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"If in doubt, move decisions up to the President."
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"Bullying wasn't okay in elementary school and it isn't okay now, especially when it comes in the form of a U.S. Supreme Court decision."

"The more decisions that you are forced to make alone, the more you are aware of your freedom to choose."

"Now, I don't make decisions as fast as I used to."

"Senators, like everyone else, want to feel a part of this decision-making process. They want to feel included."

"For me retiring wasn't hard once I knew that that was the decision I was going to make."

"So I don't blame Boies for the decision of the Court at all."

"I don't think that has to be our choice... This party was born in principle. This party will die if it doesn't stand by its decision of principle."

"It was a fair decision, the penalty, even though it was debatable whether it was inside or outside the box."

"My primary lesson, however, was that I'm a solo writer, happiest when I'm making all the executive decisions. I've always been willing to rise or fall on my own merits."

"It is intellectually dishonest to look backwards with all the facts and judge the decisions that were made with almost none of the facts, or the facts that existed hidden in the normal cloud of endless speculation of what might happen."
Explore more quotes by Donald Rumsfeld

"Reduce the number of lawyers. They are like beavers - they get in the middle of the stream and dam it up."

"Your performance depends on your people. Select the best, train them and back them. When errors occur, give sharper guidance. If errors persist or if the fit feels wrong, help them move on. The country cannot afford amateur hour in the White House."

"You will launch many projects, but have time to finish only a few. So think, plan, develop, launch and tap good people to be responsible. Give them authority and hold them accountable. Trying to do too much yourself creates a bottleneck."

"If a prospective Presidential approach can't be explained clearly enough to be understood well, it probably hasn't been thought through well enough. If not well understood by the American people, it probably won't "sail" anyway. Send it back for further thought."

"The Federal Government should be the last resort, not the first. Ask if a potential program is truly a federal responsibility or whether it can better be handled privately, by voluntary organizations, or by local or state governments."

"Know that the amount of criticism you receive may correlate somewhat to the amount of publicity you receive."

"Don't automatically obey Presidential directives if you disagree or if you suspect he hasn't considered key aspects of the issue."

"Presidential leadership needn't always cost money. Look for low- and no-cost options. They can be surprisingly effective."
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