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Robert Gates

Robert Michael Gates (born September 25, 1943) is an American intelligence analyst and university president who served as the 22nd United States secretary of defense from 2006 to 2011. He was appointed by President George W. Bush and was retained by President Barack Obama. Gates began his career serving as an officer in the United States Air Force but was quickly recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).[2] Gates served for twenty-six years in the CIA and at the National Security Council, and was director of central intelligence under President George H. W. Bush from 1991 to 1993. After leaving the CIA, Gates became president of Texas A&M University and was a member of several corporate boards. Gates served as a member of the Iraq Study Group, the bipartisan commission co-chaired by James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton that studied the lessons of the Iraq War.

Robert Gates
Official portrait, 2006
22nd United States Secretary of Defense
In office
December 18, 2006 – June 30, 2011
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Barack Obama
DeputyGordon R. England
William J. Lynn III
Preceded byDonald Rumsfeld
Succeeded byLeon Panetta
24th Chancellor of the College of William & Mary
Assumed office
February 3, 2012
PresidentW. Taylor Reveley III
Katherine Rowe
Preceded bySandra Day O'Connor
22nd President of Texas A&M University
In office
August 1, 2002 – December 16, 2006
Preceded byRay M. Bowen
Succeeded byEd J. Davis (Interim)
15th Director of Central Intelligence
In office
November 6, 1991 – January 20, 1993
PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush
DeputyRichard James Kerr
William O. Studeman
Preceded byWilliam H. Webster
Succeeded byR. James Woolsey Jr.
Acting
December 18, 1986 – May 26, 1987
PresidentRonald Reagan
Preceded byWilliam J. Casey
Succeeded byWilliam H. Webster
17th United States Deputy National Security Advisor
In office
March 20, 1989 – November 6, 1991
PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush
Preceded byJohn Negroponte
Succeeded byJonathan Howe
16th Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
In office
April 18, 1986 – March 20, 1989
PresidentRonald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
Preceded byJohn N. McMahon
Succeeded byRichard James Kerr
36th National President of the Boy Scouts of America
In office
2014–2016
Preceded byWayne M. Perry
Succeeded byRandall Stephenson
Personal details
Born
Robert Michael Gates

(1943-09-25) September 25, 1943 (age 80)
Wichita, Kansas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican[1]
Spouse
Becky Wilkie
(m. 1967)
Children2
EducationCollege of William & Mary (BA)
Indiana University Bloomington (MA)
Georgetown University (PhD)
Signature
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Air Force
Years of service1967–1969
RankFirst lieutenant

Gates was nominated by Republican president George W. Bush as secretary of defense in 2006, replacing Donald Rumsfeld.[3] He was confirmed with bipartisan support.[4] In 2007, Time named Gates one of the year's most influential people.[4] In 2008, Gates was named one of America's Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report.[5] He continued to serve as secretary of defense in President Barack Obama's administration[6] and retired in 2011. "He'll be remembered for making us aware of the danger of over-reliance on military intervention as an instrument of American foreign policy," said former senator David L. Boren.[7] Gates was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, by President Obama during his retirement ceremony.[8]

Since leaving the Obama administration, Gates was elected president of the Boy Scouts of America, served as Chancellor of the College of William & Mary, and served as a member on several corporate boards. In 2012, Gates was elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.[9]

Early life and education edit

Gates was born in Wichita, Kansas, the son of Isabel V. (née Goss) and Melville A. "Mel" Gates.[10] Gates attained the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and Silver Buffalo Award[11] from the BSA as an adult.[12][13] He graduated from Wichita High School East in 1961.[14] Gates is also a Vigil Honor member within the Order of the Arrow, BSA's National Honor Society. He was selected as the 2017 BSA National Alumnus of the Year.[15]

Gates then received a scholarship to attend the College of William & Mary, graduating in 1965 with a B.A. in history. At William & Mary, Gates was an active member and president of the Alpha Phi Omega (national service fraternity) chapter and the Young Republicans; he was also the business manager for the William and Mary Review, a literary and art magazine.[16] At his William & Mary graduation ceremony, Gates received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award naming him the graduate who "has made the greatest contribution to his fellow man".[16]

Gates then received an M.A. in the history of Eastern Europe and the south Slavs from Indiana University Bloomington in 1966.[17] He completed his PhD in Russian and Soviet history at Georgetown University in 1974 under Joseph Schiebel, who had been heavily influenced by Karl Wittfogel's studies on "Soviet communism and its resemblance to oriental despotism and the Asiatic mode of production, [and] the role of government in controlling all of society."[17] The title of his Georgetown doctoral dissertation is Soviet Sinology: An Untapped Source for Kremlin Views and Disputes Relating to Contemporary Events in China[18] and is available from University Microfilms International as document number 7421652.

Gates was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from William & Mary (1998), the University of Oklahoma (2011),[19][20] Georgetown University (2014)[21] and from Kansas State University (2012).

He married Rebecca "Becky" Gates (née Wilkie) on January 7, 1967, and they have two children.[22][23]

Intelligence career edit

Junior positions edit

While at Indiana University, Gates was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency and joined in 1966.[24] On January 4, 1967, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force after attending Officer Training School under CIA sponsorship.[22][24] From 1967 to 1969, he was assigned to the Strategic Air Command as an intelligence officer, which included a year at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where he delivered intelligence briefings to Intercontinental Ballistic Missile crews.[25] After fulfilling his military obligation, he rejoined the CIA as an intelligence analyst.[26] He wrote his doctoral thesis while serving as a professional intelligence officer.[17]

Gates left the CIA in 1974 to serve on the staff of the National Security Council. He returned to the CIA in late 1979, serving briefly as the director of the Strategic Evaluation Center, Office of Strategic Research. He was named the Director of the DCI/DDCI Executive Staff in 1981, Deputy Director for Intelligence in 1982, and Deputy Director of Central Intelligence from April 18, 1986, to March 20, 1989.

Deputy National Security Advisor edit

Under President George H. W. Bush, Gates was Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs from March until August 1989, and was Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser under Brent Scowcroft from August 1989 until November 1991.

Gates was nominated to become the Director of Central Intelligence (head of the CIA) in early 1987. He withdrew his name after it became clear the Senate would reject the nomination due to controversy about his role in the Iran-Contra Affair.[27]

Director of Central Intelligence edit

 
Gates while Director of Central Intelligence

Gates was nominated, for the second time, for the position of Director of Central Intelligence by Bush on May 14, 1991, confirmed by the Senate on November 5, and sworn in on November 6.[28]

During a Senate committee hearing on his nomination, former division chief Melvin Goodman testified that the agency was the most corrupt and slanted during the tenure of William Casey with Gates serving as deputy. According to Goodman, Gates was part of an agency leadership that proliferated false information and ignored 'reality'. National Intelligence Council chairman Harold P. Ford testified that during his tenure, Gates had transgressed professional boundaries.[29]

Deputy directors during his tenure were Richard J. Kerr (from November 6, 1991, until March 2, 1992) and Adm. William O. Studeman (from April 9, 1992, through the remainder of Gates's tenure). He served until 1993. It is notable that the reluctance of the Bush administration to involve itself in the breakup of Yugoslavia was due in no small part to three advisors who had deep exposure to the region: Scowcroft, Lawrence Eagleburger and himself: "We saw the historical roots of this conflict and the near nonexistent potential for solving it, for us fixing it."[17]

Level of involvement in the Iran–Contra scandal edit

Because of his senior status in the CIA, Gates was close to many figures who played significant roles in the Iran–Contra Affair and was in a position to have known of their activities. In 1984, as deputy director of CIA, Gates advocated that the U.S. initiate a bombing campaign against Nicaragua and that the U.S. do everything in its power short of direct military invasion of the country to remove the Sandinista government.[30]

Gates was an early subject of Independent Counsel's investigation, but the investigation of Gates intensified in the spring of 1991 as part of a larger inquiry into the Iran–Contra activities of CIA officials. This investigation received an additional impetus in May 1991, when President George H. W. Bush nominated Gates to be Director of Central Intelligence (DCI). The chairman and vice chairman of the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) requested, in a letter to the Independent Counsel on May 15, 1991, any information that would "significantly bear on the fitness" of Gates for the CIA post.

Gates consistently testified that he first heard on October 1, 1986, from Charles E. Allen, the national intelligence officer who was closest to the Iran initiative, that proceeds from the Iran arms sales may have been diverted to support the Contras. Other evidence proves, however, that Gates received a report on the diversion during the summer of 1986 from DDI Richard Kerr.[31] The issue was whether the Independent Counsel could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Gates was deliberately not telling the truth when he later claimed not to have remembered any reference to the diversion before meeting with Allen in October.

 
President George H. W. Bush meets with Robert Gates, General Colin Powell, Secretary Dick Cheney and others about the situation in the Persian Gulf and Operation Desert Shield, January 15, 1991

Grand jury secrecy rules hampered Independent Counsel's response. Nevertheless, in order to answer questions about Gates's prior testimony, Independent Counsel accelerated his investigation of Gates in the summer of 1991. This investigation was substantially completed by September 3, 1991, at which time Independent Counsel determined that Gates's Iran–Contra activities and testimony did not warrant prosecution.

Independent Counsel made this decision subject to developments that could have warranted reopening his inquiry, including testimony by Clair E. George, the CIA's former deputy director for operations. At the time Independent Counsel reached this decision, the possibility remained that George could have provided information warranting reconsideration of Gates's status in the investigation. George refused to cooperate with Independent Counsel and was indicted on September 19, 1991. George subpoenaed Gates to testify as a defense witness at George's first trial in the summer of 1994, but Gates was never called.

The final report of the Independent Counsel for Iran–Contra Scandal, issued on August 4, 1993, said that Gates "was close to many figures who played significant roles in the Iran/contra affair and was in a position to have known of their activities. The evidence developed by Independent Counsel did not warrant indictment ..."[32]

Career after leaving the CIA edit

1993–1999 edit

After retiring from the CIA in 1993, Gates worked as an academic and lecturer. He evaluated student theses for the International Studies Program of the University of Washington. He lectured at Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Indiana, Louisiana State, Oklahoma, and the College of William & Mary. Gates served as a member of the Board of Visitors of the University of Oklahoma International Programs Center and a trustee of the endowment fund for the College of William & Mary, his alma mater, which in 1998 conferred upon him honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.[33] In 1996, Gates's autobiography, From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War, was published. Gates has also written numerous articles on government and foreign policy and has been a frequent contributor to the op-ed page of The New York Times.[34]

Texas A&M edit

 
Gates at Texas A&M

Gates was the interim Dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University from 1999 to 2001. On August 1, 2002, he became the 22nd president of Texas A&M. As the university president, Gates made progress in four key areas of the university's "Vision 2020" plan, a plan to become one of the top 10 public universities by 2020. The four key areas include improving student diversity, increasing the size of the faculty, building new academic facilities, and enriching the undergraduate and graduate education experience.[35] During his tenure, Gates encouraged the addition of 440 new faculty positions and a $300 million campus construction program, and saw increases in minority enrollment. On February 2, 2007, Gates was conferred the title of president emeritus by unanimous vote of the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents. Gates and his wife Becky received honorary doctoral degrees from Texas A&M on August 10, 2007.[36]

Gates left the presidency of Texas A&M University on December 16, 2006,[37] and was sworn in two days later as Secretary of Defense. He returned on April 21, 2009, as the speaker for the annual Aggie Muster ceremony. He is one of only 6 speakers not to be a graduate of Texas A&M University since Dwight D. Eisenhower spoke in 1946.[38] In his affiliation with A&M, Gates has served on the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board.[39]

Corporate boards edit

Gates has been a member of the board of trustees of Fidelity Investments, and on the board of directors of NACCO Industries, Inc., Brinker International, Inc., Parker Drilling Company, Science Applications International Corporation, and VoteHere, a technology company which sought to provide cryptography and computer software security for the electronic election industry.[40] Following his nomination, a White House spokeswoman said that Gates planned to sell all the stock he owns in individual companies and sever all ties with them if confirmed by the Senate.[41]

Public service edit

Gates is a former president of the National Eagle Scout Association.[42]

In January 2004, Gates co-chaired a Council on Foreign Relations task force on U.S. relations towards Iran. Among the task force's primary recommendation was to directly engage Iran on a diplomatic level regarding Iranian nuclear technology. Key points included a negotiated position that would allow Iran to develop its nuclear program in exchange for a commitment from Iran to use the program only for peaceful means.[43]

At the time of his nomination by President George W. Bush to the position of Secretary of Defense, Gates was also a member of the Iraq Study Group, also called the Baker Commission, which was expected to issue its report in November 2006, following the mid-term election on November 7. He was replaced by former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger.

Declined appointment as Director of National Intelligence edit

In February 2005, Gates wrote in a message posted on his school's website that "there seems to be a growing number of rumors in the media and around campus that I am leaving Texas A&M to become the new director of national intelligence in Washington, D.C." The message said that "To put the rumors to rest, I was indeed asked to take the position, wrestled with perhaps the most difficult—and close—decision of my life, and last week declined the position."[44]

Gates committed to remain as president of Texas A&M University and President George W. Bush offered the position of United States Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to John Negroponte, who accepted.[45]

Gates said in a 2005 discussion with the university's Academy for Future International Leaders that he had tentatively decided to accept the DNI position out of a sense of duty and had written an email that would be sent to students during the press conference to announce his decision, explaining that he was leaving to serve the U.S. once again. Gates, however, took the weekend to consider what his final decision should be, and ultimately decided that he was unwilling to return to Washington, D.C., in any capacity, simply because he "had nothing to look forward to in D.C. and plenty to look forward to at A&M".[46]

Secretary of Defense edit

 
Gates boards a UH-60 Blackhawk, Camp Monteith, Kosovo

Bush administration edit

 
Gates being sworn in as Defense Secretary on December 18, 2006

On November 8, 2006, after the 2006 midterm election, President George W. Bush announced his intent to nominate Gates to succeed the resigning Donald Rumsfeld as U.S. Secretary of Defense.[47][48]

Gates was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate Armed Services Committee on December 5, 2006. During his confirmation hearing on December 5, 2006, Gates replied to a question that, in his opinion, the United States was neither winning nor losing the war in Iraq.[49] The next day, Gates was confirmed by the full Senate by a margin of 95–2, with Republican Senators Rick Santorum and Jim Bunning casting the two dissenting votes and senators Elizabeth Dole, Evan Bayh, and Joe Biden not voting.[50] On December 18, 2006, Gates was sworn in as Secretary of Defense by White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten at a private White House ceremony and then by Vice President Dick Cheney at the Pentagon.[51]

 
Gates with Japan Minister of Defense Shigeru Ishiba at Japan in November 2007

Under the Bush administration, Gates directed the war in Iraq's troop surge, a marked change in tactics from his predecessor.[52] With violence on the decline in Iraq, in 2008, Gates also began the troop withdrawal of Iraq, a policy continued into the Obama administration.

 
Gates, Vice President Joe Biden, Admiral Mike Mullen and General Jim Mattis in Baghdad, Iraq

Walter Reed Medical Center scandal edit

Several months after his appointment, The Washington Post published a series of articles beginning February 18, 2007, that brought to the spotlight the Walter Reed Army Medical Center neglect scandal.[53] As a result of the fallout from the incident, Gates announced the removal of Secretary of the Army Francis J. Harvey, and later, he approved the removal of Army Surgeon General Kevin C. Kiley.[54]

Controversy over Joint Chiefs edit

On June 8, 2007, Gates announced that he would not recommend the renomination of Peter Pace, the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, due to anticipated difficulties with the confirmation process. Instead, Gates recommended Mike Mullen, the Chief of Naval Operations at the time, to fill the position. Gates stated: "I am no stranger to contentious confirmations, and I do not shrink from them. However, I have decided that at this moment in our history, the nation, our men and women in uniform, and General Pace himself would not be well-served by a divisive ordeal in selecting the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff." Gates referred to Pace as a friend and praised his service as a Marine.[55]

Misshipments of nuclear weapons edit

On June 5, 2008, in response to the findings on Air Force misshipments of nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons components, Gates announced the resignations of Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Michael Moseley.[56] Gates would later write that the USAF was "one of my biggest headaches" during his time in the office.[57]

Obama administration edit

 
Gates with Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak at the Pentagon in 2009

On December 1, 2008, President-elect Obama announced that Robert Gates would remain in his position as Secretary of Defense during his administration,[6] reportedly for at least the first year of Obama's presidency.[58] Gates was the fourteenth Cabinet member in history to serve under two presidents of different parties, and the first to do so as Secretary of Defense. One of the first priorities under President Barack Obama's administration for Gates was a review of U.S. policy and strategy in Afghanistan.[59] Gates, sixth in the presidential line of succession, was selected as designated survivor during Obama's inauguration.[60] On March 1, 2009, he told David Gregory on Meet the Press that he would not commit to how long he would serve as Secretary of Defense but implied that he would not serve the entire first term.[61]

 
Former Committee chairman Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia, far right) shakes hands with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, while Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont, center right) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) look on. The hearing was held to discuss further funding for the War in Iraq.

While Gates continued the troop withdrawals in Iraq, which already had begun in the Bush administration, he also implemented a rapid, limited surge of troops in Afghanistan in 2009.[62] Robert Gates removed General David D. McKiernan from command in Afghanistan on May 6, 2009[63][64] and replaced him with General Stanley A. McChrystal. The Washington Post called it "a rare decision to remove a wartime commander". The Washington Post described the replacement as one of several replacements of generals who represented the "traditional Army" with generals "who have pressed for the use of counter-insurgency tactics".[63]

 
Gates is greeted by Indonesian military members after arriving in Jakarta, Indonesia on July 22, 2010.

In December 2009, Gates visited Afghanistan following President Barack Obama's announcement of the deployment of 30,000 additional personnel against the Taliban insurgency.[65]

 
Gates with Afghan president Hamid Karzai in March 2011

Time magazine notes that Gates and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have "forged a formidable partnership", speaking frequently, "comparing notes before they go to the White House", meeting with each other weekly and having lunch once a month at either the Pentagon or the State Department.[66]

In a March 2010 speech to a NATO conference in Washington, Secretary Gates said that "The demilitarization of Europe—where large swaths of the general public and political class are averse to military force and the risks that go with it—has gone from a blessing in the 20th century to an impediment to achieving real security and lasting peace in the 21st".[67]

 
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates walks with Indian Defense Minister A. K. Antony, at the Ministry of Defense in New Delhi, India, February 27, 2008. Gates also met with the Indian Prime Minister during his trip to the region.

Gates announced in February 2010 that the department would lift its ban on women serving on submarines.[68] Gates also prepared the armed forces for the repeal of the don't ask, don't tell policy. Since the repeal in 2010, homosexuals are able to serve in the military openly.[69] In service of that goal, he announced in late March 2010 the approval of new regulations that would make it more difficult to kick gays out of the military. Gates called the guideline changes, which went into effect immediately, a matter of "common sense and common decency" that would be "an important improvement" allowing the Pentagon to apply current law in "a fairer and more appropriate" manner. The Pentagon's legal counsel, Jeh Johnson, said the new regulations are by no means a moratorium on the current law and stressed that cases would move forward under the new standards.[70]

In August 2010, speaking to Foreign Policy magazine Secretary Gates said that he would remain as Secretary of Defense until 2011 and then retire. "I think that it would be a mistake to wait until January 2012," he said. "This is not the kind of job you want to fill in the spring of an election year."[71][72]

In March 2011, Gates directed the role of the United States armed forces in the 2011 military intervention in Libya. While aboard a military aircraft on March 20, 2011, Gates told the press that "military forces are just one way to bring stability to Libya".[73]

 
Gates sitting with Obama, Biden, and the U.S. national security team gathered in the Situation Room to monitor the progress of Operation Neptune Spear

Gates was photographed in the White House Situation Room photograph taken on May 1, 2011, by Pete Souza during the raid that killed Al-Qaeda terrorist organization leader Osama bin Laden.[74]

Gates officially retired as Secretary of Defense on July 1, 2011, and was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, by President Obama during his retirement ceremony.[8]

Fiscal restraint edit

Gates's tenure with the Obama administration included a huge shift in military spending. In April 2009, Gates proposed a large shift in budget priorities in the U.S. Department of Defense 2010 budget. The budget cuts included many programs geared toward conventional warfare, such as the end of new orders of the F-22 Raptor, and further development of Future Combat Systems manned vehicles. However, these cuts were counterbalanced by increases in funding for programs like the special forces.[75] Gates called this the "nation's first truly 21st century defense budget".[76] In late April 2010, he suggested the Navy cease funding development of a new multibillion-dollar ballistic missile submarine program on the grounds of cost and relevancy.[77] He suggested the hundreds of billions of dollars would be better spent on a new generation of vessels tailored to the threats and tactics more likely to be faced, noting, "Mark my words, the Navy and Marine Corps must be willing to re-examine and question basic assumptions in light of evolving technologies, new threats and budget realities."[78] In a speech made on May 8, 2010, Gates stated that he would make politically unpopular cuts to the Pentagon bureaucracy in his future budgets.[79][80]

The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, opened a gusher of defense spending that nearly doubled the base budget over the last decade ... Military spending on things large and small can and should expect closer, harsher scrutiny. The gusher has been turned off, and will stay off for a good period of time.[79][80]

 
Gates speaks to Navy SEAL trainees, NAB Coronado, California, 2010

It was announced in August 2010 that Gates was trying to find $100 billion in Defense savings through to 2015, in order to instill a "culture of savings and restraint" in the military. Secretary Gates said that "It is important that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past, where tough economic times or the winding down of a military campaign leads to steep and unwise reductions in defense". Gates said "As a matter of principle and political reality, the Department of Defense cannot expect America's elected representatives to approve budget increases each year unless we are doing a good job, indeed everything possible, to make every dollar count".[81] These cuts included the closing of the Joint Forces Command, the redundancy of fifty general and admirals, and the removal of 150 senior civilian positions.

NATO comments edit

On January 16, 2008, Gates was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying NATO forces in southern Afghanistan do not know how to properly combat a guerrilla insurgency and that could be contributing to rising violence in the country.[82] The Netherlands[83] and United Kingdom[84] protested.

In a June 10, 2011, speech in Brussels,[85] before NATO, Gates again stated that other NATO members must do more as the United States tackles its budget deficit. He said bluntly that[86]

In the past, I've worried openly about NATO turning into a two-tiered alliance: Between members who specialize in "soft" humanitarian, development, peacekeeping and talking tasks, and those conducting the "hard" combat missions. Between those willing and able to pay the price and bear the burdens of alliance commitments, and those who enjoy the benefits of NATO membership—be they security guarantees or headquarters billets—but don't want to share the risks and the costs. This is no longer a hypothetical worry. We are there today. And it is unacceptable. The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the U.S. Congress—and in the American body politic writ large—to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense. Nations apparently willing and eager for American taxpayers to assume the growing security burden left by reductions in European defense budgets. Indeed, if current trends in the decline of European defense capabilities are not halted and reversed, future U.S. political leaders—those for whom the Cold War was not the formative experience that it was for me—may not consider the return on America's investment in NATO worth the cost.

College chancellor (2011–2025) edit

 
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks with Robert Gates and Leon Panetta, November 2013
 
Gates at the LBJ Library in 2016

On September 6, 2011, it was announced that Gates had accepted the position of chancellor at the College of William & Mary, succeeding Sandra Day O'Connor for a seven-year term.[87] He took the office of the chancellor on February 3, 2012.[88]

In September 2018, Gates was re-appointed to serve a second seven-year term as chancellor at the College of William & Mary.[89]

Extracurricular activities edit

Gates is a Principal, along with Condoleezza Rice, Stephen Hadley and Anja Manuel, in RiceHadleyGates LLC, a strategic consulting firm.[90]

Gates also serves as an honorary director on the board of directors at the Atlantic Council.[91]

On May 2, 2012, Starbucks Corporation announced that Gates had been elected to the Starbucks board of directors. He will serve on the board's nominating and corporate governance committee.[92]

On October 30, 2013, the Boy Scouts of America announced that Gates had been elected to the National executive board. While on this board, he will serve as the national president-elect. In May 2014, he began a two-year-long term as the BSA national president. Randall Stephenson, chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T Inc. serves under Gates as the president-elect. Gates has succeeded Wayne Perry as the national president.[93] On May 21, 2015, Gates stated that the "status quo [ban on gay adult leaders] in [the BSA] movement's membership standards cannot be sustained" and that he would no longer seek to revoke the charters of scout units that accept gay adult leaders.[94]

In the wake of the annexation of Crimea in March 2014, Gates wrote an op-ed piece on Vladimir Putin, Russian expansionism, the nascent sanctions regime, the US military budget, and the need for bold leadership.[95]

Gates, along with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other Republican former foreign policy officials, recommended to incoming president Donald Trump that ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson be considered for the Trump administration as Secretary of State.[96][97]

Gates, along with all other living former secretaries of defense, ten in total, published a Washington Post op-ed piece 3 January 2021 telling President Trump not to involve the military in determining the outcome of the 2020 elections.[98] Three days later, the Capitol was attacked by Trump supporters.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gates participated as a member of the National Advisory Council for the COVID Collaborative.[99]

Memoirs edit

In his memoir, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War, Gates alternately criticized and praised Obama's military leadership, writing, "I never doubted [his] support for the troops, only his support for their mission [in Afghanistan]", and "I was very proud to work for a president who had made one of the most courageous decisions I had ever witnessed in the White House" by authorizing the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden.[100][101]

Criticism edit

 
Gates responds to a question during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on December 5, 2006

As deputy director and director of America's leading intelligence agency for many years, Gates and his CIA staff have been faulted for failing to accurately gauge the decline and disintegration of the Soviet Union. More particularly, Gates has been criticized for allegedly concocting evidence to show that the Soviet Union was stronger than it actually was.[102] George Shultz said that, while Secretary of State from 1982 to 1989, he felt the CIA under Gates was trying to "manipulate" him, that the agency was "a big powerful machine not under good control. I distrust what comes out of it."[103] Shultz personally convinced Reagan that the U.S. should soften its stance towards the USSR after Gorbachev came to power in 1985; Shultz told Gates at the time that his CIA was "usually wrong" about the Soviet Union, having dismissed Gorbachev's policies as "just another Soviet attempt to deceive us."[104] In 1991, Stansfield Turner, former Director of Central Intelligence, described the "enormity of this failure to forecast the magnitude of the Soviet crisis. ... I never heard a suggestion from the CIA ... that numerous Soviets recognized a growing systemic economic problem."[105] Turner said this failure was a consequence of deliberate distortion by those in the upper echelon of the CIA who were helping to sell the Reagan administration's defense buildup, a view backed by former CIA analyst Melvin Goodman at Gates's 1991 confirmation hearings: "[William] Casey seized on every opportunity to exaggerate the Soviet threat ... [while] Gates' role in this activity was to corrupt the process and the ethics of intelligence."[106] Reviewing the third installment of Gates's memoirs in 2016, Goodman said, "In my 24 years at the CIA, there was never the kind of toxic atmosphere that existed when Gates served as deputy director for intelligence, deputy director of CIA, and finally director of CIA."[107] Also, according to Newsweek, Gates, as deputy director of CIA, allegedly vouched for the comprehensiveness of a CIA study presented to the Senate and President Reagan alleging that the Soviet Union played a role in the 1981 shooting of Pope John Paul II. A CIA internal review later denounced the report as being skewed,[102] but that Gates did not try to influence the report's conclusions.[108]

Shortly after his retirement from his tenure as Defense Secretary in summer 2011, during a meeting of the National Security Council Principals Committee, Gates highlighted many of the measures taken by the U.S. to advance Israel's security during the Obama administration, including providing access to state of the art weaponry, assisting with the development of missile-defense systems, and sharing high-level intelligence, before expressing his view that the U.S. has received nothing in return from the Israeli government with regards to the peace process. According to senior U.S. administration sources, other officials present offered no rebuttal to Gates's analysis. This was not the first time Gates publicly expressed frustration with the Netanyahu government, with which he had worked hard to provide wide-scale and deep military cooperation.[109] The Likud party of Israel responded to Gates's description of Benjamin Netanyahu as a danger to Israel's future by claiming that most Israelis support the prime minister.[110]

Publications edit

Articles edit

Awards and decorations edit

Gates's awards and decorations include:

Government awards
Other awards

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ "Gates: Military looks to accelerate Iraq pullout". NBC News. Associated Press. December 1, 2008. from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved May 5, 2009. Gates also cleared up confusion about his political affiliation. During his tenure at the CIA, he said, he thought he should be apolitical so he did not register with a political party. But, he added, "I consider myself a Republican."
  2. ^ Gates, Robert (1996). From The Shadows (2006 Paperback ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 20–21.
  3. ^ "Robert M. Gates – George W. Bush / Barack Obama Administration". Office of the Secretary of Defense – Historical Office. from the original on February 7, 2017. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
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Sources edit

  • . Texas A&M University. 2003. Archived from the original on September 20, 2006.
  • Clark, J. Ransom. . The Literature of Intelligence: A Bibliography of Materials, with Essays, Reviews, and Comments. Archived from the original on November 25, 2005.
  • Gates, Robert M. (1997). From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-83497-9.
  • Nauman, Brett (February 1, 2005). "Gates passes on intelligence czar post". The Bryan-College Station Eagle. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
  • . Directors & Deputy Directors of Central Intelligence. Center for the Study of Intelligence, CIA. 2004. Archived from the original on August 3, 2006.

Bibliography edit

  • Robert Gates, , 1999, CIA
  • Robert Gates, Frontline The Gulf War: An Oral History: Interview with Robert Gates, Deputy National Security Advisor, 2001, PBS.org
  • Robert Gates, , Foreign Affairs (January/February 2009)

Further reading edit

  • Burka, Paul. "Agent of Change", Texas Monthly (November 2006)
  • Jervis, Robert.  "Serving or Self-Serving? A Review Essay of Robert Gates's Memoir." Political Science Quarterly 129#2 (Summer 2014): 319-331.
  • Murphey, Dwight D.  "A Provocative Look at Robert Gates' Memoirs of a Secretary at War " Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies 39#3 (Fall 2014): 342-362.

External links edit

  • Biography at the United States Department of Defense
  • Robert Gates's The ABC's of Spying
  • Robert Gates's Interview with app2us.com
  • DefenseLink Biography: Robert M. Gates
  • Robert M. Gates, Secretary of Defense Nominee: A Bibliography at Georgetown University Law Library
  • Ubben Lecture at DePauw University
  • Appearances on C-SPAN
  • Robert Gates on Charlie Rose
  • Robert Gates collected news and commentary at The New York Times
  • Interview on YouTube by Leon Charney on The Leon Charney Report. Robert Gates discusses his book "From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five presidents and How They Won the Cold War." October 13, 1996.
  • Gates on relations with China: Nov. 2007 visit, June 1, 2007
  • The Reinvention of Robert Gates by Michael Crowley, The New Republic, November 9, 2009
  • Robert Gates, former secretary of defense discusses his book "DUTY: Memoirs of a Secretary at War." January 14, 2014.
  • Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (October 24, 1991). Nomination of Robert M. Gates to be Director of Central Intelligence. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. Exec. Rept. 102-19.
Government offices
Preceded by Chair of the National Intelligence Council
1983–1986
Succeeded by
Frank Horton III
Preceded by Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
1986–1989
Succeeded by
Preceded by Director of Central Intelligence
1991–1993
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Deputy National Security Advisor
1989–1991
Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Secretary of Defense
2006–2011
Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by President of Texas A&M University
2002–2006
Succeeded by
Ed J. Davis
Acting
Preceded by Chancellor of the College of William and Mary
2012–present
Incumbent
Boy Scouts of America
Preceded by President of the Boy Scouts of America
2014–2016
Succeeded by
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Former US Cabinet Member Order of precedence of the United States
as Former US Cabinet Member
Succeeded byas Former US Cabinet Member

robert, gates, this, article, about, civil, servant, other, uses, disambiguation, robert, michael, gates, born, september, 1943, american, intelligence, analyst, university, president, served, 22nd, united, states, secretary, defense, from, 2006, 2011, appoint. This article is about the civil servant For other uses see Robert Gates disambiguation Robert Michael Gates born September 25 1943 is an American intelligence analyst and university president who served as the 22nd United States secretary of defense from 2006 to 2011 He was appointed by President George W Bush and was retained by President Barack Obama Gates began his career serving as an officer in the United States Air Force but was quickly recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency CIA 2 Gates served for twenty six years in the CIA and at the National Security Council and was director of central intelligence under President George H W Bush from 1991 to 1993 After leaving the CIA Gates became president of Texas A amp M University and was a member of several corporate boards Gates served as a member of the Iraq Study Group the bipartisan commission co chaired by James A Baker III and Lee H Hamilton that studied the lessons of the Iraq War Robert GatesOfficial portrait 200622nd United States Secretary of DefenseIn office December 18 2006 June 30 2011PresidentGeorge W BushBarack ObamaDeputyGordon R EnglandWilliam J Lynn IIIPreceded byDonald RumsfeldSucceeded byLeon Panetta24th Chancellor of the College of William amp MaryIncumbentAssumed office February 3 2012PresidentW Taylor Reveley IIIKatherine RowePreceded bySandra Day O Connor22nd President of Texas A amp M UniversityIn office August 1 2002 December 16 2006Preceded byRay M BowenSucceeded byEd J Davis Interim 15th Director of Central IntelligenceIn office November 6 1991 January 20 1993PresidentGeorge H W BushDeputyRichard James KerrWilliam O StudemanPreceded byWilliam H WebsterSucceeded byR James Woolsey Jr Acting December 18 1986 May 26 1987PresidentRonald ReaganPreceded byWilliam J CaseySucceeded byWilliam H Webster17th United States Deputy National Security AdvisorIn office March 20 1989 November 6 1991PresidentGeorge H W BushPreceded byJohn NegroponteSucceeded byJonathan Howe16th Deputy Director of Central IntelligenceIn office April 18 1986 March 20 1989PresidentRonald ReaganGeorge H W BushPreceded byJohn N McMahonSucceeded byRichard James Kerr36th National President of the Boy Scouts of AmericaIn office 2014 2016Preceded byWayne M PerrySucceeded byRandall StephensonPersonal detailsBornRobert Michael Gates 1943 09 25 September 25 1943 age 80 Wichita Kansas U S Political partyRepublican 1 SpouseBecky Wilkie m 1967 wbr Children2EducationCollege of William amp Mary BA Indiana University Bloomington MA Georgetown University PhD SignatureMilitary serviceAllegianceUnited StatesBranch serviceUnited States Air ForceYears of service1967 1969RankFirst lieutenantRobert Gates s voice source source Robert Gates announces personnel changes amid Admiral William Fallon s resignation as commander of USCENTCOMRecorded April 23 2008 Gates was nominated by Republican president George W Bush as secretary of defense in 2006 replacing Donald Rumsfeld 3 He was confirmed with bipartisan support 4 In 2007 Time named Gates one of the year s most influential people 4 In 2008 Gates was named one of America s Best Leaders by U S News amp World Report 5 He continued to serve as secretary of defense in President Barack Obama s administration 6 and retired in 2011 He ll be remembered for making us aware of the danger of over reliance on military intervention as an instrument of American foreign policy said former senator David L Boren 7 Gates was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom the nation s highest civilian award by President Obama during his retirement ceremony 8 Since leaving the Obama administration Gates was elected president of the Boy Scouts of America served as Chancellor of the College of William amp Mary and served as a member on several corporate boards In 2012 Gates was elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration 9 Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Intelligence career 2 1 Junior positions 2 2 Deputy National Security Advisor 2 3 Director of Central Intelligence 2 4 Level of involvement in the Iran Contra scandal 3 Career after leaving the CIA 3 1 1993 1999 3 2 Texas A amp M 3 3 Corporate boards 3 4 Public service 3 5 Declined appointment as Director of National Intelligence 4 Secretary of Defense 4 1 Bush administration 4 1 1 Walter Reed Medical Center scandal 4 1 2 Controversy over Joint Chiefs 4 1 3 Misshipments of nuclear weapons 4 2 Obama administration 4 2 1 Fiscal restraint 4 2 2 NATO comments 5 College chancellor 2011 2025 5 1 Extracurricular activities 5 2 Memoirs 6 Criticism 7 Publications 7 1 Articles 8 Awards and decorations 9 References 9 1 Citations 9 2 Sources 10 Bibliography 11 Further reading 12 External linksEarly life and education editGates was born in Wichita Kansas the son of Isabel V nee Goss and Melville A Mel Gates 10 Gates attained the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America BSA and received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and Silver Buffalo Award 11 from the BSA as an adult 12 13 He graduated from Wichita High School East in 1961 14 Gates is also a Vigil Honor member within the Order of the Arrow BSA s National Honor Society He was selected as the 2017 BSA National Alumnus of the Year 15 Gates then received a scholarship to attend the College of William amp Mary graduating in 1965 with a B A in history At William amp Mary Gates was an active member and president of the Alpha Phi Omega national service fraternity chapter and the Young Republicans he was also the business manager for the William and Mary Review a literary and art magazine 16 At his William amp Mary graduation ceremony Gates received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award naming him the graduate who has made the greatest contribution to his fellow man 16 Gates then received an M A in the history of Eastern Europe and the south Slavs from Indiana University Bloomington in 1966 17 He completed his PhD in Russian and Soviet history at Georgetown University in 1974 under Joseph Schiebel who had been heavily influenced by Karl Wittfogel s studies on Soviet communism and its resemblance to oriental despotism and the Asiatic mode of production and the role of government in controlling all of society 17 The title of his Georgetown doctoral dissertation is Soviet Sinology An Untapped Source for Kremlin Views and Disputes Relating to Contemporary Events in China 18 and is available from University Microfilms International as document number 7421652 Gates was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from William amp Mary 1998 the University of Oklahoma 2011 19 20 Georgetown University 2014 21 and from Kansas State University 2012 He married Rebecca Becky Gates nee Wilkie on January 7 1967 and they have two children 22 23 Intelligence career editJunior positions edit While at Indiana University Gates was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency and joined in 1966 24 On January 4 1967 he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force after attending Officer Training School under CIA sponsorship 22 24 From 1967 to 1969 he was assigned to the Strategic Air Command as an intelligence officer which included a year at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri where he delivered intelligence briefings to Intercontinental Ballistic Missile crews 25 After fulfilling his military obligation he rejoined the CIA as an intelligence analyst 26 He wrote his doctoral thesis while serving as a professional intelligence officer 17 Gates left the CIA in 1974 to serve on the staff of the National Security Council He returned to the CIA in late 1979 serving briefly as the director of the Strategic Evaluation Center Office of Strategic Research He was named the Director of the DCI DDCI Executive Staff in 1981 Deputy Director for Intelligence in 1982 and Deputy Director of Central Intelligence from April 18 1986 to March 20 1989 Deputy National Security Advisor edit Under President George H W Bush Gates was Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs from March until August 1989 and was Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser under Brent Scowcroft from August 1989 until November 1991 Gates was nominated to become the Director of Central Intelligence head of the CIA in early 1987 He withdrew his name after it became clear the Senate would reject the nomination due to controversy about his role in the Iran Contra Affair 27 Director of Central Intelligence edit nbsp Gates while Director of Central Intelligence Gates was nominated for the second time for the position of Director of Central Intelligence by Bush on May 14 1991 confirmed by the Senate on November 5 and sworn in on November 6 28 During a Senate committee hearing on his nomination former division chief Melvin Goodman testified that the agency was the most corrupt and slanted during the tenure of William Casey with Gates serving as deputy According to Goodman Gates was part of an agency leadership that proliferated false information and ignored reality National Intelligence Council chairman Harold P Ford testified that during his tenure Gates had transgressed professional boundaries 29 Deputy directors during his tenure were Richard J Kerr from November 6 1991 until March 2 1992 and Adm William O Studeman from April 9 1992 through the remainder of Gates s tenure He served until 1993 It is notable that the reluctance of the Bush administration to involve itself in the breakup of Yugoslavia was due in no small part to three advisors who had deep exposure to the region Scowcroft Lawrence Eagleburger and himself We saw the historical roots of this conflict and the near nonexistent potential for solving it for us fixing it 17 Level of involvement in the Iran Contra scandal edit Because of his senior status in the CIA Gates was close to many figures who played significant roles in the Iran Contra Affair and was in a position to have known of their activities In 1984 as deputy director of CIA Gates advocated that the U S initiate a bombing campaign against Nicaragua and that the U S do everything in its power short of direct military invasion of the country to remove the Sandinista government 30 Gates was an early subject of Independent Counsel s investigation but the investigation of Gates intensified in the spring of 1991 as part of a larger inquiry into the Iran Contra activities of CIA officials This investigation received an additional impetus in May 1991 when President George H W Bush nominated Gates to be Director of Central Intelligence DCI The chairman and vice chairman of the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence SSCI requested in a letter to the Independent Counsel on May 15 1991 any information that would significantly bear on the fitness of Gates for the CIA post Gates consistently testified that he first heard on October 1 1986 from Charles E Allen the national intelligence officer who was closest to the Iran initiative that proceeds from the Iran arms sales may have been diverted to support the Contras Other evidence proves however that Gates received a report on the diversion during the summer of 1986 from DDI Richard Kerr 31 The issue was whether the Independent Counsel could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Gates was deliberately not telling the truth when he later claimed not to have remembered any reference to the diversion before meeting with Allen in October nbsp President George H W Bush meets with Robert Gates General Colin Powell Secretary Dick Cheney and others about the situation in the Persian Gulf and Operation Desert Shield January 15 1991 Grand jury secrecy rules hampered Independent Counsel s response Nevertheless in order to answer questions about Gates s prior testimony Independent Counsel accelerated his investigation of Gates in the summer of 1991 This investigation was substantially completed by September 3 1991 at which time Independent Counsel determined that Gates s Iran Contra activities and testimony did not warrant prosecution Independent Counsel made this decision subject to developments that could have warranted reopening his inquiry including testimony by Clair E George the CIA s former deputy director for operations At the time Independent Counsel reached this decision the possibility remained that George could have provided information warranting reconsideration of Gates s status in the investigation George refused to cooperate with Independent Counsel and was indicted on September 19 1991 George subpoenaed Gates to testify as a defense witness at George s first trial in the summer of 1994 but Gates was never called The final report of the Independent Counsel for Iran Contra Scandal issued on August 4 1993 said that Gates was close to many figures who played significant roles in the Iran contra affair and was in a position to have known of their activities The evidence developed by Independent Counsel did not warrant indictment 32 Career after leaving the CIA edit1993 1999 edit After retiring from the CIA in 1993 Gates worked as an academic and lecturer He evaluated student theses for the International Studies Program of the University of Washington He lectured at Harvard Yale Johns Hopkins Vanderbilt Georgetown Indiana Louisiana State Oklahoma and the College of William amp Mary Gates served as a member of the Board of Visitors of the University of Oklahoma International Programs Center and a trustee of the endowment fund for the College of William amp Mary his alma mater which in 1998 conferred upon him honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters 33 In 1996 Gates s autobiography From the Shadows The Ultimate Insider s Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War was published Gates has also written numerous articles on government and foreign policy and has been a frequent contributor to the op ed page of The New York Times 34 Texas A amp M edit nbsp Gates at Texas A amp M Gates was the interim Dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A amp M University from 1999 to 2001 On August 1 2002 he became the 22nd president of Texas A amp M As the university president Gates made progress in four key areas of the university s Vision 2020 plan a plan to become one of the top 10 public universities by 2020 The four key areas include improving student diversity increasing the size of the faculty building new academic facilities and enriching the undergraduate and graduate education experience 35 During his tenure Gates encouraged the addition of 440 new faculty positions and a 300 million campus construction program and saw increases in minority enrollment On February 2 2007 Gates was conferred the title of president emeritus by unanimous vote of the Texas A amp M University System Board of Regents Gates and his wife Becky received honorary doctoral degrees from Texas A amp M on August 10 2007 36 Gates left the presidency of Texas A amp M University on December 16 2006 37 and was sworn in two days later as Secretary of Defense He returned on April 21 2009 as the speaker for the annual Aggie Muster ceremony He is one of only 6 speakers not to be a graduate of Texas A amp M University since Dwight D Eisenhower spoke in 1946 38 In his affiliation with A amp M Gates has served on the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board 39 Corporate boards edit Gates has been a member of the board of trustees of Fidelity Investments and on the board of directors of NACCO Industries Inc Brinker International Inc Parker Drilling Company Science Applications International Corporation and VoteHere a technology company which sought to provide cryptography and computer software security for the electronic election industry 40 Following his nomination a White House spokeswoman said that Gates planned to sell all the stock he owns in individual companies and sever all ties with them if confirmed by the Senate 41 Public service edit Gates is a former president of the National Eagle Scout Association 42 In January 2004 Gates co chaired a Council on Foreign Relations task force on U S relations towards Iran Among the task force s primary recommendation was to directly engage Iran on a diplomatic level regarding Iranian nuclear technology Key points included a negotiated position that would allow Iran to develop its nuclear program in exchange for a commitment from Iran to use the program only for peaceful means 43 At the time of his nomination by President George W Bush to the position of Secretary of Defense Gates was also a member of the Iraq Study Group also called the Baker Commission which was expected to issue its report in November 2006 following the mid term election on November 7 He was replaced by former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger Declined appointment as Director of National Intelligence edit In February 2005 Gates wrote in a message posted on his school s website that there seems to be a growing number of rumors in the media and around campus that I am leaving Texas A amp M to become the new director of national intelligence in Washington D C The message said that To put the rumors to rest I was indeed asked to take the position wrestled with perhaps the most difficult and close decision of my life and last week declined the position 44 Gates committed to remain as president of Texas A amp M University and President George W Bush offered the position of United States Director of National Intelligence DNI to John Negroponte who accepted 45 Gates said in a 2005 discussion with the university s Academy for Future International Leaders that he had tentatively decided to accept the DNI position out of a sense of duty and had written an email that would be sent to students during the press conference to announce his decision explaining that he was leaving to serve the U S once again Gates however took the weekend to consider what his final decision should be and ultimately decided that he was unwilling to return to Washington D C in any capacity simply because he had nothing to look forward to in D C and plenty to look forward to at A amp M 46 Secretary of Defense edit nbsp Gates boards a UH 60 Blackhawk Camp Monteith Kosovo Bush administration edit nbsp Gates being sworn in as Defense Secretary on December 18 2006 On November 8 2006 after the 2006 midterm election President George W Bush announced his intent to nominate Gates to succeed the resigning Donald Rumsfeld as U S Secretary of Defense 47 48 Gates was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate Armed Services Committee on December 5 2006 During his confirmation hearing on December 5 2006 Gates replied to a question that in his opinion the United States was neither winning nor losing the war in Iraq 49 The next day Gates was confirmed by the full Senate by a margin of 95 2 with Republican Senators Rick Santorum and Jim Bunning casting the two dissenting votes and senators Elizabeth Dole Evan Bayh and Joe Biden not voting 50 On December 18 2006 Gates was sworn in as Secretary of Defense by White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten at a private White House ceremony and then by Vice President Dick Cheney at the Pentagon 51 nbsp Gates with Japan Minister of Defense Shigeru Ishiba at Japan in November 2007 Under the Bush administration Gates directed the war in Iraq s troop surge a marked change in tactics from his predecessor 52 With violence on the decline in Iraq in 2008 Gates also began the troop withdrawal of Iraq a policy continued into the Obama administration nbsp Gates Vice President Joe Biden Admiral Mike Mullen and General Jim Mattis in Baghdad Iraq Walter Reed Medical Center scandal edit Several months after his appointment The Washington Post published a series of articles beginning February 18 2007 that brought to the spotlight the Walter Reed Army Medical Center neglect scandal 53 As a result of the fallout from the incident Gates announced the removal of Secretary of the Army Francis J Harvey and later he approved the removal of Army Surgeon General Kevin C Kiley 54 Controversy over Joint Chiefs edit On June 8 2007 Gates announced that he would not recommend the renomination of Peter Pace the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff due to anticipated difficulties with the confirmation process Instead Gates recommended Mike Mullen the Chief of Naval Operations at the time to fill the position Gates stated I am no stranger to contentious confirmations and I do not shrink from them However I have decided that at this moment in our history the nation our men and women in uniform and General Pace himself would not be well served by a divisive ordeal in selecting the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gates referred to Pace as a friend and praised his service as a Marine 55 Misshipments of nuclear weapons edit On June 5 2008 in response to the findings on Air Force misshipments of nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons components Gates announced the resignations of Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Michael Moseley 56 Gates would later write that the USAF was one of my biggest headaches during his time in the office 57 Obama administration edit nbsp Gates with Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak at the Pentagon in 2009 On December 1 2008 President elect Obama announced that Robert Gates would remain in his position as Secretary of Defense during his administration 6 reportedly for at least the first year of Obama s presidency 58 Gates was the fourteenth Cabinet member in history to serve under two presidents of different parties and the first to do so as Secretary of Defense One of the first priorities under President Barack Obama s administration for Gates was a review of U S policy and strategy in Afghanistan 59 Gates sixth in the presidential line of succession was selected as designated survivor during Obama s inauguration 60 On March 1 2009 he told David Gregory on Meet the Press that he would not commit to how long he would serve as Secretary of Defense but implied that he would not serve the entire first term 61 nbsp Former Committee chairman Robert Byrd D West Virginia far right shakes hands with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates while Sens Patrick Leahy D Vermont center right and Tom Harkin D Iowa look on The hearing was held to discuss further funding for the War in Iraq While Gates continued the troop withdrawals in Iraq which already had begun in the Bush administration he also implemented a rapid limited surge of troops in Afghanistan in 2009 62 Robert Gates removed General David D McKiernan from command in Afghanistan on May 6 2009 63 64 and replaced him with General Stanley A McChrystal The Washington Post called it a rare decision to remove a wartime commander The Washington Post described the replacement as one of several replacements of generals who represented the traditional Army with generals who have pressed for the use of counter insurgency tactics 63 nbsp Gates is greeted by Indonesian military members after arriving in Jakarta Indonesia on July 22 2010 In December 2009 Gates visited Afghanistan following President Barack Obama s announcement of the deployment of 30 000 additional personnel against the Taliban insurgency 65 nbsp Gates with Afghan president Hamid Karzai in March 2011 Time magazine notes that Gates and U S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have forged a formidable partnership speaking frequently comparing notes before they go to the White House meeting with each other weekly and having lunch once a month at either the Pentagon or the State Department 66 In a March 2010 speech to a NATO conference in Washington Secretary Gates said that The demilitarization of Europe where large swaths of the general public and political class are averse to military force and the risks that go with it has gone from a blessing in the 20th century to an impediment to achieving real security and lasting peace in the 21st 67 nbsp Defense Secretary Robert M Gates walks with Indian Defense Minister A K Antony at the Ministry of Defense in New Delhi India February 27 2008 Gates also met with the Indian Prime Minister during his trip to the region Gates announced in February 2010 that the department would lift its ban on women serving on submarines 68 Gates also prepared the armed forces for the repeal of the don t ask don t tell policy Since the repeal in 2010 homosexuals are able to serve in the military openly 69 In service of that goal he announced in late March 2010 the approval of new regulations that would make it more difficult to kick gays out of the military Gates called the guideline changes which went into effect immediately a matter of common sense and common decency that would be an important improvement allowing the Pentagon to apply current law in a fairer and more appropriate manner The Pentagon s legal counsel Jeh Johnson said the new regulations are by no means a moratorium on the current law and stressed that cases would move forward under the new standards 70 In August 2010 speaking to Foreign Policy magazine Secretary Gates said that he would remain as Secretary of Defense until 2011 and then retire I think that it would be a mistake to wait until January 2012 he said This is not the kind of job you want to fill in the spring of an election year 71 72 In March 2011 Gates directed the role of the United States armed forces in the 2011 military intervention in Libya While aboard a military aircraft on March 20 2011 Gates told the press that military forces are just one way to bring stability to Libya 73 nbsp Gates sitting with Obama Biden and the U S national security team gathered in the Situation Room to monitor the progress of Operation Neptune Spear Gates was photographed in the White House Situation Room photograph taken on May 1 2011 by Pete Souza during the raid that killed Al Qaeda terrorist organization leader Osama bin Laden 74 Gates officially retired as Secretary of Defense on July 1 2011 and was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom the nation s highest civilian award by President Obama during his retirement ceremony 8 Fiscal restraint edit Gates s tenure with the Obama administration included a huge shift in military spending In April 2009 Gates proposed a large shift in budget priorities in the U S Department of Defense 2010 budget The budget cuts included many programs geared toward conventional warfare such as the end of new orders of the F 22 Raptor and further development of Future Combat Systems manned vehicles However these cuts were counterbalanced by increases in funding for programs like the special forces 75 Gates called this the nation s first truly 21st century defense budget 76 In late April 2010 he suggested the Navy cease funding development of a new multibillion dollar ballistic missile submarine program on the grounds of cost and relevancy 77 He suggested the hundreds of billions of dollars would be better spent on a new generation of vessels tailored to the threats and tactics more likely to be faced noting Mark my words the Navy and Marine Corps must be willing to re examine and question basic assumptions in light of evolving technologies new threats and budget realities 78 In a speech made on May 8 2010 Gates stated that he would make politically unpopular cuts to the Pentagon bureaucracy in his future budgets 79 80 The attacks of Sept 11 2001 opened a gusher of defense spending that nearly doubled the base budget over the last decade Military spending on things large and small can and should expect closer harsher scrutiny The gusher has been turned off and will stay off for a good period of time 79 80 nbsp Gates speaks to Navy SEAL trainees NAB Coronado California 2010 It was announced in August 2010 that Gates was trying to find 100 billion in Defense savings through to 2015 in order to instill a culture of savings and restraint in the military Secretary Gates said that It is important that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past where tough economic times or the winding down of a military campaign leads to steep and unwise reductions in defense Gates said As a matter of principle and political reality the Department of Defense cannot expect America s elected representatives to approve budget increases each year unless we are doing a good job indeed everything possible to make every dollar count 81 These cuts included the closing of the Joint Forces Command the redundancy of fifty general and admirals and the removal of 150 senior civilian positions NATO comments edit On January 16 2008 Gates was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying NATO forces in southern Afghanistan do not know how to properly combat a guerrilla insurgency and that could be contributing to rising violence in the country 82 The Netherlands 83 and United Kingdom 84 protested In a June 10 2011 speech in Brussels 85 before NATO Gates again stated that other NATO members must do more as the United States tackles its budget deficit He said bluntly that 86 In the past I ve worried openly about NATO turning into a two tiered alliance Between members who specialize in soft humanitarian development peacekeeping and talking tasks and those conducting the hard combat missions Between those willing and able to pay the price and bear the burdens of alliance commitments and those who enjoy the benefits of NATO membership be they security guarantees or headquarters billets but don t want to share the risks and the costs This is no longer a hypothetical worry We are there today And it is unacceptable The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the U S Congress and in the American body politic writ large to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense Nations apparently willing and eager for American taxpayers to assume the growing security burden left by reductions in European defense budgets Indeed if current trends in the decline of European defense capabilities are not halted and reversed future U S political leaders those for whom the Cold War was not the formative experience that it was for me may not consider the return on America s investment in NATO worth the cost College chancellor 2011 2025 edit nbsp Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks with Robert Gates and Leon Panetta November 2013 nbsp Gates at the LBJ Library in 2016 On September 6 2011 it was announced that Gates had accepted the position of chancellor at the College of William amp Mary succeeding Sandra Day O Connor for a seven year term 87 He took the office of the chancellor on February 3 2012 88 In September 2018 Gates was re appointed to serve a second seven year term as chancellor at the College of William amp Mary 89 Extracurricular activities edit Gates is a Principal along with Condoleezza Rice Stephen Hadley and Anja Manuel in RiceHadleyGates LLC a strategic consulting firm 90 Gates also serves as an honorary director on the board of directors at the Atlantic Council 91 On May 2 2012 Starbucks Corporation announced that Gates had been elected to the Starbucks board of directors He will serve on the board s nominating and corporate governance committee 92 On October 30 2013 the Boy Scouts of America announced that Gates had been elected to the National executive board While on this board he will serve as the national president elect In May 2014 he began a two year long term as the BSA national president Randall Stephenson chairman and chief executive officer of AT amp T Inc serves under Gates as the president elect Gates has succeeded Wayne Perry as the national president 93 On May 21 2015 Gates stated that the status quo ban on gay adult leaders in the BSA movement s membership standards cannot be sustained and that he would no longer seek to revoke the charters of scout units that accept gay adult leaders 94 In the wake of the annexation of Crimea in March 2014 Gates wrote an op ed piece on Vladimir Putin Russian expansionism the nascent sanctions regime the US military budget and the need for bold leadership 95 Gates along with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other Republican former foreign policy officials recommended to incoming president Donald Trump that ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson be considered for the Trump administration as Secretary of State 96 97 Gates along with all other living former secretaries of defense ten in total published a Washington Post op ed piece 3 January 2021 telling President Trump not to involve the military in determining the outcome of the 2020 elections 98 Three days later the Capitol was attacked by Trump supporters During the COVID 19 pandemic Gates participated as a member of the National Advisory Council for the COVID Collaborative 99 Memoirs edit In his memoir Duty Memoirs of a Secretary at War Gates alternately criticized and praised Obama s military leadership writing I never doubted his support for the troops only his support for their mission in Afghanistan and I was very proud to work for a president who had made one of the most courageous decisions I had ever witnessed in the White House by authorizing the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden 100 101 Criticism edit nbsp Gates responds to a question during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on December 5 2006 As deputy director and director of America s leading intelligence agency for many years Gates and his CIA staff have been faulted for failing to accurately gauge the decline and disintegration of the Soviet Union More particularly Gates has been criticized for allegedly concocting evidence to show that the Soviet Union was stronger than it actually was 102 George Shultz said that while Secretary of State from 1982 to 1989 he felt the CIA under Gates was trying to manipulate him that the agency was a big powerful machine not under good control I distrust what comes out of it 103 Shultz personally convinced Reagan that the U S should soften its stance towards the USSR after Gorbachev came to power in 1985 Shultz told Gates at the time that his CIA was usually wrong about the Soviet Union having dismissed Gorbachev s policies as just another Soviet attempt to deceive us 104 In 1991 Stansfield Turner former Director of Central Intelligence described the enormity of this failure to forecast the magnitude of the Soviet crisis I never heard a suggestion from the CIA that numerous Soviets recognized a growing systemic economic problem 105 Turner said this failure was a consequence of deliberate distortion by those in the upper echelon of the CIA who were helping to sell the Reagan administration s defense buildup a view backed by former CIA analyst Melvin Goodman at Gates s 1991 confirmation hearings William Casey seized on every opportunity to exaggerate the Soviet threat while Gates role in this activity was to corrupt the process and the ethics of intelligence 106 Reviewing the third installment of Gates s memoirs in 2016 Goodman said In my 24 years at the CIA there was never the kind of toxic atmosphere that existed when Gates served as deputy director for intelligence deputy director of CIA and finally director of CIA 107 Also according to Newsweek Gates as deputy director of CIA allegedly vouched for the comprehensiveness of a CIA study presented to the Senate and President Reagan alleging that the Soviet Union played a role in the 1981 shooting of Pope John Paul II A CIA internal review later denounced the report as being skewed 102 but that Gates did not try to influence the report s conclusions 108 Shortly after his retirement from his tenure as Defense Secretary in summer 2011 during a meeting of the National Security Council Principals Committee Gates highlighted many of the measures taken by the U S to advance Israel s security during the Obama administration including providing access to state of the art weaponry assisting with the development of missile defense systems and sharing high level intelligence before expressing his view that the U S has received nothing in return from the Israeli government with regards to the peace process According to senior U S administration sources other officials present offered no rebuttal to Gates s analysis This was not the first time Gates publicly expressed frustration with the Netanyahu government with which he had worked hard to provide wide scale and deep military cooperation 109 The Likud party of Israel responded to Gates s description of Benjamin Netanyahu as a danger to Israel s future by claiming that most Israelis support the prime minister 110 Publications editArticles edit The Dysfunctional Superpower Foreign Affairs September 29 2023 111 The Scowcroft Model Foreign Affairs August 13 2020 112 The Overmilitarization of American Foreign Policy Foreign Affairs June 2 2020 113 Helping Others Defend Themselves Foreign Affairs May 1 2010 114 A Balanced Strategy Foreign Affairs January 1 2009 115 The CIA and Foreign Policy Foreign Affairs December 1 1987 116 Awards and decorations editGates s awards and decorations include Government awards nbsp Presidential Medal of Freedom 117 nbsp Presidential Citizens Medal nbsp National Security Medal nbsp National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal 2 awards nbsp Distinguished Intelligence Medal 3 awards Other awards Liberty Medal 2011 Eagle Scout Distinguished Eagle Scout Award Silver Buffalo Award Vigil Honor Order of the Arrow Distinguished Service Award DSA Order of the Arrow August 4 2015 Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy from Kansas State University 118 Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from College of William and Mary Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Georgetown University Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Indiana University 119 Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from The University of Oklahoma Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Yale University Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Notre Dame Honorary Doctorate of Public Administration from The University of South Carolina 120 College of William and Mary Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award College of William and Mary Alumni Association Alumni Medallion Corps of Cadets Hall of Honor First and only Non Corps Honoree Texas A amp M University Arthur S Flemming Award of 1978 Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement 1992 121 George Bush Award 2007 George Bush Presidential Library Foundation Aviation Week amp Space Technology Magazine Person of the Year 2008 122 MTV University Man of the Year 2010 123 124 Foreign Policy s list of top global thinkers for being America s last bipartisan figure 125 Sylvanus Thayer Award United States Military Academy 126 Robert C Vance Distinguished Lecturer Central Connecticut State University 2011 127 Order of Bahrain 1st Degree 128 nbsp Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun 2017 129 References editCitations edit Gates Military looks to accelerate Iraq pullout NBC News Associated Press December 1 2008 Archived from the original on December 16 2013 Retrieved May 5 2009 Gates also cleared up confusion about his political affiliation During his tenure at the CIA he said he thought he should be apolitical so he did not register with a political party But he added I consider myself a Republican Gates Robert 1996 From The Shadows 2006 Paperback ed Simon amp Schuster pp 20 21 Robert M Gates George W Bush Barack Obama Administration Office of the Secretary of Defense Historical Office Archived from the original on February 7 2017 Retrieved February 7 2017 a b Brzezinski Zbigniew 2007 Robert Gates Time Archived from the original on May 5 2008 America s Best Leaders Robert Gates U S Secretary of Defense Archived from the original on December 20 2008 Retrieved November 25 2008 a b Key members of Obama Biden national security team announced change gov Press release December 1 2008 Archived from the original on December 1 2008 Retrieved December 1 2008 Looking Back Gates Says He s Grown Wary of Wars of Choice The New York Times June 18 2011 Archived from the original on February 2 2017 Retrieved February 18 2017 a b Obama Awards Gates Presidential Medal of Freedom American Forces Press Service via Defense gov June 30 2011 Archived from the original on December 21 2011 Retrieved June 30 2011 Incorporated Prime National Academy of Public Administration National Academy of Public Administration Retrieved February 10 2023 robert gates ancestry com Archived from the original on August 8 2013 Retrieved February 20 2012 Scouting magazine List of Silver Buffalo recipients ScoutingMagazine org August 30 2016 Archived from the original on July 9 2019 Retrieved May 31 2019 Distinguished Eagle Scouts PDF Scouting org Archived from the original PDF on August 8 2013 Retrieved November 4 2010 Townley Alvin 2007 Legacy of Honor The Values and Influence of America s Eagle Scouts New York St Martin s Press pp 217 218 ISBN 978 0 312 36653 7 Archived from the original on December 19 2006 Retrieved December 29 2006 Shane Scott November 19 2006 Pentagon Pick Returns to City He Gladly Left The New York Times p 1 Archived from the original on May 15 2013 Retrieved September 25 2006 Wendell Bryan February 16 2018 BSA names its National Alumnus of the Year for 2018 Bryan on Scouting Archived from the original on May 31 2019 Retrieved May 31 2019 a b Whitson Brian December 8 2006 Senate confirms Gates 65 as U S Secretary of Defense W amp M News College of William amp Mary Office of University Relations Front Archived from the original on November 27 2006 Retrieved November 9 2006 a b c d Robert M Gates Oral History Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia Miller Center Retrieved March 29 2024 Soviet Sinology An Untapped Source for Kremlin Views and Disputes Relating to Contemporary Events in China Archived from the original on January 8 2016 Retrieved March 6 2016 via Google Scholar University Microfilms International document number 7421652 Archived January 24 2023 at the Wayback Machine Straszheim Deborah February 6 1998 W amp m Charter Day To Honor Gilmore Daily Press Archived from the original on May 14 2013 Retrieved February 11 2013 Five Outstanding Individuals to Receive Honorary Degrees at OU Commencement Public Affairs University of Oklahoma Archived from the original on December 30 2013 Retrieved February 11 2013 Georgetown Announces Speakers for 2014 Commencement Georgetown University May 1 2014 Archived from the original on May 2 2014 Retrieved May 1 2014 a b Gates Robert April 21 2008 Secretary Gates Remarks at Maxwell Gunter Air Force Base Montgomery Alabama transcript DefenseLink News US Department of Defense Archived from the original on December 11 2008 Retrieved December 23 2008 Becky Gates Archived from the original on October 18 2021 Retrieved October 18 2021 a b DefenseLink Biography Robert M Gates U S Dept of Defense July 2007 Archived from the original on November 30 2009 Retrieved April 21 2008 Powers Thomas June 20 1996 Who Won the Cold War New York Review of Books Vol 43 no 11 Archived from the original on September 13 2005 AllGov Officials allgov com Archived from the original on January 18 2012 Retrieved December 29 2011 Gates to Withdraw as CIA Nominee The Washington Post March 2 1987 ISSN 0190 8286 Archived from the original on September 4 2018 Retrieved September 4 2018 Robert Gates Fast Facts CNN Archived from the original on September 4 2018 Retrieved September 4 2018 Ex Aide Calls CIA Under Casey and Gates Corrupt and Slanted Archived March 5 2016 at the Wayback Machine Paul Horvitz The New York Times October 2 1991 Retrieved June 8 2011 Los Angeles Times November 25 2006 free archived version at commondreams org lase visited November 26 2006 Archived from the original on June 22 2007 Walsh Lawrence E August 4 1993 Chapter 16 Robert M Gates Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran Contra Matters Vol I Investigations and Prosecutions Washington D C United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit United States Government Printing Office p 223 ISBN 0160430097 OCLC 612998360 Retrieved April 11 2023 Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran Contra Matters Volume I 1993 Honorary degree recipients wm edu Archived from the original on March 6 2013 Retrieved April 23 2014 Texas A amp M press release Archived March 12 2007 at the Wayback Machine July 1999 Gates Robert M 2005 Texas A amp M Academic Convocation PDF tamu edu Texas A amp M University Archived from the original PDF on July 23 2006 Aggies Wrap First Week of Fall Camp with Pair of Workouts Press release Texas A amp M University Athletic Department August 11 2007 Archived from the original on August 13 2007 Retrieved August 15 2007 History of the Office Texas A amp M University Archived from the original on May 8 2014 Retrieved May 7 2014 Speaker tamu edu Archived from the original on March 7 2009 FBI Director Appoints National Security Higher Education Advisory Board FBI Archived from the original on June 1 2016 Retrieved July 28 2016 Lewellen Biddle Mark December 11 2003 Voting Machines Gone Wild In These Times Archived from the original on November 24 2006 Retrieved September 25 2007 Theimer Sharon December 6 2006 Gates Assets Include Defense Stock The Washington Post Associated Press Archived from the original on June 4 2011 Retrieved September 25 2007 NESA Mourns Loss of Eagles in Operation Iraqi Freedom Boy Scouts of America 2008 Archived from the original on August 28 2008 Retrieved July 7 2008 Iran Time for a New Approach Archived December 3 2006 at the Wayback Machine final report of an independent task force July 2004 Council of Foreign Relations Press Gates Turns Down Bush Administration Position KBTX com February 1 2005 Archived from the original on January 18 2014 Retrieved July 14 2012 Bush names Negroponte intelligence chief CNN February 18 2005 Archived from the original on September 22 2006 Retrieved November 8 2006 Esterbrook John November 8 2006 A Closer Look at Robert Gates CBS News Archived from the original on May 30 2009 Retrieved February 3 2009 Bush replaces Rumsfeld to get fresh perspective CNN November 8 2006 Archived from the original on June 1 2008 Retrieved November 8 2006 Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Jim Rutenberg November 8 2006 Rumsfeld Resigns as Defense Secretary After Big Election Gains for Democrats The New York Times Archived from the original on July 15 2016 Retrieved November 8 2006 Garamone Jim December 6 2006 Senate Confirms Gates as 22nd Defense Secretary American Forces Press Service Archived from the original on December 14 2006 Retrieved December 6 2006 Robert Gates confirmed as secretary of defense NBC News Associated Press December 6 2006 Archived from the original on July 2 2015 Retrieved December 6 2006 New US defence secretary sworn in BBC News December 18 2006 Archived from the original on January 21 2007 Retrieved December 18 2006 Gates Troop Surge Will Take Time to Judge archive defense gov June 16 2007 Archived from the original on September 30 2017 Retrieved July 4 2020 Unknown title The Washington Post February 21 2007 Archived from the original on January 7 2008 Retrieved September 4 2019 Army surgeon general ousted amid Walter Reed scandal CNN March 12 2007 Archived from the original on October 8 2008 DoD News Briefing with Secretary Robert Gates from the Pentagon U S Department of Defense June 8 2007 Archived from the original on July 14 2015 DoD News Briefing with Secretary Gates from the Pentagon U S Department of Defense June 5 2008 Archived from the original on June 6 2008 Retrieved June 5 2008 Gates Versus the Air Force airforcemag com Air Force Association February 5 2014 Archived from the original on February 21 2014 Retrieved February 6 2014 Gates Cabinet Appointment A Done Deal Political Radar ABC News November 25 2008 Archived from the original Blog on January 27 2009 Retrieved November 25 2008 Fireman Ken Capaccio Tony December 2 2008 Gates Says Review of Afghanistan Policy Will Be High Priority Article Worldwide News Bloomberg L P Archived from the original on January 24 2023 Retrieved December 2 2008 Defense Secretary Gates to be designated successor Tuesday CNN January 20 2009 Archived from the original on March 25 2021 Retrieved January 20 2009 Rueb Emily S March 2 2009 Gates Defends Iraq Withdrawal Plan The New York Times Archived from the original on June 13 2018 Retrieved March 27 2010 Gates against further surge of US troops in Afghanistan The Times of India May 4 2009 Archived from the original on May 5 2009 Retrieved June 12 2009 a b Scott Tyson Ann May 12 2009 Top U S Commander in Afghanistan Is Fired The Washington Post Archived from the original on February 4 2011 Dreazen Yochi J Spiegel Peter May 12 2009 U S Fires Afghan War Chief Four Star General Replaced by Counterinsurgency Expert as Campaign Stumbles The Wall Street Journal Archived from the original on May 15 2009 Karzai Delays Naming Cabinet as Pentagon Chief Lands for Talks bloomberg com Archived from the original on July 26 2021 Retrieved March 11 2017 Rubin Elizabeth February 3 2010 What Is Robert Gates Really Fighting For Time Archived from the original on September 5 2019 Retrieved September 4 2019 Dempsey Judy March 3 2010 Shaping Policy by Playing Safe The New York Times Archived from the original on September 23 2016 Retrieved February 18 2017 Women Allowed on Submarines The New York Times Associated Press April 30 2010 Archived from the original on June 13 2018 Retrieved February 18 2017 Gates Pentagon preparing repeal of don t ask don t tell policy CNN February 2 2010 Archived from the original on April 13 2010 Retrieved May 22 2010 Gates approves new regs on gays in military The Hill March 25 2010 Archived from the original on March 27 2010 Retrieved March 26 2010 The Transformer Foreign Policy Archived from the original on October 19 2014 Retrieved March 11 2017 Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to retire says 2011 sounds pretty good Daily News New York August 16 2010 Archived from the original on October 18 2021 Retrieved October 18 2021 Pellerin Cheryl March 20 2011 Gates Military Effort in Libya One Part of Solution archive defense gov American Forces Press Service Archived from the original on September 30 2017 Retrieved July 5 2020 Crawford Jamie May 1 2012 The bin Laden Situation Room revisited One year later CNN Security Clearance Archived from the original on March 12 2017 Retrieved May 4 2012 Gates announces major Pentagon priority shifts CNN CNN Archived from the original on April 17 2009 Retrieved December 29 2022 United States Department of Defense defenselink mil Archived from the original on July 20 2009 Gates confronts cost of new subs Politico April 29 2010 Archived from the original on May 2 2010 Retrieved April 30 2010 DailyTech Officials Question the Need For Expensive U S Navy Ships dailytech com Archived from the original on May 7 2010 Retrieved May 6 2010 a b Shanker Thom May 8 2010 Gates Takes Aim at Pentagon Spending The New York Times Archived from the original on May 9 2010 Retrieved May 9 2010 a b Jaffe Greg May 9 2010 Gates Cuts in Pentagon bureaucracy needed to help maintain military force The Washington Post Archived from the original on May 9 2010 Retrieved May 9 2010 Gates announces major job cuts as Pentagon looks to cut spending The Hill August 9 2010 Archived from the original on December 23 2010 Retrieved August 16 2010 Spiegel Peter January 16 2008 Gates says NATO force unable to fight guerrillas Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on February 6 2008 Retrieved May 22 2010 U S envoy quizzed on Gates remarks Los Angeles Times January 17 2008 Archived from the original on October 18 2021 Retrieved October 18 2021 Evans Michael January 17 2008 Outrage as US accuses Britain of inexperience in Taleban conflict The Times London Archived from the original on June 4 2011 Retrieved March 27 2010 Speech View defense gov Archived from the original on June 10 2011 Retrieved June 12 2011 Shanker Thom June 10 2011 Defense Secretary Warns NATO of Dim Future The New York Times U S Archived from the original on June 13 2011 Retrieved June 10 2011 Ukman Jason September 6 2011 Gates takes chancellor s post at William and Mary The Washington Post Archived from the original on November 13 2012 Karas Rachel February 3 2012 Gates becomes newest William and Mary chancellor The Washington Post Archived from the original on May 23 2014 Robert M Gates to be reappointed as W amp M Chancellor wm edu Archived from the original on February 15 2019 Retrieved February 14 2019 The RiceHadleyGates Team Rice Hadley Gates LLC Archived from the original on March 1 2020 Retrieved September 25 2014 Board of Directors Atlantic Council Archived from the original on March 8 2021 Retrieved February 12 2020 Starbucks names Robert Gates as board member The Seattle Times Associated Press May 2 2012 Archived from the original on October 21 2020 Retrieved January 30 2020 Chief s Corner Scouting Wire Archived from the original on November 1 2013 Retrieved October 30 2013 Robert Gates Boy Scouts ban on gay troop leaders not sustainable Yahoo News May 21 2015 Archived from the original on May 30 2020 Retrieved May 21 2015 Gates Robert M March 25 2014 Robert Gates Putin s Challenge to the West WSJ The Wall Street Journal Archived from the original on June 7 2014 Retrieved March 14 2017 Nicholas Peter Bender Michael C Lee Carol E December 14 2016 How Rex Tillerson a Late Entry to Be Secretary of State Got Donald Trump s Nod The Wall Street Journal Archived from the original on August 17 2018 Retrieved August 17 2018 Schleifer Theodore Labott Elise Krieg Gregory December 13 2016 GOP heavyweights with ties to Exxon pushed Tillerson CNN Archived from the original on August 17 2018 Retrieved August 17 2018 All 10 living former defense secretaries Involving the military in election disputes would cross into dangerous territory Washington Post January 3 2021 Retrieved January 3 2021 About COVID Collaborative Archived from the original on May 15 2022 Retrieved June 1 2022 Pentagon ex head Gates criticises Obama s Afghan tactics BBC News Archived from the original on January 8 2014 Retrieved January 8 2013 Cloud David S January 7 2014 Ex Defense Secretary Robert Gates has harsh words for Obama and Biden Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on January 9 2014 Retrieved January 9 2014 a b Old Names Old Scandals Newsweek November 8 2006 Archived from the original on November 18 2006 Schultz George P 1996 Turmoil and Triumph Diplomacy Power and the Victory of the American Deal New York NY Scriber 1924 5 Smolansky Bettie M Smolansky Oles M eds 2001 The Lost Equilibrium International Relations in the Post Soviet Era p 28 Moynihan Daniel P Combest Larry 1997 Secrecy Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy Washington DC Government Printing Office p A74 Diamond John M 2008 The CIA and the Culture of Failure U S Intelligence from the End of the Cold War to the Invasion of Iraq Stanford CA Stanford University Press p 37 ISBN 978 0 804 75601 3 Goodman Melvin A February 4 2016 The Reality of Robert Gates consortiumnews com Archived from the original on February 6 2016 Retrieved February 10 2016 In Rebuttal to Senate Panel C I A Nominee Seems Truthful but Incomplete The New York Times October 13 1991 Archived from the original on October 18 2021 Retrieved October 18 2021 Goldberg Jeffrey September 5 2011 Robert Gates Says Israel Is an Ungrateful Ally Bloomberg com Archived from the original on February 13 2014 Retrieved March 11 2017 Likud defends Netanyahu after report Gates called him ungrateful Haaretz September 6 2011 Archived from the original on September 6 2011 Retrieved September 7 2011 Gates Robert M September 29 2023 The Dysfunctional Superpower Foreign Affairs No November December 2023 ISSN 0015 7120 Retrieved January 10 2024 Gates Robert M August 13 2020 The Scowcroft Model Foreign Affairs ISSN 0015 7120 Retrieved January 10 2024 Gates Robert M June 2 2020 The Overmilitarization of American Foreign Policy Foreign Affairs No July August 2020 ISSN 0015 7120 Retrieved January 10 2024 Gates Robert M May 1 2010 Helping Others Defend Themselves Foreign Affairs No May June 2010 ISSN 0015 7120 Retrieved January 10 2024 Gates Robert M January 1 2009 A Balanced Strategy Foreign Affairs No January February 2009 ISSN 0015 7120 Retrieved January 10 2024 Gates Robert M December 1 1987 The CIA and Foreign Policy Foreign Affairs No Winter 1987 88 ISSN 0015 7120 Retrieved January 10 2024 Obama honors Gates on last day as defense chief NBC News Associated Press June 30 2011 Archived from the original on November 26 2022 Retrieved November 26 2022 Honorary degrees Kansas State University k state edu Archived from the original on December 29 2022 Retrieved December 29 2022 Troyer Rebecca M December 19 2009 IU Winter Commencement 2009 Robert Gates to IU grads America needs the best and brightest Herald Times Bloomington Indiana Archived from the original on November 26 2022 Retrieved November 26 2022 Brown Dennis March 23 2011 12 distinguished figures to join Gates as honorary degree recipients Notre Dame News Archived from the original on December 29 2022 Retrieved December 29 2022 Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement achievement org American Academy of Achievement Archived from the original on December 15 2016 Retrieved August 17 2020 AW amp ST January 14 2013 issue p 47 Man of the Year Secretary of Defense Robert Gates mtvU Viacom December 29 2010 Archived from the original on January 8 2016 Retrieved December 4 2011 Martinez Luis December 23 2010 mtvU Defense Secretary is a Rock Star ABC News Archived from the original on January 12 2012 Retrieved December 4 2011 The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers Foreign Policy November 28 2011 Archived from the original on November 30 2011 Retrieved December 4 2011 Gates named recipient of 2011 Sylvanus Thayer Award Archived from the original on August 8 2013 Retrieved March 8 2012 Newington Town Crier 11 11 2011 by Bristol Press New Britain Herald Issuu November 11 2011 Archived from the original on December 29 2022 Retrieved December 29 2022 via Issuu Morrison Tech Sgt Jerry December 12 2008 Welcome Gift Photo DoD Archived from the original jpg on July 14 2015 Retrieved January 10 2015 U S Defense Secretary Robert M Gates receives Bahrain s Order of the First Class Award from His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa at the Safriya Palace in Manama Bahrain Dec 12 2008 2017 Autumn Conferment of Decoration Secretary Robert M Gates us emb japan go jp Embassy of Japan Archived from the original on July 26 2019 Retrieved July 26 2019 Sources edit Biography Robert M Gates President Texas A amp M University Texas A amp M University 2003 Archived from the original on September 20 2006 Clark J Ransom Directors of Central Intelligence Robert Michael Gates 1943 DCI Nov 6 1991 Jan 20 1993 The Literature of Intelligence A Bibliography of Materials with Essays Reviews and Comments Archived from the original on November 25 2005 Gates Robert M 1997 From the Shadows The Ultimate Insider s Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War Simon amp Schuster ISBN 0 684 83497 9 Nauman Brett February 1 2005 Gates passes on intelligence czar post The Bryan College Station Eagle Archived from the original on September 27 2007 Robert Michael Gates Directors amp Deputy Directors of Central Intelligence Center for the Study of Intelligence CIA 2004 Archived from the original on August 3 2006 Bibliography editRobert Gates From the Shadows The Ultimate Insider s Story of Five presidents and How They Won the Cold War Simon amp Schuster Reprint edition 1997 ISBN 978 0684810812 Robert Gates Duty Memoirs of a Secretary at War Alfred A Knopf 2014 ISBN 978 0307959478 Robert Gates A Passion for Leadership Lessons on Change and Reform from Fifty Years of Public Service 2016 ISBN 978 0307959492 Robert Gates Exercise of Power American Failures Successes and a New Path Forward in the Post Cold War World Alfred A Knopf 2020 ISBN 978 1524731885 Robert Gates US Intelligence and the End of the Cold War 1999 CIA Robert Gates Frontline The Gulf War An Oral History Interview with Robert Gates Deputy National Security Advisor 2001 PBS org Robert Gates A Balanced Strategy Reprogramming the Pentagon for a New Age Foreign Affairs January February 2009 Further reading editBurka Paul Agent of Change Texas Monthly November 2006 Jervis Robert Serving or Self Serving A Review Essay of Robert Gates s Memoir Political Science Quarterly 129 2 Summer 2014 319 331 Murphey Dwight D A Provocative Look at Robert Gates Memoirs of a Secretary at War Journal of Social Political and Economic Studies 39 3 Fall 2014 342 362 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robert Gates nbsp Wikisource has original works by or about Robert Gates nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Robert Gates Biography at the United States Department of Defense Robert Gates s The ABC s of Spying Robert Gates s Interview with app2us com DefenseLink Biography Robert M Gates Robert M Gates Secretary of Defense Nominee A Bibliography at Georgetown University Law Library Ubben Lecture at DePauw University Appearances on C SPAN Robert Gates on Charlie Rose Robert Gates collected news and commentary at The New York Times Interview on YouTube by Leon Charney on The Leon Charney Report Robert Gates discusses his book From the Shadows The Ultimate Insider s Story of Five presidents and How They Won the Cold War October 13 1996 Gates on relations with China Nov 2007 visit June 1 2007 The Reinvention of Robert Gates by Michael Crowley The New Republic November 9 2009 Interview with Charlie Rose Robert Gates former secretary of defense discusses his book DUTY Memoirs of a Secretary at War January 14 2014 Senate Select Committee on Intelligence October 24 1991 Nomination of Robert M Gates to be Director of Central Intelligence Washington D C United States Government Printing Office Exec Rept 102 19 Government offices Preceded byHarry Rowen Chair of the National Intelligence Council1983 1986 Succeeded byFrank Horton III Preceded byJohn McMahon Deputy Director of Central Intelligence1986 1989 Succeeded byDick Kerr Preceded byWilliam Webster Director of Central Intelligence1991 1993 Succeeded byJames Woolsey Political offices Preceded byJohn Negroponte Deputy National Security Advisor1989 1991 Succeeded byJonathan Howe Preceded byDonald Rumsfeld United States Secretary of Defense2006 2011 Succeeded byLeon Panetta Academic offices Preceded byRay Bowen President of Texas A amp M University2002 2006 Succeeded byEd J DavisActing Preceded bySandra Day O Connor Chancellor of the College of William and Mary2012 present Incumbent Boy Scouts of America Preceded byWayne Perry President of the Boy Scouts of America2014 2016 Succeeded byRandall L Stephenson U S order of precedence ceremonial Preceded byMary E Petersas Former US Cabinet Member Order of precedence of the United Statesas Former US Cabinet Member Succeeded byMichael Mukaseyas Former US Cabinet Member Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Robert Gates amp oldid 1224713411, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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