Mandates are rarely won on election night. They are earned after Inauguration Day by leaders who spend their political capital wisely, taking advantage of events without overreaching.

At the start of his second term, one wonders less about Obama's fitness than his willingness: Why doesn't he do more to build and maintain the relationships required to govern in era of polarization?

It's a deft trick to turn American exceptionalism into an exceptional political tactic.

According to a Public Policy Polling survey, most Americans find lice and colonoscopies more appealing than Capitol Hill.

With gridlock the norm, Congress's approval rating is below 10 percent and the public has lost faith in its national leadership.

Blending hard-bitten realism with long-view optimism, Obama said that every 20 or 30 years brings a new cycle of pessimism in America.

Although we were never pals and occasionally butted heads, my relationship with Clinton and his wife, Hillary, made me a better journalist.

President George W. Bush won reelection in 2004 largely because he was seen as comfortable in his own skin, while rival John Kerry was viewed as a flip-flopping opportunist.

Obama might do well to remember that his fast rise from the Illinois state Senate was due in large part to an uncanny ability to make friends and find mentors.

I'm hearing echoes of Bill Clinton, circa 1996, in President Obama's reelection rhetoric.

For a man who has compared himself to Theodore Roosevelt and the nation's challenges to those of the Gilded Age, Obama put forward a tepid agenda.

I like to listen to music that fits with what I'm writing. For each book, I've assembled a playlist, so readers can get a sense of what I was listening to while I was writing.

Tabloid photos capture people at their most self-conscious and disoriented; in real life, Paris Hilton is like an elegant paper crane.

Instead of tryig to stop thought when you meditate, focus your attention on love. Suddenly you'll find your thoughts are slacking. Light is everywhere and suddenly there is no thought.

I find that half of people I meet are open and want the world to love and be loved, but there are others who are bigoted and hurtful, and want to vote for Trump.

You will come to know that what appears today to be a sacrifice will prove instead to be the greatest investment that you will ever make.

The encore is the short piece after the program has finished, where the performer brings out something that the audience doesn't expect.

Never give up! And remember, determination is as important as talent.

I'm off to save the universe again. It's a tough job but someone has to do it, and I'm glad it's me.

My reason is not framed to bend or stoop: my knees are.

We are created for community, fashioned for fellowship, and formed for a family, and none of us can fulfill God's purposes by ourselves.