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" Congress, the press, and the bureaucracy too often focus on how much money or effort is spent, rather than whether the money or effort actually achieves the announced goal. "

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

" 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. "

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" Think ahead. Don't let day-to-day operations drive out planning. "

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" Make decisions about the President's personal security. He can overrule you, but don't ask him to be the one to counsel caution. "

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" Preserve the President's options. He may need them. "

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" If you foul up, tell the President and correct it fast. Delay only compounds mistakes. "

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" Remember where you came from. "

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

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" Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small. "

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" Work continuously to trim the White House staff from your first day to your last. All the pressures are to the contrary. "

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" Don't divide the world into 'them' and 'us.' Avoid infatuation with or resentment of the press, the Congress, rivals, or opponents. Accept them as facts. They have their jobs and you have yours. "

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" 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. "

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" The Secretary of Defense is not a super General or Admiral. His task is to exercise civilian control over the Department for the Commander-in-Chief and the country. "

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" Don't speak ill of your predecessors or successors. You didn't walk in their shoes. "

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" See that the President, the Cabinet and staff are informed. If cut out of the information flow, their decisions may be poor, not made, or not confidently or persuasively implemented. "

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" Simply because you do not have evidence that something exists does not mean that you have evidence that it doesn't exist. "

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" Leave the President's family business to him. You will have plenty to do without trying to manage the First Family. They are likely to do fine without your help. "

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" If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much. "

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" Visit with your predecessors from previous Administrations. They know the ropes and can help you see around some corners. Try to make original mistakes, rather than needlessly repeating theirs. "

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" Arguments of convenience lack integrity and inevitably trip you up. "

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" In politics, every day is filled with numerous opportunities for serious error. Enjoy it. "

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" In the execution of Presidential decisions work to be true to his views, in fact and tone. "

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" Don't be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it. "

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" If you try to please everybody, somebody's not going to like it. "

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" The price of being close to the President is delivering bad news. You fail him if you don't tell him the truth. Others won't do it. "

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" If the staff lacks policy guidance against which to test decisions, their decisions will be random. "

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" One of your tasks is to separate the 'personal' from the 'substantive.' The two can become confused, especially if someone rubs the President wrong. "

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" I don't do quagmires. "

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" Look for what's missing. Many advisors can tell a President how to improve what's proposed or what's gone amiss. Few are able to see what isn't there. "

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