Fred Thompson Quotes

When I select a leader I look for a person with integrity, intelligence and ambition. If he doesn’t have integrity I hope he doesn’t have the other two either.

It is the quality and the character of the leader that determines the results and performance.

To say America can have strong leadership without strong character is to say we can get water without the wet.

Leadership consists not in degrees of technique but in traits of character.

We have had more brilliant Presidents than Cleveland, and one or two who were considerably more profound, but we have never had one, at least since Washington, whose fundamental character was solider and more admirable.

Good men who exercise power are really the most fascinating of all people.

Military leaders aren't made. They are born. To be a good leader, you have to have something in your character to cause people to follow you.

Some of our finest leaders were not intellectuals at all, and I admire them enormously because they weren't. Harry Truman wasn't.

A flawed candidate with a strong character versus a strong candidate with a flawed character.

John isn't qualified to be vice president. He doesn't have the intellect. He doesn't have the stature. He doesn't have the honesty. He doesn't have the character that it takes.

You've all seen over the last eight years what President Obama means to this country. He is the embodiment of honor, resolve, and character - one of the finest presidents we have ever had.

Leadership is learned, earned, and discerned. You develop it. It's based on trust and credibility. Others see it in you. You can't demand it.

Great leaders have no need for reputation. Reputation is what you are in public. Character is who you are in private.

[George W. Bush] has balls. And he's a leader. Unfortunately his balls and leadership are in the service of shitty ideas. We need his balls on someone who thinks right.

The quality of a good leader therefore is his vision, tenacity, and his capability.

You cannot have strong leadership without passion.

The depth and strength of our character is defined by our moral code. People only reveal themselves when they're thrown out of the usual conditions of their lives. That's when the truth of who they are is revealed.

My God, Donald Trump is unfit! He's ill-tempered, he's unsuited, he is not qualified, he's unsuited to be president.

The presidency is a serious job that requires sound judgment and good ideas, and there's no doubt in my mind that Jeb Bush has the experience and the character to be a great president.

Whatever you think of Romney and his politics, as a human being there's none better. As a man of integrity, man of character, there's none better.

I don't pick my presidents because they were great presidents. I'm not much interested in ranking presidents and who is the best and who is the worst. I am much more inclined to be interested in them if they had an interesting life and if they were a complete person - and by that I mean they also had flaws and failings.

There are three qualities a leader must exemplify to build trust: competence, connection, and character.

Character in many ways is everything in leadership. It is made up of many things, but I would say character is really integrity. When you delegate something to a subordinate, for example, it is absolutely your responsibility, and he must understand this. You as a leader must take complete responsibility for what the subordinate does. I once said, as a sort of wisecrack, that leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well.

If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.

Talent is a gift, but our character is a choice. Talent is natural ability, our gift from God, but we have the power to determine our character. That power rests on a foundation consisting of the choices we make in life. And those choices almost always dictate the amount of trust others have in us, and to what level of leadership we rise.