Some highlights:

-On why he wrote it: “Because I believe it’s important to look back and reflect on my experience and talk to people about what I learned and what we can learn from it to hopefully change Washington for the better.”

-“The larger message has kind of have been lost in the mix to the original reaction to the book.”

-McClellan hopes his book will “help move us beyond the destructive partisan warfare of the past 15 years.”

-“The White House would prefer that I not talk openly about my experiences.”

-“I’m disappointed that things went so badly off track.”

-“I think I’m disappointed that things didn’t turn out the way we all hope things would turn out.”

-“During the last ten months of my time at the White House, I grew increasingly disillusioned by things.”

-Did the White House throw him under the bus? “Well, that’s one way to look at it.”

-“We got caught up in the excesses of the permanent campaign culture in Washington, D.C. … Everything is centered on shaping and manipulating the narrative to their advantage.

-On Iraq: “I felt like we were rushing into this, but because of my position and my affection for the president and my beliefs and trust for he and his advisors, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and, looking back on it now, I don’t think I should have.”

-“Just a few months after Sept. 11, [President Bush] had made a decision that we’re going to confront Saddam Hussein and if Saddam Hussein doesn’t come fully clean, we’re going to go tow ar. So there was really no flexibility in his approach and then it was put on his advisors, ‘How do we go about implementing this?'”

-On Dick Cheney: “In a number of ways, he has not served the president well.”

-Was Condoleezza Rice was more concerned with her reputation than with the good of the country? “Readers are going to have to make those judgments.”