Bill Clinton on The 4 Elements That Determine Every Presidency (2008)

“When you go there to Washington, what you do as President is a function of about four things. Number one, believe it or not, most Presidents do try to keep their promises. President Bush, most of the things he did that people thought contradicted the compassionate-conservative label, he actually talked about [those things] very specifically in the campaign. It’s just that a lot of people didn’t listen. But most people actually try to do what they say they’re going to do … Then they have to deal with the incoming fire. Nobody asked President Bush how he stood on Katrina or 9/11 because no one knew it would happen. That happens to every President. And then you have to deal with the Congress, and the things that may come up that they care about, because if you don’t deal with what other people care about, then they have no incentive to deal with what you care about. But the fourth thing – that nobody thinks about – has to do with how you organize The White House.”