pricks the walls of our compartmentalized minds opens our hearts and makes us brave. And that's what we need most in our country today.

One of the things that I did before I ran for president is I was a professional speaker. Not a motivational speaker - an inspirational speaker. Motivation comes from within. You have to be inspired. That's what I do. I inspire people I inspire the public I inspire my staff. I inspired the organizations I took over to want to succeed.

President Reagan was a leader at a time when the American people most needed leadership. He outlined a vision that captured the imagination of the free world a vision that toppled the Communist empire and freed countless millions.

The president of General Motors was in a foul humor.

The President has a wonderful sense of humor which is one of the reasons it is so much fun to work for him.

I often have said that to be a college president you need a thick skin a good sense of humor and nerves like sewer pipes.

Humor helps ease the tension of race and the differences in society. If there wasn't comedy I don't know if Obama could have ever become president.

Humor is very very risky particularly for a candidate unless he's been in so long that it just doesn't matter and he's not running for president. But it's just that people are so sensitive and so touchy and you're just going to upset somebody without ever realizing it.

I would not run for president. I really like what I'm doing now. People say I'm giving them energy and hope.

You can always get the truth from an American statesman after he has turned seventy or given up all hope of the Presidency.

I told the President I told Rahm Emanuel and others in the administration that I thought the policy they took to try to bring about negotiations is counter-productive because when you give the Palestinians hope that the United States will do its negotiating for them they are not going to sit down and talk.

House and Senate Republicans are now united in adopting earmark bans. We hope President Obama will follow through on his support for an earmark ban by pressing Democratic leaders to join House and Senate Republicans in taking this critical step to restore public trust.

We hope President Obama will now respect the will of the people change course and commit to making the changes they are demanding. To the extent he is willing to do this we are ready to work with him.