I had learned many years ago in private business never to take responsibility without adequate authority; and the new Secretary of Defense, as budgets were sharply cut, quickly found that out.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
In the first rule of politics, you know, Harry Truman, the buck stops here. Take responsibility. What I've learned over the years is that people will give people in politics a lot of rope if they just take responsibility.
Those who enjoy responsibility usually get it; those who merely like exercising authority usually lose it.
I was given the opportunity to run a business, but on that very same day, I understood that it comes with a lot of responsibility, and responsibility comes at a price.
Responsibility without power, the fate of the secretary through the ages.
Those who govern, having much business on their hands, do not generally like to take the trouble of considering and carrying into execution new projects. The best public measures are therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom, but forced by the occasion.
I actively avoided responsibility for as long as I possibly could.
While people out there on the spot certainly have to be held accountable for what they've done personally, the chain of command responsibility for this strikes me as just as important and should be dealt with.
I am responsible for managing more schoolteachers' and firemen's money than anybody in the world. That's an enormous responsibility.
I have to take responsibility for anything that happened within its businesses.
If you're going to give people authority and hold them responsible and ultimately accountable for their performance, you've got to get out of the way.