A Sober, Steady Hand: Robert Gates’ Legacy at the Pentagon

By Mark Thompson | @MarkThompson_DC | June 30, 2011 | +

Departing Defense Secretary Robert Gates is the 10th military chief I have covered since Harold Brown was running Jimmy Carter’s Pentagon. After a private dinner at the White House on Wednesday night, and a final ruffles-and-flourishes sendoff at the Pentagon on Thursday, Gates will fly off for his home in Washington state and never look back.

“He will once again try his hand at retirement,” Gates’ trusted spokesman, Geoff Morrell (who is leaving along with Gates), said Monday. “After a coupe of notable failures, he assures me he is determined to succeed this time.” If he succeeds as well in his retirement at his lakefront home as he did running the Pentagon since December 2006, his years to come should be golden.

Gates, 67, was a pragmatist who did more than speak the platitudes about the troops that all defense secretaries say.

Continue reading at Battleland.

Related Topics: retirement, Robert Gates, Pentagon

@TIMEPolitics

Latest on Swampland

Gay Marriage May 24, 2012

Obama’s Persuasive Powers on Gay Marriage Manifest in Maryland

When President Obama endorsed gay marriage earlier this month, the media grappled with two basic political questions: Was his personal “evolution” a case of a politician transparently following a national trend toward accepting same-sex unions (accelerated, perhaps, by his chatty No. 2), and would it hurt his re-election chances by alienating socially conservative voters like black churchgoers? Sure, there was a recognition that it marked a gratifying moment for gay-marriage advocates — as well as some grumbling about the President’s view that it remains a state issue, not a federal one. But by and large, there were few suggestions that one man, even the President, would shift public opinion on the issue or affect public policy. Based on a new Public Policy Polling survey out of Maryland, it seems this possibility was underestimated.
From our Partners
Lewis Eisenberg, Major Romney Donor, Accuses Obama Of Demonizing Wall StreetHuffPost Politics

Twice-Told TalesSlate
Mitt Romney's $11.7 Million Raised In April Isn't The Whole PictureHuffPost Politics
2012 Election May 24, 2012

Cherokee Zero

Apparently, Massachusetts voters don’t mind that Elizabeth Warren foolishly identified herself as a Native American early in her academic career–it was, apparently, a case of family pride and wishful thinking about a Cherokee ancestor. That’s good. Warren may be the best public figure when it comes to explaining the depredations of the financial industry and [...]