All of the things that you become interested in doing, the President can do and the Senate cannot, particularly in the area of foreign policy it is the President who controls and who can effect results. The President, all public officials, today face serious and sophisticated problems unheard of in the 19th Century where political leaders dealt for several generations with the problems of the development of the West, slavery, tariffs and the currency. With the new complexity and intensity of political problems, I think the politics and politicians have changed. A good many of the politicians I know in the Senate are quiet and thoughtful men, certainly not extroverts. A successful politician today must communicate, must have and communicate a sense of intelligence and integrity, and he must be willing to work.
Money helps, of course.
It is desirable for anyone to have financial security in whatever they do, but it is certainly not an essential for success. That fact is that people with private resources who've succeeded in politics are comparatively rare. They were both successful political leaders and great presidents. In looking back I would say that I've never regretted my choice of profession, even though I cannot know what the future will bring. I hope all Americans, men and women, regardless of what may be their chosen profession, will consider giving some of their life to the field of politics.