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.

The only people who live in a post-black world are four people who live in a little white house on Pennsylvania Avenue. The idea that America is post-racial or post-black because a man I admire Barack Obama is president of the United States is a joke. And I hope no one will even wonder about this crazy fiction again.

A lot of presidential memoirs they say are dull and self-serving. I hope mine is interesting and self-serving.

For President Obama 'home of the brave' are not just the last words of our national anthem but also a call to action. This is why the president's policies and our platform include incentives to train and hire our troops returning home. Not only because of our moral responsibility but because it makes for a stronger more secure American economy.

I saw the president make the tough calls in the Situation Room - and today our troops in Iraq have finally come home so America can do some nation building here at home. That was the change that we believed in. That was the change we fought for. That was the change President Obama delivered.

He may be president but he still comes home and swipes my socks.

Today's misery is real unemployment home foreclosures and bankruptcies. This is the Obama Misery Index and its at a record high. Its going to take more than new rhetoric to put Americans back to work - its going to take a new president.