LEADER 04176cam 2200337 a 450

001 207740

003 OCoLC

005 20141106033920.0

008 130813s2014 nyua 001 0beng

010 $a2013026348

020 $a9780307959478 (hbk.)

020 $a0307959473 (hbk.)

020 $z9780307959485 (ebook)

020 $z9780804148641 (compact disk)

020 $z9780804148658 (audiobook download)

020 $a0307959481 (ebook)

020 $a9780307959485 (ebook)

020 $a0804148643 (compact disk)

020 $a9780804148641 (compact disk)

020 $a0804148651 (audiobook download)

020 $a9780804148658 (audiobook download)

035 $a00248211

050 00$aE897.4.G37$bA3 2014

082 00$a355.6092$aB$223

090 $a355.6092/G223///UM050305

100 1 $aGates, Robert Michael,$d1943-$3369920

245 10$aDuty :$bmemoirs of a Secretary at war /$cRobert M. Gates.

246 30$aMemoirs of a Secretary at war

264 1$aNew York :$Ls15152$bAlfred A. Knopf,$c2014.

300 $ax, 618 p. :$bcolor ill. ;$c25 cm

500 $aIncludes index.

505 0 $aSummoned to duty -- Iraq, Iraq and Iraq -- Mending fences, finding allies -- Waging war on the Pentagon -- Beyond Iraq: a complicated world -- Good war, bad war -- One damn thing after another -- Transition -- New term, new agenda, old secretary -- Afghanistan: a house divided -- Difficult foes, difficult friends -- Meanwhile, back in Washington -- War, war...and revolution -- At war to the last day -- Reflections.

520 $aFrom the former secretary of defense, a candid account of his experience serving Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Before Robert M. Gates received a call from the White House in 2006, he thought he'd left Washington politics behind: after working for six presidents in both the CIA and the National Security Council, he was happy in his role as president of Texas A&M University. But when he was asked to help a nation mired in two wars and to aid the troops doing the fighting, he answered what he felt was the call of duty. Now, in this unsparing memoir, meticulously fair in its assessments, he takes us behind the scenes of his nearly five years as a secretary at war: the battles with Congress, the two presidents he served, the military itself, and the vast Pentagon bureaucracy; his efforts to help Bush turn the tide in Iraq; his role as a guiding, and often dissenting, voice for Obama; the ardent devotion to and love for American soldiers--his "heroes"--he developed on the job. In relating his personal journey as secretary, Gates draws us into the innermost sanctums of government and military power during the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, illuminating iconic figures, vital negotiations, and critical situations in revealing, intimate detail. Offering unvarnished appraisals of Dick Cheney, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Presidents Bush and Obama, among other key players, Gates exposes the full spectrum of behind-closed-doors politicking within both the Bush and Obama administrations. He discusses the great controversies of his tenure--surges in both Iraq and Afghanistan, how to deal with Iran and Syria, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," Guantanamo Bay, WikiLeaks--as they played out behind the television cameras. He brings to life the Situation Room during the Bin Laden raid. And, searingly, he shows how congressional debate and action or inaction on everything from equipment budgeting to troop withdrawals was often motivated, to his increasing despair and anger, more by party politics and media impact than by members' desires to protect our soldiers and ensure their success. However embroiled he became in the trials of Washington, Gates makes clear that his heart was always in the most important theater of his tenure as secretary: the front lines. We journey with him to both war zones as he meets with active-duty troops and their commanders, awed by their courage, and also witness him greet coffin after flag-draped coffin returned to U.S. soil, heartbreakingly aware that he signed every deployment order. In frank and poignant vignettes, Gates conveys the human cost of war, and his admiration for those brave enough to undertake when necessary.

600 10$aGates, Robert Michael,$d1943-$3369920

610 10$aUnited States.$bDepartment of Defense$xOfficials and employees$vBiography.$3369921

610 24$aUnited States.$bDepartment of Defense.$3369922

650 0$aCabinet officers$zUnited States$vBiography.$3369924

650 0$aIraq War, 2003-2011$xPersonal narratives.$3369925

650 0$aAfghan War, 2001-$vPersonal narratives, American.$3369926

650 0$aWar on Terrorism, 2001-2009$vPersonal narratives, American.$3369927

650 0$aCivil-military relations$zUnited States$xHistory$y21st century.$3369928

651 0$aUnited States$xPolitics and government$y2009-$3301722