“ Finally, the president added, 'The American people are idealists, but they also want their leaders to be realistic... Bob Woodward
“ Almost everything about Afghanistan was troubling Mullen. As Obama was giving intense focus on the war, Mullen was feeling more personal responsibility. Afghanistan had been marked by 'incredible negl… Bob Woodward
“ Obama had campaigned against Bush's ideas and approaches. But, Donilon, for one, thought that Obama had perhaps underestimated the extent to which he had inherited George W. Bush's presidency - the ap… Bob Woodward
“ During an hour-long conversation mid-flight, he laid out his theory of the war. First, Jones said, the United States could not lose the war or be seen as losing the war.'If we're not successful here,'… Bob Woodward
“ I'm done doing this!' Obama said, finally erupting. 'We've all agreed on a plan. And we're all going to stick to that plan. I haven't agreed to anything beyond that.'The 30,000 was a 'hard cap,' he sa… Bob Woodward
“ Having failed in efforts to control or curtail the president’s tweeting, Priebus searched for a way to have practical impact. Since the tweets were often triggered by the president’s obsessive TV watc… Bob Woodward
“ Despite almost daily reports of chaos and discord in the White House, the public did not know how bad the internal situation actually was. Trump was always shifting, rarely fixed, erratic. He would ge… Bob Woodward
“ Nixon's grand mistake was his failure to understand that Americans are forgiving, and if he had admitted error early and apologized to the country, he would have escaped. Bob Woodward
“ For Carter, it was as if the ghosts of Watergate stalked the halls of the White House. As with most ghosts, he wasn't sure they existed, where they were or how to exorcise them. Bob Woodward
“ Cohn and Porter worked together to derail what they believed were Trump’s most impulsive and dangerous orders. That document and others like it just disappeared. When Trump had a draft on his desk to… Bob Woodward
“ I think journalism gets measured by the quality of information it presents, not the drama or the pyretechnics associated with us Bob Woodward
“ McChrystal had organized a jaw-dropping counterterrorism campaign inside Iraq, but the tactical successes did not translate into a strategic victory. This was why counterinsurgency - blanketing the po… Bob Woodward
“ I believe there's too little patience and context to many of the investigations I read or see on television. Bob Woodward
“ Many people have their reputations as reporters and analysts because they are on television, batting around conventional wisdom. A lot of these people have never reported a story. Bob Woodward
“ The reality was that the United States in 2017 was tethered to the words and actions of an emotionally overwrought, mercurial and unpredictable leader. Members of his staff had joined to purposefully… Bob Woodward
“ The reporter had to set his or her own course, had to push back against editors at times, to roam and be free to explore, to defy the conventional wisdom if necessary. It meant the reporters, whatever… Bob Woodward
“ For Mr. Trump, though, bringing in Mr. Bannon was the political equivalent of ordering comfort food. Bannon tried to sit down with Trump and walk him through refinements of the strategy and how to foc… Bob Woodward
“ Bannon added that Trump had another advantage. He spoke in a voice that did not sound political. This was what Barack Obama had in 2008 in the primary contest against Clinton, who spoke like the train… Bob Woodward
“ There are people who take rumors and embellish them in a way that can be devastating. And this pollution has to be eradicated by people in our business as best we can. Bob Woodward
