At Odessa We Became Texans, And Proud

I Can Tell You This: If I'm Ever In A Position To Call The Shots, I'm Not Going To Rush To Send Somebody Else's Kids Into A War.

I'm Going To Be So Much Better A President For Having Been At The Cia That You're Not Going To Believe It.

Going In And Occupying Iraq, Thus Unilaterally Exceeding The United Nations' Mandate, Would Have Destroyed The Precedent Of International Response To Aggression That We Hoped To Establish. Had We Gone The Invasion Route, The United States Could Conceivably Still Be An Occupying Power In A Bitterly Hostile Land.

I Think The Major Event That Shaped My Life Was Being A Naval Aviator. I Got My Commission And Wings At 18 Years Old, And Then I Went Into Combat At 19. And I Think, As I Look Back On It, That Whole Experience Probably Shaped My Life More Than Any Incident, Or Any Event.

If I Were To Give Advice To Young People, High-achieving Young People For Example, I’d Have To Say, Don’t Neglect Your Family. Politics Is Important, Sitting At The Head Table Is Glamorous. Traveling Around The World, Trying To Do Something For World Peace Was Wonderful. But Family And Friends And Faith Are What Really Matter In Life. And I Know That. I See It So Clearly Now.