But we should not lose sight of how far we are coming and what a big hole we were left by George W. Bush.

History is full of times when the inevitable front-runner is inevitable right up until he or she is no longer inevitable.

We have now under President Obama's leadership had 29 months in a row of private sector job growth. That stretch of positive private sector job growth hasn't happened since 2005. We still have a long way to go, but we are moving in the right direction.

Leadership is about making the right decision and the best decision before, sometimes, it becomes entirely popular.

As long as we can establish the bona fides of the leadership of Boko Haram, we are prepared as a government to discuss with them how to get the girls back. But we have not established any evidence of a credible leadership.

Our government has made infrastructure upgrade and the creation of smart cities major national priorities.

Individual actions are important because in any democracy, citizens need to feel agency. If you feel powerless, totally powerless, it's psychologically dangerous.

I'm focused on leaks that hurt the institution of the president and the president himself. I understand we have to leak things to reporters to help shape policy or try to balloon things or do tests on ideas or people for different jobs. I'm talking about nefarious, unnecessary, backstabbing, palace intrigue-like leaks.