Michael Dukakis Quotes

Nikki Haley is a proven leader. And that is what she should be judged on.

People want leaders they can look up to, who can solve problems and actually deliver results for our people.

High office teaches decision making, not substance. It consumes intellectual capital; it does not create it. Most high officials leave office with the perceptions and insights with which they entered; they learn how to make decisions but not what decisions to make.

While the President leads his potential adversaries in almost every state, his support is soft. He is seen as honest, sincere, just, and friendly but gets mediocre or relatively poor ratings being competent strong, intelligent, and a forceful leader.

The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull.

A President needs political understanding to run the government, but he may be elected without it.

Gore will not win a popularity contest, he will not win a personality contest, but he can win an idealogical battle, and he can win a battle of experience.

I know General Grant better than any other person in the country can know him. It was my duty to study him, and I did so day and night, when I saw him and when I did not see him, and now I tell you what I know, he cannot govern this country.

I'm not a professional politician, I'm a problem solver.

I think issues and substance, policy and vision and record should be the meat of politics.

Almost all politicians are able to have a great one-on-one meeting. But I'm not interested in the candidate who can have a great meeting. I'm interested in the person who can make the right decisions.

One can say that three pre-eminent qualities are decisive for the politician: passion, a feeling of responsibility, and a sense of proportion.

I do not believe there can be found in the whole country a man so well fitted to be President.

He [President Warren G. Harding] is a kind, companionable fellow to go with on a fishing expedition or to play cards with; but he is not the man to have as President or leader.

Is he honest? Is he capable? Is he faithful to the Constitution?

He’ll make a fine President. He was the best clerk who ever served under me.

I’m not ready to hand over power to people or groups of people who have no ability to manage a nation.

[Ideological] Purity is fine but it doesn’t win elections and is not a governing strategy. Compromise is required.

Tony Blair was a good politician but not a good Prime Minister, and that's what we don't want to be. We don't want to be just people who are good at winning elections: we want to be good at governing. I think we benefit from having seen the mistakes that we think Tony Blair made in 1997.

When a president was elected with foreign policy experience, it was usually less about his foreign policy experience than other things.

I have interacted with several top leaders. Modi is among the three smartest leaders I have met.

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.

I'm a good leader. I'm a good executive. I've been outside the U.S. a few times, and I've done a little bit of foreign policy. But most importantly, I'm smart enough to be in charge of this country.

I endorsed Governor John Kasich for President because I felt like he was the most qualified and the best person to lead our nation.

Despite the insanity of using whether you would want to have a beer with someone as a legitimate reason for voting for or against them, I always felt that is indicative of a massive problem in politics: It matters as much what your personality is as how smart you are or how good you are at your job. That is a huge, huge problem. A lot of people who are very smart or very good at their jobs are not people I would want to ever have a beer with - but I would want them making massive policy decisions with huge implications for the future of the planet.