Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War

· Sold by Vintage
4.2
160 reviews
Ebook
640
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

From the former secretary of defense, a strikingly candid, vivid account of serving Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

When Robert M. Gates received a call from the White House, he thought he’d long left Washington politics behind: After working for six presidents in both the CIA and the National Security Council, he was happily serving 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.

Ratings and reviews

4.2
160 reviews
Brian Compton
April 20, 2014
Insightful, even-handed perspective. An excellent memoir as it provides a look at Secretary Gates‘s experiences, not a biography or an arm-wrenching self-applied backslap. Patriotic Americans should concern themselves with this book and others like it and pay less heed to the Katrashians and Lo-life-hans. One critique is the frequent use of the "that that"combination made me wonder at the quality of editing.
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Georgette Wolf
June 8, 2014
For propaganda reasons, the communists would never make meaningful concessions in a public negotiation. Robert Gates has shown us that this attitude now permeates both parties in the US Congress. What he has to say about who wins revolutions is a first rate cautionary tale. And I was touched by what he had to say about the loyalty of his troops.
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A Google user
December 28, 2016
One of my favorite books. I truly respected the non partisan approach that Gates takes. It offers a great perspective from the guy who worked closely with two presidents leading the department of defense through two wars
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About the author

Robert M. Gates served as secretary of defense from 2006 to 2011. He also served as an officer in the United States Air Force and worked for the Central Intelligence Agency before being appointed director of the agency by President George H. W. Bush. He was a member of the National Security Council staff in four administrations and served eight presidents of both political parties. Additionally, Gates has a continuing distinguished record in the private sector and in academia, including currently serving as chancellor of the College of William and Mary. He holds a Ph.D. in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University.

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