Quotes from The Associated Press interview with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., on Wednesday, a few hours after he returned from Afghanistan, where he helped persuade President Hamid Karzai to accept a runoff election.
On his meetings with Karzai:
_ "This is a man who believed deeply that he won. And that he and his country were being insulted by people for the efforts they made to have a democratic race."
_ "The real importance of what we announced yesterday will be defined in the days and the months ahead by the decisions that they make and we make, and by the actions that people take. Not just by arriving at the agreement. The agreement doesn't do what you need to do unless it's implemented to its fullest possibility."
On his advice to President Barack Obama at the White House, regarding whether and when to send more troops to Afghanistan:
_ "I said, 'Mr. President, I just visited with young Americans, you know, putting themselves on the line for you. They need to know they're fighting for a government that has legitimacy and that they, too, can believe in.'"
_ "The critical question here is what is our strategy. What are we trying to achieve and how."
On the division of labor between himself and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton:
_ "I had a lot more time. She did the phone calls, and that's a briefer amount of time."
_ One time, "I was in the room when she called. And they had a very respectful conversation. It was at the earlier stage when he was pretty forceful about not doing this or that."
_ "My luxury was that I could take a little more time. But I turned up the dial a few times, believe me."
On whether he might be interested in serving as secretary of state after Clinton:
_ "Seriously, this is a great job. I'm able to work closely as a partner with Hillary. And work closely with a president that I worked very hard to help get into office."
On Kerry's loss in the 2004 presidential election and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's influence:
_ Kennedy "advised me initially to run for president again. That was his first advice, not long after the race, about six months after. He thought there was no reason in the world that I shouldn't think about doing it again. He felt very strongly about that."
_ "One of the things I'm proud of is that literally when the campaign was over, I did not go down for some period of time and hide and sit around and say, 'What happened?'"
_ "I kept working. Bottom line is one of those things that Ted Kennedy said to me: 'Look, you know, go do the work. You gotta do the work. Stay steady. Keep your head down and you know, life changes.'"
Source: AP News
