Gates Reflects on Serving Eight Presidents

Politico reports

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT, OVER KANSAS — Defense Secretary Robert Gates, during a valedictory interview in the nose-cone cabin of his airborne command center, admitted quietly Tuesday that his experience running two wars and serving eight presidents had become a burden.

“I think one of the reasons it’s probably time for me to leave is that sometimes too much experience can get in the way, and you can get too cautious,” Gates told POLITICO as he flew over his native Kansas on the first leg of an overseas farewell tour. “It may … be making me more cautious that I ought to be.”

Gates, a white-haired veteran of generations of Washington power struggles, struggled in two big internal battles ahead of his June 30 retirement: He opposed intervening in Libya, and strongly questioned using a risky helicopter raid to kill Osama bin Laden.

Now, the 67-year-old is heading back to his beloved lakefront home in the other Washington, north of Seattle. Gates said he plans to write two books – one a memoir (to be published after 2012), and the other a partly humorous guide to transforming huge public institutions. But he vows that for now, he won’t be popping off.

“The best thing I could do when I get outta here, for at least some period of time, is keep my mouth shut,” he said.