Difference between revisions of "Robert Gates"
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[[Image:Robert Gates, official DoD photo portrait, 2006.jpg|right|thumb|Robert Gates]] | [[Image:Robert Gates, official DoD photo portrait, 2006.jpg|right|thumb|Robert Gates]] | ||
− | '''Robert Michael Gates''' is the twenty-second [[Secretary of Defense]]. He serves in the [[Obama Administration]] and previously served | + | '''Robert Michael Gates''' is the twenty-second [[Secretary of Defense]]. He serves in the [[Obama Administration]] and previously served in the second [[Bush]] administration since December 18, 2006. He took office after the forced resignation of [[Donald Rumsfeld]]. He is a registered independent,<ref>http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/11/obama-gates-1.html</ref> and is given credit for the "surge" in Iraq and the success of American policies there. |
==Early Life== | ==Early Life== | ||
Revision as of 23:43, June 30, 2009
Robert Michael Gates is the twenty-second Secretary of Defense. He serves in the Obama Administration and previously served in the second Bush administration since December 18, 2006. He took office after the forced resignation of Donald Rumsfeld. He is a registered independent,[1] and is given credit for the "surge" in Iraq and the success of American policies there.
Contents
Early Life
Gates was born on September 25, 1943, in Wichita, Kansas. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in Virginia. While attending William and Mary, he was very involved in the Young Republicans, and even became the chapter's President. He went on to receive a graduate degree from Indiana University and a Ph.D. from Georgetown University.
Early Public Service
Gates served in the United States Air Force in Vietnam from 1967 to 1969, a time when much of the rest of the nation had abandoned the strategy of Containment abroad. Immediately thereafter, he began working with the CIA as an investigator.
Gates was first nominated for the position of Director in 1987. However, due to negative media spin about the Iran-Contra Affair, in which Gates helped the spread of Democracy, the Senate stated that they would not ratify his appointment.
However, in 1991, George H. W. Bush renominated Gates due to his hard work and staunch American values. This time, a more responsible Congress approved, and Gates won the appointment he had earned. True to the American Dream, Gates had worked his way up from the position of entry-level investigator all the way up to Director.
Secretary of Defense
On November 8, 2006, George W. Bush followed in his father's footsteps by appointing Gates to the position of Secretary of Defense after Donald Rumsfeld's resignation. He has since used this position to continue to fight the War in Iraq. In 2008, it was announced that Gates would remain Secretary of Defense for at least a year under the administration of incoming President Barack Obama, so as to ensure a smooth process regarding how the situation in the Middle East is handled. This move has been criticised by people on both ends of the spectrum, and praised by others.
Comments on the value of a free press:
- "When it identifies a problem, as at Walter Reed, the response of senior leaders should be to find out if the allegations are true, as they were at Walter Reed, and if so, say so," Mr. Gates said. "And then act to remedy the problem. If untrue, then be able to document that fact. ... The press is not the enemy and to treat it as such is self-defeating." [2]
Other appointments and honors
Gates is presently the head of the National Eagle Scout Association. Gates is an Eagle Scout, and has won the Distinguished Intelligence Medal on three separate occasions.