Tough Decisions
Hard calls, trade-offs, and unpopular choices that leaders must own.
There is probably a perverse pride in my administration... that we were going to do the right thing, even if short-term it was unpopular. And I think anybody who's occupied this office has to remember that success is determined by an intersection in policy and politics and that you can't be neglecting of marketing and P.R. and public opinion.
SourceAs quoted in "The Education of President Obama" by Peter Baker in The New York Times Magazine (12 October 2010) · via Wikiquote
My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.
I hope to stand firm enough to not go backward, and yet not go forward fast enough to wreck the country's cause.
The shift to a cleaner energy economy wont happen overnight, and it will require tough choices along the way. But the debate is settled. Climate change is a fact.
I don't care whether you're driving a hybrid or an SUV. If you're headed for a cliff, you have to change direction. That's what the American people called for in November, and that's what we intend to deliver.
You have to go with the person who you have the most confidence in, the most consistent. And if it doesn't work, it doesn't work, but I'm going down with that person.
My mom was on the United Way group that decides how to allocate the money and looks at all the different charities and makes the very hard decisions about where that pool of funds is going to go.
In a budget, how important is art versus music versus athletics versus computer programming? At the end of the day, some of those trade-offs will be made politically.
'American Graffiti' was unpleasant because of the fact that there was no money, no time, and I was compromising myself to death.
I always say, decisions I make, I live with them. There's always ways you can correct them or ways you can do them better. At the end of the day, I live with them.
I don't even like firing people. I don't think I've ever said, 'You're fired' to anybody.
You CAN have it all. You just can't have it all at once.
I've thought it would be cool to have a baby young. You know, be my road dog - like my dogs, they travel the world - but there's always something you have to give up for success. Everything comes at a cost. Just what are you willing to pay for it?
It's hard to edit. It's hard to stay focused. And yet, we know we'll only do our best work if we stay focused. And so, you know, the hardest decisions we made are all the things not to work on, frankly.
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