Duty

In 2006, Robert Gates left his dream role as president of Texas A&M University and took what may have been the least desirable job outside of a war zone at the time. He proceeded to become the only Secretary of Defense in the position's history to serve under two different presidents, and presidents from two different parties at that. This memoir covers that time.

The book is dense with detail, both personal as well in describing the mechanics of the Department of Defense. Stress drips off the page and the reader is left to wonder how the Pentagon ever successfully does anything amidst the competing priorities of Washington.

Almost every big name in US politics during that period is mentioned in the book, and while Gates has a track record of being generous in his recollections, he doesn't pull punches when it's warranted. His discussion of the inner workings of the White House, especially under Obama, are pretty forward and he doesn't mince words when describing interactions with Obama's National Security Staff.

Large portions of the text are clearly written for historians, as they stick in names, dates, places, times, and particulars of conversations that don't really do much to advance the narrative. It's a big book, and those chunks can get a little laborious to work through. Even with all the detail that is present, there's noticeable omissions here and there, although one can't really fault the author as there's no way of capturing every topic of interest in a single text.

Gates has a casual writing style and frequently injects his sense of humor with plenty of chuckle-worthy anecdotes. Despite the size and density of the book, I rarely got bored and ultimately came away with a much deeper appreciation of the role of Secretary of Defense.

A must read for anyone interesting in how D.C. fights wars.