Amity Shlaes Quotes

Thomas Jefferson once said, 'We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.' And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.

Probably the smartest president we've had in terms of I.Q. in the last 50 years was Jimmy Carter, and I think he is the worst president of the last 50 years.

Comparing President Obama with the great leaders who have come before him is painful.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt and J.F Kennedy were Presidents in very different times.

He was a great president in his first term; in his second term, he wasn't the same Grover Cleveland he was to begin with. ...Cleveland reestablished the presidency by being not only a chief executive but a leader.

I admire and respect Bill Clinton. I think he was a great president.

Governor Pence said, inarguably, Vladimir Putin is a better leader than President Obama.

The original thing that fascinated me most was why we expect leaders, and especially presidents, at times to destroy themselves - and that's a sign of being a good leader or a good president. We usually don't expect that of almost anyone else in any profession, in particular, in public life.

It seems to me that President Carter has earned his place as if not the worst president in history, the worst president of the 20th Century.

Take [the first female] president away from Hillary [Clinton], what's her story? What is fascinating? What's interesting about Hillary? Coughing fits? The lump in her throat that she has to cover with the Mao jacket? What's her story?

President George Bush had the courage and the vision and we will always be grateful to President George Bush for that tremendous leadership and statesmanship.

I admire President Obama's ability to trust strangers.

I think psychologically [Margaret Thatcher] is really worth studying. I am reading Charles Moore's biography of her, and he has gotten us right there with a woman who lived the unexamined life, and lived it deliberately, and who has contempt for history, even her own.

I want to be the best president I can be for every American.

Those [presidents] who were strongest intellectually were also strongest spiritually.

I believe one of the requirements of good leadership is the ability to listen - really listen - to those in your organization. An effective leader is very good at listening, and it's difficult to listen when you are talking.

If Colin Powell was president, I'd follow him. I wanna get into politics. That's the way for us to overcome a lot of our obstacles.

A president has to provide leadership to gain support.

One critic in the L.A. Times said John Kerry looks like he is thinking too much. Well this is one place President Bush has him beat.

America is looking for a consistent leader.

I love President Bush. I think it's great we have a president who always looks like he's looking directly into the sun.

If I'm president, America will be very strong.

I'm looking for a president that'll be like a Ronald Reagan to a Jimmy Carter.

You don't become an effective leader by default.

You see, Mr. President - real leaders don't follow polls. Real leaders change polls.