Latest Leon Panetta Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• I have tremendous confidence in the ability of government institutions and the American people to do what is right to make sure that our democracy stays on the right track.

  Leon Panetta

  People, Track, Democracy

  Source: www.npr.org

• I think it's extremely important that the president Donald Trump himself indicate that he too wants to discover the full truth behind what the Russians did to elections 2016.

  Leon Panetta

  Thinking, Important, President

  Source: www.npr.org

• We have throughout our history been tested when it comes to the institutions of our democracy. And thank God our forefathers were smart enough to establish a government of checks and balances to make sure that power cannot be centralized in any one branch of government. And those institutions have proven themselves.

  Leon Panetta

  Smart, Democracy, Balance

  Source: www.npr.org

• I think my best advice would be to separate Donald Trump, the president of the United States from whatever investigation is being conducted by the FBI. I mean, there is something to be said, frankly, about the need for the appointment of an independent prosecutor because the American people are entitled to have a full review of what happened as a result of what the Russians did during our election.

  Leon Panetta

  Mean, Independent, Thinking

  Source: www.npr.org

• My experience is that the director of the FBI is particularly important to just how aggressive an investigation will be into an issue. And once you remove James Comey, it creates a vacuum at the top. And the fundamental issue will be whether or not there is support at the highest levels within the FBI to continue to conduct that investigation. That's going to be the question mark.

  Leon Panetta

  Support, Important, Aggressive

  Source: www.npr.org

• People elected Donald Trump because he acts decisively. He fired James Comey. He didn't fire the entire FBI. If there's something there, the FBI is going to continue to investigate it.

  Leon Panetta

  People, Fbi

  Source: www.npr.org

• I think a quality that a national security adviser must have is the ability to set up procedures.

  Leon Panetta

  Thinking, Quality, Procedures

  Source: www.pbs.org

• One of the principal qualities that you need as national security adviser is trust, the trust of the president. And that depends on truth and it depends on honesty.

  Leon Panetta

  Honesty, President, Quality

  Source: www.pbs.org

• The reason we've always had a civilian in that job [Secretary of Defence] is because we really believe that it is policymakers who ought to control the military and not have the military control the military.

  Leon Panetta

  Jobs, Military, Believe

  Source: www.npr.org

• The terrorism from 9/11 has metastasized. It's metastasized in Iraq and Syria, in Nigeria, in Somalia, in Yemen and in other places in North Africa. We need a very comprehensive strategy to deal with that threat.

  Leon Panetta

  Iraq, Needs, Yemen

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• Obama really does recognize the threats that are out there; I think he understands the world. He understands the role of America in that troubled world.

  Leon Panetta

  Thinking, America, Doe

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• Caution is an important quality in a leader, but it has to be caution followed by decision. Caution followed by ambivalence can be a weakness.

  Leon Panetta

  Decision, Leader, Important

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• The United States has to be a leader in the world, because the problem is: If we are not leading, nobody else will.

  Leon Panetta

  Leader, United States, World

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• My impression is that Putin feels that he can basically manipulate the West to do what he ultimately wants to achieve, and that he feels he's gotten away with it so far, and that all he has to do is basically play the same game.

  Leon Panetta

  Games, Play, Want

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• Clearly, Russia has lied to the world about what's going on in Ukraine. They have clearly violated the cease-fire agreements.

  Leon Panetta

  Fire, Russia, Ukraine

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• Russians understand strength, and if they feel that their opponents are weak, they will take advantage of it.

  Leon Panetta

  Opponents, Weak, Advantage

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• The one thing that I remember from all of my intelligence briefings and my dealings with the Russians is that when you deal with the Russians, you have to deal with them from strength, not from weakness.

  Leon Panetta

  Weakness, Remember, Briefing

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• We are a nation at war. This is also a time for hard choices. It's about ensuring that we are able to prevail in the conflicts in which we are now engaged. But it's also about being able to be strong and disciplined in applying our nation's limited resources to defending America.

  Leon Panetta

  Strong, War, America