The biggest mistakes early on involved foreign policy and involved the strategy for health care.
I don't think it should be a surprise when we're talking about energy and trying to have more home-grown energy be less reliant on foreign oil when you look at our health care that we're trying to get more affordable health care that these are going to create major debates in this country and be somewhat polarizing.
If you asked somebody 'what do you wish for in life?' they wouldn't say 'happiness.' I would have answered 'excitement knowledge ' God knows - I mean many many different things but certainly not 'happiness'. It seemed like a foreign concept to wish for something that specific and that singular.
The knowledge of languages was very useful. I have a university degree in foreign languages and literature.
Urban America has been redlined. Government has not offered tax incentives for investment as it has in a dozen foreign markets. Banks have redlined it. Industries have moved out they've redlined it. Clearly to break up the redlining process there must be incentives to green-line with hedges against risk.
Power must be used but it must be tempered by soul-searching and the recognition of our human capacity for error. That is the maxim that should inform our approach to every challenge from reforming state government to engaging in foreign affairs.
I am often asked if when I was secretary I had problems with foreign men. That is not who I had problems with because I arrived in a very large plane that said United States of America. I had more problems with the men in our own government.
We have a government that borrows $4 billion a day. We have a government that owes trillions of dollars in debt half of that to foreigners most of that to Chinese investors. I don't - that is extreme. Not only is it extreme. It's insane and it's unsustainable.
Whatever it is that the government does sensible Americans would prefer that the government does it to somebody else. This is the idea behind foreign policy.
Here is my first principle of foreign policy: good government at home.
One thing that I feel very very strongly is that we talk about Islamic countries Islamic people Islamic leaders as either moderates or extremists. It's almost like there are only two categories of Muslims. And actually that doesn't show respect. It shows lack of understanding of the diversity of Muslim thought.