People are generally amazed that I would take an interest in any forum that would require me to stop talking for three hours.
Henry KissingerRead
A president has an inescapable responsibility to provide direction: What are we trying to achieve? What are we trying to prevent? Why? To do that, he has to both analyze and reflect.
Interpretation
A president must understand their goals and responsibilities through careful analysis and reflection.
In this quote, Henry Kissinger emphasizes the critical role of a president in shaping the direction of a nation. He highlights the necessity of understanding both the objectives to strive for and the issues to avoid, as well as the importance of reflective thinking and analysis in achieving effective governance.
In practice
During a political debate, a candidate can reference this quote to emphasize the importance of clear leadership and decision-making.
People are generally amazed that I would take an interest in any forum that would require me to stop talking for three hours.
I think we would find, if you study the conduct of guerilla-type wars, that the Obama Administration has hit more targets on a broader scale than the Nixon Administration ever did.
I think that America's recovery of a global strategic view is an absolutely essential element of our foreign policy.
I must have assistants who will solve their own problems and tell me later what they've done.
We make every effort to see that our actions live up to our words and be vigilant with regards to our behavior.
In the 101st Airborne Division headquarters in Mosul, we had a sign on the wall. It was a question that we would ask ourselves before every new operation or policy initiative. It asked: Will this policy or operation take more bad guys off the streets than it creates by its conduct?
Strategy equals execution. All the great ideas and visions in the world are worthless if they can't be implemented rapidly and efficiently. Good leaders delegate and empower others liberally, but they pay attention to details, every day.
Too often, when you are close to people in power, you're trying to make them happy; you're trying to tell them what they want to hear. But I find that really good leaders don't want that. They want the truth. And you do them a service, and yourself a service, by just being honest and straightforward.
I don’t like to badmouth people. But I’m the head of a monarchy that began in the ninth century, and I’m apparently more modern than Chris Christie. Look, I know he has to appeal to the crazy right-wingers in his party, but the fact is, he’s not as forward-thinking as an eighty-seven-year-old lady who wears a crown on her head. It’s pathetic.
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