Robert M. Gates

Saturday, November 1st, 2008 at 2:09 pm

Font size:

Robert M. Gates

The last time a Democratic administration moved to town, 15 years ago, Robert M. Gates was a key player in the effort to assure a smooth transition of power from a Bush presidency to the fresh occupant of the White House.

Mr. Gates, who served as director of central intelligence through Bill Clinton’s Inauguration Day, even traveled to Little Rock to deliver a global intelligence briefing to Mr. Clinton, who was then the governor of Arkansas, during the presidential campaign. The substantive issues selected by Mr. Gates remain remarkably resonant today, and included “the turmoil in Russia,” as well as “developments in Iraq, North Korea, China, and Iran,” according to the C.I.A.’s official history of the transition.

It is a case being made publicly by columnists and commentators, and quietly by leading Congressional voices of president-elect Barack Obama’s own party — that Mr. Gates should be asked to remain as defense secretary, at least for an interim period in the opening months of the new presidency.

A career intelligence professional, Mr. Gates has worked for Democratic and Republican administrations as a C.I.A. officer, and also spent nine years on the staff of the National Security Council, under four presidents of both political parties. It was under George H.W. Bush that Mr. Gates first rose to influence, as deputy national security adviser and then director of central intelligence.

Since returning to government in December 2006 as defense secretary, he has scored high marks on Capitol Hill for his ability to reach across the aisle to leading Democrats. At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee last month, the chairman, Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, opened the session by saluting Mr. Gates. Mr. Gates is much more popular than his predecessor, Donald H. Rumsfeld, whether on Capitol Hill, with the uniformed military or in foreign capitals.

He has advocated several policies and goals that enjoy considerable support across party lines.

He pushed quietly, if unsuccessfully, for closing the Guantánamo Bay detention center, and has sought to deliberately extricate the nation from Iraq without sacrificing security gains. He has argued that diplomacy must come before the use of force in dealing with such foreign policy challenges as Iran.

Mr. Gates does argue the Bush administration’s case for building missile defense sites in Europe as a counter to potential Iranian missiles, but says the system in no way diminishes Russia’s vast nuclear deterrent. He says Russian criticism of the system is ill-founded, and reflects the Kremlin’s insecurities in foreign affairs.

Mr. Obama has been far more skeptical of overall financing for missile defenses.