You always have certain strengths and certain weaknesses, and you want to compensate for your weaknesses... I have a real duty to earn the trust of the faculty. I don't just deserve it. I have to earn it.

Bowles and Simpson co-lead a business group The Campaign to Fix the Debt. He was also asked by North Carolina Gov. " Despite his praise of Ryan Bowles says he plans on voting for President Obama in November.

In 2010 Bowles served as the Democratic co-chair of President Barack Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform with Alan K. In 1997–98 he served as White House Chief of Staff and he also ran unsuccessfully for a North Carolina United States Senate seat in 2002 and 2004. He served from 2005 to 2010 as the President of the University of North Carolina system.