Lincoln had bad press, too. He wasn't appreciated until after he was gone.

My favorite thought about Abraham Lincoln is he believed in two things: loving one another and working together to make this world better.

Yeah. Just think, if I had been there the speeches would have gone on even longer. Maybe two hours!

I had not even thought of running for president until one day in 1991, at a small fund-raiser, completely unanticipated, someone stood up and said, 'Hey, Mario, in all the years we've supported you, we've never heard you talk about the presidency, and we want to know why not.'

David Robinson chose to stay at Navy. He talked about commitment, loyalty and values. I wonder how many of us would choose these virtues rather than the chance of becoming a millionaire, especially if you were a college sophomore when you had to make that choice.

I just signed to do my next book with Ecco Press, a new primer or encyclopedia. This will be my take on what classic Italian cooking is.