Robert Gates

Interview with Robert Gates

Click Here to download a transcription of this interview

Biographical Note:

Robert Gates served as U.S. Secretary of Defense from December 2006 to July 2011. Dr. Gates's nomination and confirmation to the cabinet occurred during the 2006 decision-making process which led President Bush's announcement of the Surge in January 2007. Before his appointment to the cabinet in 2006, Dr. Gates earned his Ph.D in Russian and Soviet History from Georgetown University (1974) and had experienced a long and distinguished career of government service, including in the U.S. Air Force, as Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser for George H.W. Bush (1989-91), and Director of the CIA (1991-93). He joined the George W. Bush administration after resigning as President of Texas A&M University (2002-06).

Citation:

Robert Gates, interview by Jeffrey Engel, William Inboden and Timothy Sayle, 12 October 2015. "The Surge" Collective Memory Project, Center for Presidential History, Southern Methodist University.