I certainly know that this relationship could not have continued the way it did when I was at the Pentagon and the president was obviously at the White House without Betty.

The relationship between the prophet and the President the priest and the President is a sacred one.

I spend a great deal of time with the President. We have a very close personal loyal relationship. I'm not as they say a potted plant in these meetings.

There is but one way for a president to deal with Congress and that is continuously incessantly and without interruption. If it is really going to work the relationship has got to be almost incestuous.

Nowhere has the political power of coal been more obvious than in presidential campaigns.

In the sense that you're not at the centre of power like a president or prime minister of a major power everyone is marginalised my position doesn't isn't unique in that respect. I think there are different sorts of relevance in different contexts.

There is much to dislike about President Obama's approach to the financial crisis. But opposition it seems will have to come from somewhere other than conservatism. The party out of power is also a party out of touch.

Given the daunting challenges that we face it's important that president elect Obama is prepared to really take power and begin to rule day one.

I foresee the Chinese ruling the world. What are you going to do to stop it? No president of the United States will ever have enough power to stop the Chinese when they want to take over the world.

Whether it comes from a despotic sovereign or an elected president from a murderous general or a beloved leader I see power as an inhuman and hateful phenomenon.