ShareThisBush administration Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who has been asked and agreed to remain in place by President-elect Barack Obama, may prove particularly influential in the new regime, as he has in the one leaving office. So far at least, he has shown himself to be a man for all seasons, politically speaking.
In a very partisan time, with particularly intense rancor between Democrats and Republicans, he has proven quite adept at bridging the great divide.
Indeed, Gates will be the first Pentagon head in history to continue in the position from one administration to the next.
Political calculation on the part of Obama and his advisers doubtless is at play, as with the other new Cabinet appointments, which reflect a rainbow coalition of women, African-Americans and Latino-Americans, in total also ranging quite widely in age. Gates is not a political partisan but did achieve his greatest professional success in government during years when the Republicans were in charge. His principal and most important mentor was President George H.W. Bush.
In notably candid memoirs, "From the Shadows," Gates is blunt in his criticism of the Carter administration for hostility to the intelligence agencies and general ineffectiveness. Tenure as deputy to Carter's CIA chief, Admiral Stansfield Turner, was clearly one of the most painful experiences of Gates' working life. Therefore in subtle ways the new Democratic administration, which emphasizes change and breaks with the past, is constructing continuity with the more generally conservative and Republican sectors of Washington and the wider American population.
While Democrats have just won a sweeping national election victory, and now hold Congress as well as the White House, national security remains an area of perceived weakness on the part of the public. Polls indicate that the Democrats leads Republicans in ability to handle the economy overall, education, health care, challenges facing the poor and senior citizens, national disasters -- but not national defense. A representative ABC-Washington Post poll just before the November presidential election showed that Republican nominee John McCain was viewed as more likely to protect national security over Obama by a 49-43 percent margin.
In the case of Bob Gates, demonstrated top professional competence clearly reinforces political calculation. He is the first CIA career professional to rise to the top of the agency. He was both Director of Central Intelligence and Deputy National Security Adviser to President George H.W. Bush, who generally receives high marks in foreign and defense policies.
One of the most important of many recent books on United States national intelligence is "Legacy of Ashes" by Tim Weiner. The book's title derives from President Dwight D. Eisenhower, expressing frustration near the end of his administration.
Weiner is harshly critical of the CIA overall, but notably positive about Director Robert Gates. Likewise, he provides persuasive evidence the CIA was providing strident warnings about impending terrorist attack to an indifferent Bush White House just before 9/11. Gates played an influential role in shaping that contemporary agency.
Obama has announced his economic officials first, in three successive press conferences over as many days; only during the following week were defense, foreign policy and national security appointments announced. That clearly reflects public priorities, directly reflected in nonstop media commentary on financial market turmoil.
Yet arguably the President's responsibilities and power are both greatest in the life and death arena of national security. Political calculation and policy responsibility both underscore the wisdom of keeping Bob Gates in place.
(Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College in Wisconsin. Contact him at acyr@carthage.edu.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
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