“The people have only a very vague direct power. They have the power of voting against the administration, again after its decisions have been taken; but they have no way of getting into the question of policy-making, decision-making, except insofar as the vague forces and pressures of public debate and public opinion have their impact on the President. The President still has to decide. He can't go to the people and ask them to decide for him; he has to make the decision. In that sense he was condemned to be a dictator.” PeopleWayHas BeensStillsAsksForcePresidentDecisionOpinionTakenPolicyDirectPressureImpactDebateAdministrationVotingDecision MakingDictatorVaguePublic OpinionMaking DecisionsPolicy Making Author:Walter Millis
“The war against ISIS will pose many new challenges for the next commander-in-chief. The last two presidents [George W. Bush and Barack Obama] pursued a Middle East policy that supported toppling dictators to try to promote democracy.” TryingTwoWarLastsNextPresidentChallengesDemocracyMiddlePolicyEastChiefsBarackMiddle EastDictatorPursuedIsisCommandersCommander In ChiefNew ChallengesPresident George W Bush Author:Wolf Blitzer
“I believe in a America first foreign policy, that far too often President [Barack] Obama and Hillary Clinton - and, unfortunately, more than a few Republicans - have gotten distracted from the central focus of keeping this country safe.” FirstsBelieveCountryAmericaI BelievePresidentFocusPolicyRepublicanSafeClintonI Believe InBarackForeign PolicyDistractedPresident Barack Obama Author:Ted Cruz
“I've pretty much always used my positions as a bully pulpit. What that means is strongly advocating for the things I feel are really important. Gun violence, to me, is the highest-priority public-health issue, and I have to make sure Congress is aware of it, the American people are aware of it, the president is aware of it, and that we all begin together to develop policies to exterminate the disease - the epidemic, really - of gun violence.” PeopleFeelsMeanImportantTogetherUsedPresidentIssuesViolencePolicyPositionDiseaseHighestGunCongressPrioritiesBullyEpidemicsPublic HealthAdvocatingPulpitGun ViolenceHealth Issues Author:Joycelyn Elders
“President Obama shopped at a book store to help support Small Business Saturday. He bought fifteen books. His tax policies and his health care law have been so brutal on small businesses the only way they can survive is if he shops there personally.” IfsWayHas BeensBookHelpingCareLawPresidentSupportPolicyTaxesStoresHealth CareShopsPresident ObamaBrutalFifteenSaturdaySmall Business Author:Argus Hamilton
“Patriotism is not necessarily defined as blind devotion to a president's particular agenda - and that to dispute a presidential policy is not necessarily anti-American.” PresidentPolicyParticularBlindDevotionDefinedPresidentialAgendasDisputesAnti-american Book:A Prayer for Owen Meany: A Novel Source: A Prayer for Owen Meany: A Novel
“The President? Hmmm, I wonder who that might be? Could it be, perhaps, the sitting two-term incumbent of the same party holding its convention? The person whose economic and military policies shape the environment the next president will deal with? As best I can tell, in the tens of thousands of words making up the combined remarks of John McCain, Sarah Palin, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, and Lindsay Graham, the Name That Must Not Be Uttered appeared exactly once.” PersonsI CanTwoMightNextNamesPresidentTermDealsPartyWonderEnvironmentEconomicMilitaryPolicyShapesSittingConventionsMikeRemarksRomneyMccainPalinMaking UpIncumbentsHmmmRudy Author:James Fallows
“Mr. Bush has squandered the hard-built paternity of 40 years. But so has the party, and so have its leaders. If they had pushed away for serious reasons, they could have separated the party's fortunes from the president's. This would have left a painfully broken party, but they wouldn't be left with a ruined brand,- as they all say, speaking the language of marketing. And they speak that language because they are marketers, not thinkers. Not serious about policy. Not serious about ideas. And not serious about leadership, only followership.” IfsYearsIdeasHardReasonLeftSpeakLanguagePresidentPartyLeaderPolicySeriousBrokenBuiltFortuneMarketingBrandsThinkerRuinedMarketersFollowershipPushed Away Author:Peggy Noonan
“The origins of these [schooling] federal policies were tied to President Johnson's war on poverty. Supplemental funds were sent to school districts serving poor children to compensate for issues related to poverty. Since the enactment of NCLB, the focus on mitigating poverty has been replaced by a focus on accountability as measured by test scores.” ChildrenHas BeensWarSchoolPresidentPoorPovertyIssuesFocusPolicyTestsRelatedScoreFundAccountabilityServingTiedReplacedJohnsonSchoolingWar On PovertyPoor ChildrenSchool DistrictsTest ScoresPresident Johnson Author:Pedro Noguera
“Hip-hop is contributing to American society's misogyny and racism, hyper-sexuality anti-Black representations. Hip-Hop isn't setting the standard for misogyny. No one reduces the presidency to misogyny, although we've had misogynistic presidents. No one reduces our government to being solely homophobic, although we have a government with a don't ask, don't tell policy for gays and lesbians in the military.” GovernmentAsksBlackPresidentMilitaryPolicyGayRacismStandardsHip HopSexualitySettingSettingsHipsHopsRepresentationMisogynyPresidencyContributingHyperAmerican SocietyHomophobic Author:Bakari Kitwana
“The good news is, we have a huge opportunity here because the President`s [Barack Obama] policies have failed.” OpportunityPresidentPolicyHugeNewsBarackGood News Author:Jeb Bush
“President Ahmadinejad said that the Zionist state of Israel should no longer exist as a political entity. This has always been the policy of successive Iranian governments such as those of President Khatami and President Rafsanjani.” ShouldSaidStatesGovernmentPoliticalPresidentPolicyIsraelEntityIranianZionist Author:Mohammad Marandi
“Well, the most important thing a president will be is commander-in-chief. And that requires having an understanding of the complex issues on foreign policy. Foreign policy presents us often with hard choices, not black or white choices.” WellsImportantHardChoicesUnderstandingBlackPresidentWhiteIssuesPolicyImportant ThingsComplexesChiefsForeign PolicyCommandersCommander In ChiefBlack Or White Author:Marco Rubio
“I think, while it is true that the Hillary Clinton and I voted differently on the war in Iraq, what is important is that we learn the lesson of the war in Iraq. And that lesson is intrinsic to my foreign policy if elected president, is the United States cannot do it alone. We cannot be the policeman of the world. We are now spending more I believe than the next eight countries on defense. We have got to work in strong coalition with the major powers of the world and with those Muslim countries that are prepared to stand up and take on terrorism.” IfsThinkingWorldBelieveImportantWarCountryStatesNextStrongI BelievePresidentUnitedUnited StatesPolicyLessonsMajorsPreparedClintonIraqEightTerrorismSpendingDefenseForeign PolicyPolicemenCoalitions Author:Bernie Sanders
“If you're running to be president of the United States, you can't just tell people you're going to make America great again. I think you need to begin to explain exactly how you're going to do it policy-wise. We're not going to win a general election with a candidate that refuses to detail policy.” PeopleIfsThinkingNeedsStatesRunningAmericaWinningPresidentUnitedUnited StatesWisePolicyElectionDetailsRefuseCandidatesGeneral Elections Author:Marco Rubio
“You have got to know what you're doing on your very first day there. So, look, this is not an attack or anything of that nature. It's just a very simple observation. If you want to be president, you have to start detailing some specific public policy. And I don't think from this point forward in the campaign, voters are going to be as tolerant of the lack of that as they have been up to now.” IfsThinkingKnowsWantFirstsLooksHas BeensPresidentSimplePolicyCampaignsObservationVotersPublic Policy Author:Marco Rubio
“This is a president [Barack Obama] who came into office in 2008 with a big majority in the House and with a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Because of his policies and his conduct in office, seven years later, we have our largest majority in the House since 1928, and we have a majority in the Senate and we have 31 of the 60 governorships.” YearsBigsHousePresidentPolicyOfficeMajoritySevenProofBarackSenateSeven YearsPresident Barack ObamaFilibuster Author:Chris Christie
“Since the president's [Barack Obama] lost all of that [majority in Senate], he now has decided he's just going to write laws on his own. He's going to give us edicts, as if he's a king. And that is a petulant child. He's refusing to listen to the will of the American people, which is they reject his policies.” PeopleIfsGivingWritingChildrenLawLostPresidentPolicyKingsDecidedMajorityBarackRejectsSenate Author:Chris Christie
“This guy [Donald Trump] has not offered a single serious policy proposal, which is important if you want to be president of the United States. And Hillary Clinton is going to have clear shot to the Oval Office. And so I think there are many out there that are rooting for that outcome, so that he's the nominee. And you can see it in the coverage he's gotten.” IfsThinkingWantImportantStatesGuyPresidentUnitedUnited StatesClearPolicySeriousTrumpOfficeShotsClintonOutcomesThis GuyProposalCoverageOval Author:Marco Rubio
“The Republican candidates clashed on terrorism, immigration and foreign policy in their fifth debate.They all said President [Barack] Obama and Hillary Clinton have not kept America safe.” SaidAmericaPresidentPolicyRepublicanSafeClintonTerrorismDebateImmigrationBarackCandidatesForeign PolicyFifthPresident Barack Obama Author:Renee Montagne
“I know people who have donated big to presidents. I know people who have raised money big for presidents. And they are treated like kings by the politician and his organization. They are constantly invited to parties, seminars, private gatherings where the candidate or the president will explain policy, but only to them. And they brag about it. Which is fine. That doesn't bother me.” PeopleKnowsBigsPresidentPartyPolicyFineKingsPoliticianOrganizationRaisedTreatedBotherCandidatesInvitedGatheringBragSeminars Author:Rush Limbaugh
“Russia, despite its heavy flirtation with capitalism and some quite unsavory oligarchs, is still building its foreign policy on the Soviet ideals of internationalism, solidarity and logic. And even domestically, President [Vladin]Putin is slowly, step-by-step, restoring many important Soviet achievements that were torpedoed by a nitwit, and one gangster - [Mikhail] Gorbachev and [Boris] Yeltsin.” StillsImportantPresidentStepsPolicyBuildingAchievementCapitalismIdealsLogicHeavyRussiaDespiteSovietForeign PolicySolidarityPutinGangstersRestoringFlirtationInternationalismGorbachev Author:Andre Vltchek
“The fact that you have a policy of such consequence directly affecting millions of people and you have a legal question of great consequence about the scope of the president's authority to act in implementing the immigration laws in this way and you have a one-line decision from the court affirming by an equally-divided court, it's an inevitable consequence of where we are.” PeopleWayFactsLawPresidentLinesDecisionMillionsPolicyAuthorityConsequenceCourtImmigrationInevitableDividedScopeAffirmingOne LineImplementingImmigration Laws Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“It was President [Bill] Clinton and the United States congress in 1998 which said that the regime has to be changed because the regime would not give up its weapons of mass destruction. We came into office in 2001 and kept that policy because Saddam Hussein had not changed.” GivingSaidStatesPresidentUnitedUnited StatesPolicyChangedOfficeGiving UpWeaponsMassDestructionBillsClintonCongressRegimesSaddamNot Giving UpHusseinWeapons Of Mass DestructionMass DestructionPresident Bill Clinton Author:Colin Powell
“Judges are not members of Congress, they're not state legislators, governors, nor presidents. Their job is not to pass laws, implement regulations, nor to make policy.” StatesJobsLawPresidentPolicyJudgingMembersCongressRegulationGovernorsLegislators Author:Mike DeWine
“Now, thanks to President [Barack] Obama and the policies of Democrats when we have been able to achieve 73 straight months of sustained growth in the private sector. The longest it has been in American history.” Has BeensAbleGrowthPresidentAchievePolicyMonthsDemocratThanksBarackAmerican HistoryPrivate SectorPresident Barack Obama Author:Debbie Wasserman Schultz
“I travel a lot on foreign policy, as you know. I'm in Europe a lot. I travelled over a million miles as vice president. They didn't do stimulus. Look where they are. Come on. I mean, this is like, I just get so frustrated. Like come on.” KnowsLooksMeanPresidentMillionsPolicyEuropeVicesMilesForeign PolicyFrustratedStimulusVice President Author:Joe Biden
“I am somewhat influenced by the years that I've spent trying to actually get things done, whether it was reforming education in Arkansas or a survey and Legal Services Corporation board when President [Jimmy ]Carter appointed me and trying to get lawyers for poor people. I have worked in these areas. I know it's more than just a hope. You've got to translate it into a policy that leads to action.” PeopleKnowsTryingYearsDoneActionPresidentPoorPolicyAreasLawyerCorporationsBoardsTranslatePoor PeopleJimmyThings DoneCarterSurveysArkansasPresident Jimmy Carter Author:Hillary Clinton
“He was making a very serious point. Donald Trump has a way of talking to get people's attention, and it's drawn attention to a very important issue.There was a time when a Democrat president knew where the buck stopped in the White House. And the responsibility for the failed policies in the Middle East that created the environment where ISIS developed belongs to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the American people know that.” PeopleKnowsWayImportantStatesHousePresidentWhiteAttentionResponsibilityTalkingIssuesEnvironmentMiddlePolicySeriousTrumpClintonDemocratEastBarackWhite HouseMiddle EastSecretaryIsisBucksPresident Barack ObamaImportant IssuesWay Of Talking Author:Mike Pence
“We know that we have to have the right combinations of government policies and private sector energy and dynamism. Getting that balance right is what I know President Obama has tried to do, and at every turn he's been stopped.” KnowsGovernmentTurnsEnergyPresidentPolicyBalanceCombinationPresident ObamaPrivate SectorDynamismGovernment Policy Author:Hillary Clinton
“It's far from clear in general that Donald Trump is a guy who really thinks about the details of policy and is going to do the kind of heavy lifting you have to do as president to get those policies through in Congress. I think the hope is that Paul Ryan and his crew will push policies through Congress and Trump will just sign them. That's not really how policy works.” ThinkingKindGuyPresidentClearPolicyTrumpCongressDetailsHeavyCrewLiftingHeavy Lifting Author:Avik Roy
“And then you're going to have a president whose business empire depends on sort of delivering certain policies. For example, one thing that was quoted in the Newsweek report - that his [Donald Trump] pushing policies of nuclear arms for South Korea would actually improve his business network.” CertainPresidentOne ThingPolicyExampleArmsDependsTrumpSouthNuclearReportsEmpiresPushingKoreaDeliveringSouth KoreaNuclear Arms Author:Jill Stein
“Presidents are afraid to lose wars. They're afraid to be outflanked on the right by the militarists. They don't want to be seen as soft on either communism or soft on terrorism or whatever. So presidents are constantly tugged away from their domestic commitments to foreign policy.” WantWarPresidentLosesPolicyCommitmentTerrorismCommunismForeign Policy Author:Bill Moyers
“There is a reason why George Washington is always one of the top three presidents, and it's not because of his prowess as a military leader; it's not because of the incredible innovations in policy that he introduced. It's because he knew when it was time to go.” ReasonThreePresidentLeaderMilitaryPolicyInnovationIncrediblesReason WhyProwessMilitary Leader Author:Barack Obama
“And "all the above" [what President Barack Obama calls his policy of promoting all forms of domestic energy], compared to "drill, baby, drill," if you actually look at the track record, we've massively escalated the emissions of methane and carbon dioxide.” IfsLooksFormEnergyPresidentRecordsPolicyBabyTrackBarackCarbonPromotingEmissionsPresident Barack ObamaDrillsCarbon DioxideTrack RecordMethane Author:Jill Stein
“With prior Republican nominees for president, I disagreed with them on politics, policies, principles, but I never questioned their fitness to serve. Donald Trump is different.” DifferentPresidentPrinciplesPolicyTrumpRepublican Author:Hillary Clinton