Ted Kennedy Quotes

This man called President Bush has a lot to answer for. I don't know if this man is really taking care of America. This government has been shameful.

What I saw was a cabal between the vice president of the United States, Richard Cheney, and the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, on critical issues that made decisions that the bureaucracy did not know were being made. Now it is paying the consequences of making those decisions in secret, but far more telling to me is America is paying the consequences.

A President can commit no more serious crime against our democracy than lying to Congress and the American people to get them to support a military action or war.

For his failures, Rumsfeld must go!

I know how prone we are to censure and how ready to blame others for the non-fulfillment of our expectations. This is unbecoming in a generous people, and I grieve to see its expression. The general remedy for the want of success in a military commander is his removal. I have been prompted by these reflections more than once since my return from Pennsylvania to propose to Your Excellency the propriety of selecting another commander for this army.

I have been in public office and have been criticized. I do not object to it. A public official should be willing to be criticized. An agent of the people of this country should be called to account.

Whenever you do anything public, you open yourself up to be criticized.

Once the public loses confidence in a president's leadership at a time of war, once they don't trust him anymore, once his credibility is sharply diminished, how does he get it back?

The Secretary of Defense is not a super General or Admiral. His task is to exercise civilian control over the Department for the Commander-in-Chief and the country.

When we make a mistake, it becomes front-page news. We don't need any reporter telling us how badly we played.

The War Powers Act requires presidents to seek the consent of the American people, through their representatives, before sending our troops into war. It is the responsibility of Congress to deliberate and consult with the executive branch before involving ourselves in a military conflict.

In any leadership position, you're always going to be disappointing somebody.

When you take risks and things don't go your way, you can be heavily criticised by the media.

What I see as the greatest threat to America is that the American people will put political pressure on their leaders to pull out of Iraq before we should.

In this job, you're going to make decisions. You'll say things that some people are going to love them, some people are going to hate them. It's just part of the job.

All of this suggests that while citizens became more comfortable with President Bush after September 11 and thought him to have the requisite leadership skills, they continue to harbor doubts about his priorities, loyalties, interests, and policies.

Homeland security is a problem. It's a good idea, but it's a problem because the man who runs it is Tom Ridge, and he is someone who has the leadership qualities of a gerbil.

Leaders respond when they perceive that there will be a political cost of inaction.

Mr. President. You have not only put us in harm’s way. You have harmed us.

You get blamed for whatever happens on your watch.

The President is responsible to the public for the conduct of the person he has nominated and appointed.

The President is an idiot.

One person should be in charge of the intelligence community and [making] sure that person is not the secretary of Defense

It’s very difficult to come to grips with how we screwed this up, but we screwed this up.

If you fire him, you get two for the price of one.