Robert Gates
The Strategist
The long view, patient, analytical, playing several moves ahead.
Robert Gates is a seasoned leader with extensive experience in national security and defense. This interview reveals his strategic mindset, emphasizing the importance of long-term planning and the need for effective governance to address complex global challenges.
“One of the things that strategists have worried about ever since World War I and really back into the 19th century is you do not want a free-floating neutral Germany. This was why it was so important to Bush 41, George H.W.”
“I think he thinks he has a friend in the White House. And it would have been nice to see the president do a few winks and so on, even if he was saying that for diplomacy's sake. But I think that, I mean, it's a little bit like the trade negotiations with China.”
“They had enough self confidence. Their temperament was such they were comfortable surrounding themselves with people who were smarter than they were. And they would get advice from these people and then integrate it with their own instincts and their own experience and make very wise decisions.”
“David, I'm despite all of the problems, I'm actually an optimist. And one of the reasons I'm an optimist is I've probably had more experience With young people in this country than almost anybody else. I led the Boy Scouts, I was president of Texas A&M, I was Secretary of Defense, led CIA. And I see this rising generation.”
The Axe Files with David Axelrod — Robert Gates (TV)
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