Harry S. Truman Quotes

Being President is a little bit like riding a tiger. You have to keep riding, or else you will be swallowed up by it!

Great leaders don't rush to blame. They instinctively look for solutions.

It's not easy to have the job of president. It's not easy to run for it. And it's not a job for the feint of heart.

An executive is a person who always decides sometimes he decides correctly, but he always decides.

A minister of state is excusable for the harm he does when the helm of government has forced his hand in a storm; but in the calm he is guilty of all the good he does not do.

The Nation trembled on the brink. Events moved with such speed that it was necessary to decide to act on the instant, as each successive crisis arose.

I’m an executive now. I have to be a bigger leader, more responsible leader, more careful about how I say things….

Having seen first-hand how complex and difficult the job is, I believe it vital that the president be able to focus on his never-ending tasks with as few distractions as possible.

On a good day, I view the job [of president] as directing an orchestra. On the dark days, it is more like that of a clutch -- engaging the engine to effect forward motion, while taking greater friction.

I think it's one thing to be part of a very important group called the Senate of the United States and cast a vote. You're one of 100. I think it says even more to be a governor, where you ultimately have that political responsibility and accountability to succeed.

Leadership is solving problems.

A man made for public life and authority never takes account of personalities; he only takes account of things, of their weight and their conseqences.

Being a president is like riding a tiger. A man has to keep on riding or he is swallowed.

I'm not a professional politician. I'm a professional problem solver.

It's tougher to be a football coach than the President of the United States. You've got four years as a president, and they guard you. A football coach doesn't have anyone to protect him when things go wrong.

[John F. Kennedy] was Arthur, the guy in the middle of the room with all the swords pointed at him. ... He wanted control of the situation.

I am not going to make decisions based on barricades and blockades, nor am I going to make decisions based on the short-term volatility of the oil price.

I am always on duty, even when I am at party events or on vacation. I don't complain about it, on the contrary. Time management for candidates without government functions is different than it is for me. No matter where I am, I always have to have my duties as chancellor in mind.

It's an unbelievable responsibility to influence decisions, shareholder value and most important to me, people's careers and livelihoods.

A leader is the one who speaks last and acts first.

A leader must be ready to send the soldiers under his command to their deaths

My ability to function effectively will not affect my ability to serve as commander-in-chief.

[Indira Gandhi] looked tired that day, and all of a sudden I exclaimed, 'Deep down I don't envy you, and I shouldn't like to be in your place.' And she said, 'The problem is not in the problems I have, it's in the idiots around me. Democracy, you know...' I now wonder what she meant by that unfinished phrase.

The President may indeed in one respect resemble the commander of an army in peace, but in another and more essential sense he resembles the commander of a ship at sea. He must have a helm to grasp, a course to steer, a port to seek. He must sooner or later be convinced that a perpetual calm is as little to his purpose as a perpetual hurricane, and that without headway the ship can arrive nowhere.

The trouble was, if you were a chief you had to think, you had to be wise.