Small Wars Journal

Book Review: ‘Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War’

Tue, 01/07/2014 - 7:05pm

Book Review: ‘Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War’ by Robert M. Gates, review by Greg Jaffe, Washington Post.

… In his new book, which has nearly 600 pages of text, Gates takes the reader inside the war-room deliberations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and delivers unsentimental assessments of each man’s temperament, intellect and management style. “It is difficult to imagine two more different men,” Gates writes.

Gates left Washington in 2011 with a reputation as a steady, sober-minded member of the foreign policy establishment, who had served eight presidents and was admired equally by Republicans and Democrats. The next time Gates visits the capital, his reception may not be quite so warm. “Duty” is his second memoir, and this time he cuts loose…

Read on.