Robert Gates: Defense Secretary's exit interview

“Frankly, I really enjoy working with her. Hillary is a realist and very tough-minded in the way she looks at the world. She’s got a great sense of humor; she’s very smart, with a feel for people. She’s got great instincts. And she’s the only person in the administration I can’t whine to about my travels.”

“Hillary and I call ourselves the Old Folks Caucus. And I must say it’s the first time in my life I’ve ever worked for a president who was 20 years younger than I was.”

On disputes inside the administration:

“I’d be hard pressed to identify issues where there were big differences between Defense and State during this administration. Maybe nuances. But we were completely on board in terms of New START, and in terms of trying to improve the relationship with Russia. And we’ve worked very closely—I would say principally Hillary and Admiral Mullen [Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs chairman] have worked very closely—with respect to Pakistan. I’m actually hard-pressed to come up with a consequential issue where the two departments have been in a different place.”

“Beyond Hillary, I think one of the things that has made a difference was my strong support for a bigger budget for the State Department. That really was a man-bites-dog story. I think I read in the press—and therefore it must be true—that no secretary of defense had ever been quoted as arguing for a bigger budget for State. So below Hillary there’s been a level of goodwill in State towards the Defense Department and towards me.”

“One thing I worked hard at, particularly for the first six months to a year [of the Obama administration] was to speak only when I thought I could make a contribution. I felt it was important that the president and the rest of the team see me as part of the Obama Team, not as the holdover from the Bush administration. The real risk of a holdover is becoming a real nerdge in terms of, well this is the way we used to do it, or we tried that and it didn’t work. I worked really hard not to do that, but basically to kind of hold my tongue and when we were looking at policy options and so on to try and look forward…. I just felt the way I comported myself was really critical, particularly in the first few months.”

On Osama bin Laden:

Gates favored an air strike to kill bin Laden. He recalled previous failed Special Forces operations, including Desert One, the abortive hostage rescue attempt in Iran in 1980. “But I was very explicit with the president in one of the discussions [of options]. I said: “Mr President, I want ‘truth in lending.’ Because of experience, I may be too cautious, you know. I think it’s important to be honest about that.”

On Afghanistan:

“Yes, the American people are war-weary. Look. Ten years in Afghanistan is almost twice as long as any modern war we’ve been in. The real fight in Vietnam was 1965-66 to 1972, six or seven years. The Revolution was seven years—and that, incidentally, was the last time we ever fought a war with an all-volunteer force. This is 10.”

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