He was experienced enough to spot the downside of doing the right thing.

Staffers tend to mimic their bosses, to take their key from them.

He was making the inevitable pivot from critic to manager.

Historically, the coupling of president and Speaker has been a tricky one that encourages a choreography both quick-footed and wary

The Russian people were just like us. They were victims of their own government. Ronald Reagan

Shared history was the coin of the realm.

Anecdotes came with his DNA.

The author deduces the best way James Baker serve Reagan as Chief of Staff was to continually remind him why he wanted to be president.

In politics there is a large difference between loosing and being defeated.

He'd made a name for himself out there in the world beyond not just in spite of the distinctly unfashionable persona he presented, but, perhaps, BECAUSE of it.

The author, at the time a Carter speechwriter in the 1980 campaign, showed visible distress at his boss's performance and was warned by a friend in the traveling press, lest he become the story.

Every soul has the potential of a great spirit.

I always had a weird thing with being the last person somewhere like a movie theater or a classroom. I get a weird sense of anxiety.

the nighttime of the body is the daytime of the soul.

If there is no final place for civil disobedience, then the government has been made autonomous, and as such, it has been put in the place of the living God.

i wish i was away in Ingo far across the briny sea sailing over deepest waters where neither care nore worry trouble me

The boor covers himself, the rich man or the fool adorns himself, and the elegant man gets dressed.

In science, new ideas are at first completely neglected, later fiercely attacked, and finally regarded as well known.

this is every musician's dream, to stand in front of an audience and not have to prove your credentials.

When you actually meet the devil and he offers you a deal most artists eventually negotiate.

The pillars of classical liberalism call for flat taxes, with revenues put to limited uses; strong property rights; and free markets.