Jon Huntsman, Jr. Quotes

You can be stern and forthright, and that’s my management style, but when you lose it totally, that’s a sign of weakness.

It’s taken a lot of presidents to get us where we are today, a lot of deployments, a lot of wars, a lot engagements. You add them all up.

I’m a true native of the Bay Area.

I love music, I love all kinds of music, particularly jazz. Jazz is an extension of America. There’s no other country in the world that could have produced jazz.

My sense is that we’re ready for another industrial revolution in this country. The great minds and innovators of Silicon Valley would come through China and say, The pipeline is full of ideas – there’s personalized medicine, biotechnology, new forms to power ourselves, clean energy, etc., etc.

I had the trade minister in China sit down as we were preparing for trade negotiations. He said, ‘Please don’t let people in the United States lose their confidence because when you lose your confidence, the rest of the world suffers‘.

When America closes its doors, so does everybody else. We are the primary engine of growth in the world and we are the only beacon of free trade left, and open markets.

I’m surprised that we’ve gotten to a point where we don’t put our country first and put our party first.

I would vote to increase the debt limit if there was a corresponding level of cuts. And if there was some serious talk about a balanced budget amendment, which we as governors always had to deal with.

Politics is a lot of serendipity. You’re in the right place and the right time and you’ve got the right message, and it either connects for you or, or it doesn’t.

That’s what governors do, they wrestle with the issues, they find solutions and they move the agenda forward. At the appropriate time we’ll talk about all of these issues, while remembering that our party is a big tent party. We lose when we try to become exclusive to one particular set of issues.

I can’t stomach the thought that we are passing down to the next generation a country that is less viable, less good, less competitive, less compassionate than the one we got.

In our own state, we came up with, I think, what was a very novel approach to closing the gap on the uninsured. To harmonize medical records – which was a major step in getting costs out of the system.

We’re fighting an enemy that is far different than any we have got before. It’s a nontraditional kind of war, and I think we need to step back, recalibrate how we go about protecting our borders and protecting our people, and resetting our position in the world.

I’m a very spiritual person, and proud of my Mormon roots.

It’s a tribal state, and it always will be. Whether we like it or not, whenever we withdraw from Afghanistan, whether it’s now or years from now, we’ll have an incendiary situation. Should we stay and play traffic cop? I don’t think that serves our strategic interests.

What is important is that you’re honest with the American people.

I don’t think you need to run down someone‘s reputation in order to run for the office of president.

People truly reaching across boundaries – be they religious or race, political or geographic. A state that is sincerely civil and respectful of each individual‘s pathway toward life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness will be our goal.

My father, one of the great entrepreneurs and philanthropists of this state, taught me that capital – monetary or political – is to be used to benefit others. I intend to continue that tradition.

I’m not competing in Iowa for a reason.

But economic recovery must be earned. And it will be earned by entrepreneurs and it will be earned by small businesses.

I was criticized at some level within the Republican Party by those who say government should not be in the economic development business at all. My response is that the only country I know that doesn’t have an economic development plan is Papa New Guinea.

I respect the president. He and I have a difference of opinion on how to help the country we both love. But the question each of us wants the voters to answer is who will be the better president, not who is the better American.

Normal people don’t just wake up in the morning and say I think it’d be a good idea to run for president of the United States.