"Half a world away nations that once lived under oppression and tyranny are now budding democracies due in large part to America 's leadership and the sacrifices of our military"

"One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency"

"Character matters; leadership descends from character"

"Airplanes are interesting toys, but of no military value"

"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom"

"Developments in information technology and globalised media mean that the most powerful military in the history of the world can lose a war, not on the battlefield of dust and blood, but on the battlefield of world opinion"

"We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded"

"The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers"

"Moreover, as the leadership of the House confirmed last year, the Administration remains opposed to a congressional resolution on the Armenian Genocide due to Turkish objections. This approach sends absolutely the wrong signal to Turkey and to the rest of the world"

"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it"

"After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn't do it. I sure as hell wouldn't want to live in a society where the only people allowed guns are the police and the military"