From USA TODAY:
At his 2006 confirmation hearing to become secretary of Defense, Robert Gates set the tone for his leadership with two words. “No, sir,” he replied when a senator asked whether U.S. forces were winning in Iraq. With that single crisp answer, Gates blew away three years of windy doublespeak about the Iraq War, signaling that the new Pentagon chief would be refreshingly honest and blunt.
Whether he’d also be competent and effective was less clear. But four-and-a-half years later, Gates, who leaves office today to return to private life, has turned out to be one of the most successful and widely admired Cabinet members of the modern era, one of those rare senior leaders who make us wonder why more can’t be this good.
Why did Gates excel? For one thing, his primary motivation appeared to be public service, not self-promotion or empire building. Gates, a former CIA director and university president, was sufficiently non-partisan to become the only Defense secretary in history to have served presidents of different parties, Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack Obama…
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