Page 206 - Leadership Secrets of Hillary Clinton

LEADERSHIP SECRETS IN ACTION

ing of the president’s budget request. At the same time, I
will work just as hard to make sure that we manage those
resources prudently so that we fulfill our mission efficiently
and effectively.
In concluding, I hope you will indulge me one final
observation. Like most Americans, I never had the chance
to travel widely outside our country as a child or young
adult. Most of my early professional career was as a lawyer
and advocate for children and the poor, who found them-
selves on society’s margins here at home. But during the
eight years of my husband’s presidency, and then in my
eight years as a Senator, I have been privileged to travel on
behalf of the United States to more than 80 countries.
I’ve had the opportunity to get to know many world
leaders. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Com-
mittee I’ve spent time with our military commanders as
well as our brave troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan,
and I have immersed myself in an array of military issues.
I’ve spent many hours with American and non-American
aid workers, businessmen and women, religious leaders,
teachers, doctors, nurses, students, volunteers, and others
who have made it their mission to help people across the
world. I have also learned invaluable lessons from count-
less ordinary citizens in foreign capitals, small towns, and
rural villages whose lives offered a glimpse into a world far
removed from what many of us experience on a daily basis
here in America.

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