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Robert Gates

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Robert Gates
NameRobert Gates
CaptionOfficial portrait, 2006
Office22nd United States Secretary of Defense
PresidentGeorge W. Bush, Barack Obama
Term startDecember 18, 2006
Term endJuly 1, 2011
PredecessorDonald Rumsfeld
SuccessorLeon Panetta
Office115th Director of Central Intelligence
President1George H. W. Bush
Term start1November 6, 1991
Term end1January 20, 1993
Predecessor1William H. Webster
Successor1R. James Woolsey Jr.
Birth date25 September 1943
Birth placeWichita, Kansas, U.S.
PartyRepublican
EducationCollege of William & Mary (BA), Indiana University (MA), Georgetown University (PhD)
SpouseRebecca Wilkie, 1967
AllegianceUnited States
BranchUnited States Air Force
Serviceyears1967–1969
RankSecond Lieutenant

Robert Gates is an American statesman, academic, and intelligence professional who served as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. His career uniquely spanned the final years of the Cold War and the post-9/11 conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, making him the only Secretary of Defense in U.S. history to be retained by a newly elected president from a different political party. Prior to his tenure at the Pentagon, Gates served as the Director of Central Intelligence and as president of Texas A&M University.

Early life and education

Born in Wichita, Kansas, he was raised in a family that valued public service. He attended the College of William & Mary, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and was actively involved in the school's Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He subsequently received a Master of Arts degree in history from Indiana University before entering the United States Air Force. After his military service, he pursued a doctorate in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University, where his studies were supervised by noted scholar Richard Pipes.

Military and early government career

Commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force, he served as an intelligence officer at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. In 1966, he began his long career in government by joining the Central Intelligence Agency as an analyst. He quickly rose through the ranks, holding various analytical and managerial positions focused on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. His expertise led him to serve on the National Security Council staff under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, where he worked closely with National Security Advisors Zbigniew Brzezinski and William P. Clark Jr..

Director of Central Intelligence

Nominated by President George H. W. Bush, he was confirmed as the 15th Director of Central Intelligence in 1991. His tenure coincided with the final dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Gulf War. He focused on reshaping the CIA for post-Cold War challenges, emphasizing counterproliferation and counterterrorism. His directorship concluded in January 1993, after which he authored his memoir, *From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War*, which won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for History.

President of Texas A&M University

In 2002, he was appointed president of Texas A&M University, a major land-grant university and member of the Association of American Universities. During his tenure, he championed increased diversity, strengthened the university's research portfolio, and oversaw a significant capital campaign. He also served as a member of the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel co-chaired by James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton that assessed the Iraq War in 2006.

United States Secretary of Defense

Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2006 to succeed Donald Rumsfeld, he managed the Iraq War troop surge of 2007 and the expanding war in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama asked him to remain in office, and he became a key architect of the administration's national security strategy. He oversaw the end of combat operations in Iraq, the 2011 military intervention in Libya, and the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. He was known for challenging entrenched Pentagon bureaucracy and prioritizing the welfare of troops, famously clashing with the Congress over weapons programs like the F-22 Raptor.

Post-government career and writings

Since leaving the Pentagon in 2011, he has served on corporate boards, including for FedEx and Brink's. He was elected president of the Boy Scouts of America in 2016, guiding the organization through a period of significant change. His later books, *Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War* and *Exercise of Power: American Failures, Successes, and a New Path for the Twenty-First Century*, offer critical insights into U.S. foreign policy and civil-military relations. He remains a frequent commentator on national security issues and has received numerous honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Security Medal.

Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:United States Secretaries of Defense Category:Directors of Central Intelligence Category:Texas A&M University people