Dina Powell Quotes

I've loved being in legislative office on a state level, and I think on a federal level there are so many more opportunities. I'm so excited to accomplish more.

I loved being in the Senate. That was a wonderful experience.

I actually became a lawyer because I thought you had to be a lawyer in order to get into national politics.

Working at the White House is an honor for any preacher's kid from Magnolia, but the issue is jobs.

In 1984, Nevada Senator Paul Laxalt gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to serve as a legislative intern in his office in Washington, D.C. Coming from humble beginnings, the experience changed my life and charted me on a path of public service.

I never set out to work in the White House.

I spent three years working at the White House and wanted to do something that wasn't about passing bills and resolutions.

When people say - 'Well, do you miss being a judge since you're in Congress,' I go - 'Only when I want people to sit down and shut up.'

I got a job with a law firm in Portland after a couple of years with Senator Muskie. But by then, my interest in politics had been sparked, through meeting Senator Muskie, through seeing what he did.

I was a very, very good congressman.

I was in the White House for a year and a half. Up to that point, all my jobs had been very unglamorous.

I left the White House in 2007. You know, I knew when I went there that it would be for a limited period of time. I was grateful that the average tenure of a white house senior aide is 18 to 20 months. I was there for nearly seven years.

I never dreamed I would one day work at it White House.

I was on leave from local and regional politics, as long as I was a Minister.

I used to imagine working as a White House staffer some day, so it was pretty amazing to be there... realizing another dream.

When I entered federal parliament at the end of 2007, I was appointed parliamentary secretary for disabilities.

It's been 35 years since I left school. Almost nine of them were in government; all the rest were in the private sector. And I've proven over time to be a great leader.

I happened to have the privilege of serving in Congress. It will be 16 years at the end of this term. And I think I made a difference here on important issues.

I'm a politician. I run for office. That's my profession.

My friends all say I'm going to be Secretary of State. But I don't see how that would be much different from the job I have now.

I'd spent 25 years in government when I left the Defense Department back in '93, decided I'd go spend the rest of my career in the private sector, and then the president tapped me to come be his running mate. And it's been a remarkable experience. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

But always I was a private citizen whose activities in government or political party were appointive.

I loved what I did. I could've been secretary of state for ever.

There is kind of a typical experience as a premier. You go in, you win a couple, you get out. Go serve on boards, take your head out of the political ringer and take on a much more private life.

I was a Georgia state legislator for a great many years.