Jaime Harrison Quotes

What you say and do in a crisis matters.

I learned long ago on the battlefields of Vietnam that in a crisis, there is no substitute for clear-eyed leadership.

We've got to be judged by how we do in times of crisis.

American government has usually been pretty good in a crisis and pretty lousy at all other times.

When there is a crisis, how you handle the crisis is just as important as the crisis.

My theory on an existing crisis is that you have to be very strategic about each case's unique elements. If a crisis involves a legal component, you need a communication strategy that complements the company's legal objective. A strategy for a plea deal is different than a case going to trial.

Only a crisis—actual or perceived—produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around.

Amid the pressure of great events, a general principle gives no help.

Don't wait until you're in a crisis to come up with a crisis plan.

We ought not to be looking for something spectacular but rather develop a plan in conjunction with the White House to work our way out of this problem over the next six weeks.

It is a fact that governments tend to put in place policies and strategies in response to current scenarios.

Without a Mayaguez, or something comparable that we don't see in the immediate future, there is probably no one thing the President can do to himself to turn this situation around.

Obama and his associates are fantastic campaigners but have little ability or skill to govern.

The most important point is, in a time of crisis, there is no way out but for the government to be bold and aggressive.

The temptation in any approaching crisis or conflict is, because people haven't got a clue what lies ahead, they're always searching into the past for some sort of pattern ... to galvanise the nation or their supporters and put themselves on a pedestal to sound Churchillian or Rooseveltian.

For political and bureaucratic reasons, governments at all levels are telling far less to the public than to insiders about how to prepare for and behave in the initial chaos of a mass-casualty event.

The actions you plan to take and the actions you actually decide to take [in a crisis] are not always the same.

Emergency does not create power.

Never let a national crisis go to waste.

It is impossible to foresee or define the extent and variety of national exigencies, or the correspondent extent and variety of the means which may be necessary to satisfy them.

Unilateralism in secret is sometimes necessary at the height of a crisis.

Crisis management … is the worst type of policy because you will miss things.

To solve a major crisis, you have to do things you would never do in normal times or even in a modest crisis…. What feels just and fair is often just the opposite of what is required for a just and fair outcome. It is why policy makers generally tend to make crises worse, and why the politics of crises management is always untenable.

In our government we drive decisions either by leadership of by crises. If the leadership is not there, we rely on crises.

When a president doesn't know the policy, it doesn't make for a very effective leader.