Douglas Alexander Quotes

I was brought up in a home where the Secretary of State was not the subject of partisan debate.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, thank you so much, as always, for joining us this morning.

Secretary Powell and I agree on every single issue that has ever been before this administration except for those instances where Colin's still learning.

On one side, citizens have great respect for the United States; they have a great feeling of friendship. That is solid. But in the opposition and in the political arena I often find criticism of the closeness of relations with the United States. That is a reality.

I intend to travel to Okinawa and to visit with Okinawa officials and the citizens of Okinawa at an early date. I will send my best analysis of that situation, including the local attitudes, back to Washington, to the government there.

If a senator calls me up and asks me what should we do in Iraq, I'm happy to talk to him.

We oppose the reactionary policies of the U.S. government but we do not oppose the American people. We want to have many good friends in the United States.

Not all political actors share our vision of fighting terrorism, lessening tensions in the region and focusing on building the economy. It is natural that they would challenge the government, but we have fought every challenge effectively. The daily ups and down of democracy should not be interpreted as lack of stability.

So far as it depends on the course of this government, our relations of good will and friendship will be sedulously cultivated with all nations.

I think the way things have been left after Iraq is that people won't believe the Government of the day, so they have to know that lessons have been learnt and that all political parties and people, whether they were for or against the invasion of Iraq, have learnt lessons.

My interest in foreign policy is above the average voter's interest. That doesn't mean we shouldn't talk about it.

We should not be afraid to speak the truth to our powerful friend the United States.

The Democrats just don't have a foreign policy that they're willing to defend, that they're willing to use to take down the president's. We're dealing with the power of suggestion here.

My diplomatic position will not consist of going and kneeling down in front of George Bush.

I have had extremely good relations with the United States and with both parties (Republicans and Democrats), and I hope to continue to have these good relations, which I, again repeating, do not consider to be mutually exclusive with having good relations with Venezuela or Ecuador or whichever country in South America.

I would not vote for any Republican who was not in favor of giving assistance to England and France

The arming of a government can really only be done by another government. To be really effective, aid must be governmental.

I’d be happy to take any of your questions and with the advantage of no longer being Secretary of State so that I can actually answer them.

When I disagree with the President on foreign policy, I ought to do it on American soil.

When you go to war, you have to build bipartisan support and then you have to sustain it.

The Republicans would like to be the co-pilots in the foreign policy take-offs as well as in the crash landings.

Compromise is not a word that generally makes political hearts flutter, and it is even less loved when it comes to the politics of U. S. foreign policy

I talk a great deal to prior Secretaries of State about policy issues.

Our national security is not a partisan issue.

I do believe that it's very frequent that officials from foreign governments will meet with members of Congress. They will meet with folks associated with campaigns. That's not aberrational here in Washington.