JAKE SULLIVAN

What I learned from clerking for Judge Guido Calabresi and for Justice Steven Breyer was that there is no position, regardless of how wrong you think it is, that does not have some arguments in its favor, and you have to find them. And then, no matter how right your own position is, you must look for the weaknesses in that they are always there. You must be willing to find them and possibly change your approach or your mind on the subject.

A huge amount of negotiations and diplomacy has nothing to do with bartering or arguing but is just trying to get everyone [doing the negotiating] on the same page. It takes yours, days, even weeks sometimes.

Public policy is a study in imperfection. It involves imperfect people, with imperfect information, facing deeply imperfect choices - so it's not surprising that they're getting imperfect results.

By the time I was 10 or 13, I'd learned the world capitals.

You cannot normalize a President who is not normal.

For being in a place that's landlocked, Minnesotans have a real sense of the wider world. Teachers, friends, neighbors - everywhere I went in Minnesota, people put their heads up and looked out to the horizon.

Ignoring economic dependencies that had built up over the decades of liberalization had become really perilous—from energy uncertainty in Europe to supply-chain vulnerabilities in medical equipment, semiconductors, and critical minerals.  These were the kinds of dependencies that could be exploited for economic or geopolitical leverage.

Reject cynicism. Reject certitude. And don't be a jerk. Be a good guy.

Being fundamentally decent and honest and willing to put others before yourself - that's necessary for being an effective policymaker.

In the real world, answers may not be clear cut. There will be messy choices, and you're not going to be able to construct a policy response in a neat and tidy way. Being able to listen to other people, even as you stay true to your principles, that's how you actually succeed.

You cannot normalize a President who is not normal.

What I learned from clerking for Judge Guido Calabresi and for Justice Steven Breyer was that there is no position, regardless of how wrong you think it is, that does not have some arguments in its favor, and you have to find them. And then, no matter how right your own position is, you must look for the weaknesses in that they are always there. You must be willing to find them and possibly change your approach or your mind on the subject.

A huge amount of negotiations and diplomacy has nothing to do with bartering or arguing but is just trying to get everyone [doing the negotiating] on the same page. It takes yours, days, even weeks sometimes.

Reject cynicism. Reject certitude. And don't be a jerk. Be a good guy.

In the real world, answers may not be clear cut. There will be messy choices, and you're not going to be able to construct a policy response in a neat and tidy way. Being able to listen to other people, even as you stay true to your principles, that's how you actually succeed.

For being in a place that's landlocked, Minnesotans have a real sense of the wider world. Teachers, friends, neighbors - everywhere I went in Minnesota, people put their heads up and looked out to the horizon.

Being fundamentally decent and honest and willing to put others before yourself - that's necessary for being an effective policymaker.

By the time I was 10 or 13, I'd learned the world capitals.

Public policy is a study in imperfection. It involves imperfect people, with imperfect information, facing deeply imperfect choices - so it's not surprising that they're getting imperfect results.

Ignoring economic dependencies that had built up over the decades of liberalization had become really perilous—from energy uncertainty in Europe to supply-chain vulnerabilities in medical equipment, semiconductors, and critical minerals.  These were the kinds of dependencies that could be exploited for economic or geopolitical leverage.