Obama's Power Players: Gates Can Work Across Party Lines
The Defense Secretary's cautious realism is similar to Obama's approach to foreign policy
Understated, precise, and more apt to think in terms of "soft power" and cooperation than blunt force and unilateralism, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been called the antithesis of his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld. Indeed, in the cautious realism he shows in his approach to foreign policy, he bears more than a passing resemblance to President Obama.
That's striking because the two men differ in their political affiliations (Gates is Republican) and Gates's last boss was George W. Bush, under whom he oversaw the surge in Iraq. Both Obama and Gates, however, support shifting troops to Afghanistan and closing the Guantánamo Bay prison facility. When Gates told Congress in January that "there is no purely military solution" in Iraq or Afghanistan, he seemed far closer to Obama than to Bush.
Beyond his common ground with Obama, Gates has a long history of government service. Born in Wichita, Kan., the 65-year-old got his start at the Central Intelligence Agency, where he began as an analyst and worked his way up to director. He also took two lengthy breaks to work at the National Security Council. After Bill Clinton's victory, Gates left Washington to write memoirs, lecture, and work in academia.
But when Bush asked him to take over from Rumsfeld, Gates returned. He viewed the surge in Iraq as a way to stabilize the country in preparation for an eventual withdrawal. Now, he'll be managing the troop drawdown there, along with a new buildup in Afghanistan. That's a testament to his ability to work across party lines and to his flexibility—two keys to retaining power in Washington, especially under a new boss.
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