John Kerry in CBS "Face the Nation" interviews during 2018

On Principles & Values: Let's get back to fact-based democracy

KERRY: You work to implement our democracy by reaching out across the aisle, by building relationships. But right now we have a culture divide. Our political so-called leaders are operating in a fact-less world. My book is a display of the ways in which you challenge those who would try to tear it apart and not deal with facts and how you in fact can hold the system accountable and get back to the fact-based democracy we rely on.

Q: Are you going to be hitting the campaign trail?

KERRY: You bet I am. I think that's the most important work we can do right now--trying to elect people on a national basis and restore the leadership that the country needs.

Q: Are you going to run in 2020?

KERRY: I'm really not thinking about it. Talking about 2020 right now is a total distraction and waste of time. What we need to do is focus on 2018.

On War & Peace: Change calculation in Syria by enforcing ceasefires

KERRY: Well, from the moment I was nominated, I said we have to change Assad's calculation. Throughout the 4 years I was secretary of state, I always raised the issue about how we needed to change that calculation. I particularly believed that after Assad had been violating ceasefires. It was clear he needed to be taught a lesson. He needed to know that we were going to hold him accountable. I believed that we had several options we could have done at very low risk. The President was not persuaded by my argument.

Q: Was he too risk averse?

KERRY: No, I think he had an attitude about Syria and a judgment about Syria. The President is the decider. And he had a feeling about where that might take him if he made some of the decisions that I and others proffered.

On War & Peace: Use of force to respond to Syrian sarin gas attacks

KERRY: Chemical weapons. Yes, that's absolutely correct. And I supported President Trump's response to those partially. I supported the use of force, but I don't support just a one-off where you drop a few bombs and there's no follow-up diplomacy. I thought that President Trump should have done that.

Q: You thought President Obama should have done that, too.

KERRY: Yes. That's correct.

Q: [As Obama's Secretary of State] you were sent around the world to rally support for other countries to stand with the US to say that this red line on use of chemical weapons needed to be enforced. How difficult was that for you given that the President decided not to go through with those military strikes.

KERRY: Congress was clearly not going to give him the authority that he wanted.

Q: But you thought that the President could have gone ahead with those strikes?

KERRY: I did. Yes, I did.