David Shulkin: “Senator Dole is an amazing person, and her foundation is doing amazing work.”

I came to Washington with the commitment to make our system work better for veterans. That's the commitment that I went to work every day. I continue to feel strongly about that. There was no reason why I would resign.

I received a phone call saying that the President wanted to make a change, and that's certainly his prerogative to do that, and that's what happened.

This is a tough job for anybody to do. What the successful secretary needs to do is to build a team around them because this is bigger than any one person, and to work very collaboratively with veteran service organizations and Congress.

It is my hope we can work together to ensure talented medical professional remain in the VA to deliver quality care to our veterans.