Presidential Transparency Quotes

On taking office, Obama promised the 'most transparent' administration in history; yet his record as president has been anything but transparent.

I think that presidents deserve to be questioned. Maybe irreverently, most of the time. Bring 'em down a size. You see a president, ask a question. You have one chance in the barrel. Don't blow it.

In 1971, near the middle of Nixon's first term, he approved a plan to install a White House taping system as a way of preserving an accurate chronicle of important discussions and decisions. Except for Nixon, three aides, and the Secret Service, no one knew about the listening devices.

If the American people are going to choose you to be their President, they’re entitled to know an awful lot about you.

President Trump's frequent, unfiltered use of his personal Twitter account as a means of official communication is unprecedented. If the President is going to take to social media to make sudden public policy proclamations, we must ensure that these statements are documented and preserved for future reference.

Every American president must be held to the highest standard. No president of any color should be given a free pass for screw-ups, lies or failure to keep a promise.

I didn’t e-mail during my Presidency because I was afraid of the Freedom of Information Requests.

The President is not squaring with the American people as to the seriousness of our nation's fiscal condition. It is time for people to stand up and tell the truth.

Every President hates the Press.

When the media ask George W. Bush a question, he answers, 'Can I use a lifeline?'

Anytime this President [George W. Bush] says he didn’t know something, I believe him. He’s got the benefit of the doubt on that.

I think the president should be accessible, should answer questions that aren't pre-screened, but I think there should be a little bit of dignity to the presidency.

Obama's openness is a welcome change from his predecessor, who went all the way to the Supreme Court to hide the RSVP list for a single policy meeting. And transparency is intrinsically good, since in a democracy, very little government activity is legitimately secret.

George W. Bush said the reason the Oval Office is round is there are no corners you can hide in.

Trump apologized for nothing, including the horrible tape, right? No apology.

The funny thing is that Dick Cheney has done more than anybody in the White House for quite a long time to throw up roadblocks against future historians.

I would be concerned if any speech to Congress related any information that's new to the president of the United States.

Trump doesn't force the networks to show his rallies live rather than do real reporting. Nor does he force anyone to accept his phone calls rather than demand that he do a face-to-face interview that would be a greater risk for him.

The Trump administration has struggled with ethics vetting for Cabinet nominees and faced criticism for the president's decision to remain invested in his business empire.

The president of the United States should not be tweeting.

There is nothing about the President's health that should be secret—that includes baldness.

My own view is that taping of conversations for historical purposes was a bad decision on the part of all the presidents. I don't think Kennedy should have done it. I don't think Johnson should have done it, and I don't think we should have done it.

Neither an almost $35 million Mueller investigation, ending in an exonerating report, nor a sham impeachment effort could deter Trump from moving forward with the business of the American people.

I talk to the press five days a week … The president—how often does he talk to the press? His press secretary talks to the press every day, okay. But I happen to think the public should demand he should. I think he should; I think that’s his job.

Presidents hate the press. They hate me most of the time.