Why should I expect to be exempt from censure; the unfailing lot of an elevated station? My Heart tells me it has been my unremitted aim to do the best circumstances would permit; yet, I may have been very often mistaken in my judgment of the means.

I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.

I'm not the smartest fellow in the world, but I can sure pick smart colleagues.

I must, in candor, say I do not think myself fit for the Presidency.

Every leader should have enough humility to accept, publicly, the responsibility for the mistakes of the subordinates he has himself selected and, likewise, to give them credit, publicly, for their triumphs.

America's leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.