It took a long time, but he succeeded.

VOA: special.2009.03.18

"It took us a long time to get here. It is going to take some time for us to work through this.

VOA: standard.2009.04.05

"Insurgencies last a long time." "But,as you look at how long it took to turn Iraq around, it was about 18 months.

VOA: standard.2010.07.22