"In the Sotomayor case, they weren't willing to take it on," said Geoffrey R. Stone, a University of Chicago law school professor and former colleague of Mr. Obama's who joined a group letter to the president last month urging more assertive judicial appointments.
Experts urged more testing.
Mr. Ishihara, once a novelist, achieved notoriety in the United States with his 1989 book, "The Japan That Can Say No," which urged a more assertive policy toward America.
DENVER — Michigan State arrived at the N.C.A.A. tournament believing that its long-range hopes rested largely in the steady hands of the senior guard Drew Neitzel, who has been urged to become more assertive on offense.
He urged Germany to be more assertive in pursuit of its national interests, "like England and France".
Speaking last month, he urged blacks to be more assertive on issues like affirmative action and enhancing black economic power.
When he left office, in 2009, he initially planned to fish and lay low, but Liz urged him to be more assertive, to criticize the Obama Administration, to defend his record and the family name, and to write a book.
She urged physicians to be more assertive in educating pregnant women about the benefits of good nutrition and in explaining why breast feeding was better than formula feeding for both mother and child.
She repeatedly urges women to be more assertive in the workplace.
But with regard to aid, he added, "I wouldn't cut it off," and he urged the administration to "be more assertive" in using it to press Egyptian officials to protect or restore freedoms.
