Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War

After serving six presidents in both the CIA and the National Security Council, Robert M. Gates believed that he had left Washington politics behind for good--but when he received the call from the White House in 2006 to help a nation mired in two wars, he answered what he felt was the call of duty.

Forthright and unsparing, Duty is Gates's behind-the-scenes account of his nearly five years as a Secretary of Defense at war: the battles with Congress, the two presidents he served, the military itself, and the vast Pentagon bureaucracy; his efforts to help George W. Bush turn the tide in Iraq; his role as a guiding (and often dissenting) voice for Barack Obama; and, most importantly, his ardent devotion to and love for American soldiers. Offering unvarnished appraisals of our political leaders, including Dick Cheney, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton, Duty tells a powerful and deeply personal story, giving us an unprecedented look at two administrations and the wars that have defined them.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 05/12/2015
ISBN: 9780307949639
Pages: 640
Weight: 1.86lbs
Size: 9.09h x 6.47w x 1.31d

Review Citations: New York Times Book Review 08/16/2015 pg. 28