Rob Portman Quotes

I'm a results-oriented person and my Senate record shows that.

I don't want to come to Washington to be just another vote. I want to lead on issues that are important.

I never thought that I could reach such a high political position. But I have always been ready to serve my country.

The single biggest weakness that politicians have as a group is that they want people to like them.

The success of an elected official is doing what everyone knows needs to be done.

In Washington, I have worked hard for the people, and I've been loved by the people.

I've decided to get into active politics on Narendra Modiji's request. I don't know how successful I will be, but I'll give it my best shot.

I come from a government in Indiana where we did get things done.

In a rational society we would want our presidents to be teachers. In our actual society we insist they be cheerleaders.

It's easier to run for office than to run the office.

I've gone from being one of the youngest governors to now the longest consecutive serving governor in the country.

As I climbed the electoral ladder - from state assemblyman to mayor of Woodbridge and finally to governor of New Jersey - political compromises came easy to me because I'd learned how to keep a part of myself innocent of them.

My sense is, as governor I've gotten a lot of stuff done.

This aesthetic quality, then, is what politics is all about. It's authenticity that separates winners from losers, good politics from bad, and he-man leader-types from consultant-directed puppet-boys.

I figured there's nobody who's going to beat me or shoot me or crucify me. I can't help if people don't like me up there in Washington. I've got a district that I respect, and I think it respects me.

The function of the politician, therefore, is one of continuous watchfulness and activity, and he must have intimate knowledge of details if he would work out grand results.

Good policy makes good politics and what I've done has been good politics.

My plan is to govern as long as I can.

You would make the best governor but not the best candidate.

He's a terrible politician, but he makes a fine senator and public servant.

You don’t become a statesman unless you are first a good politician.

I was elected to carry forward my overall vision for the city.

A great politician has to bother himself less with means than with goals.

While not all politicians are statesmen, all statesmen are politicians.

The form of government is of much less importance than the character of the men who administer it.