On his mistakes in office:

“Clearly putting mission accomplished on an aircraft carrier was a mistake, it sent out the wrong message. Obviously some of my rhetoric has been a mistake.

"There have been disappointments. Abu Ghraib was a huge disappointment. Not having weapons of mass destruction was a huge disappointment. I do not know if you want to call it a mistake or not, but things didn’t go as planned. You can only make decisions on the information at hand. You stand by your decisions and you do your best to explain why you made the decisions you made.”

On his legacy for America:

“I disagree with the assessment that people view America in a dim light. Most people around the world respect America. Some of them do not like me but I’m more concerned about the country and people view the United States of America as a state of compassionate people that care deeply about the universality of freedom.”

On the challenges facing his successor:

“The most urgent threat he will have to deal with, and other presidents after him have got to deal with, is an attack on our homeland... I wish that I could report that’s not the case, but there’s still an enemy out there that would like to inflict damage on America - on Americans.”

On Barack Obama's inauguration:

“I was affected by the TV after the elections when I saw people saying: ’I never thought I would see the day that a black person would be elected president,’ and a lot of people had tears streaming down their cheeks when they said it. So I am considering myself fortunate to have a front-row seat at what is going to be an historic moment for the country. I think it is going to be an amazing moment... I wish him all the very best."

On life outside the spotlight:

"When I get out of here I'm getting off the state. There should only be one person in the klieg lights and I've had my time."

On working with the White House press corps:

"Through it all I have respected you. Sometimes I didn't like the stories you wrote or reported on - sometimes you misunderestimated me - but always I felt the relationship has been professional."

On retirement:

"I'm a type-A personality. I just cannot envision myself in a big straw hat and a hawaiian shirt lying on some beach, particularly since I quit drinking... I'm not quite sure what to expect."

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