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...faith because of how much it can extenuate and excuse. Gates is not a philosopher, and it is hard to know what he means by his profession of the exceptionalist faith. It may be just a fancy way of expressing the more prosaic pursuit of a great power's long-term strategic goals: the Cold War, the long war on terrorism, the escalation in Afghanistan...
...trust. By nature he's not a guy who seeks the limelight, and Obama has no patience for media hounds. Staffers say it turns out Gates has got more in common with Obama than he did with Bush. They're both cerebral, analytical and reflective. "Seeing terrorism as a long-term challenge - I think that's kind of fundamental," Gates told me. "And President Obama has pursued that with every bit as much vigor as President Bush...
Like Obama, Gates can consume reams of information. His photographic memory is legendary. He is a voracious reader of history, spy novels and pulp fiction. He's subscribed to the Book-of-the-Month Club for 50 years. And he is careful, meticulously so. One decades-long colleague told me Gates will cancel a briefing if he hasn't done his homework. "Preparation for him is a cathartic experience," says his spokesman Morrell. He vents brutal answers to imaginary questions so he can be more diplomatic on the Hill. He's vigilant about the stagecraft of statecraft, even taking...
...speak frequently on their secure phones, comparing notes before they go to the White House. They meet once a week and have lunch at either the Pentagon or State every month. ("The notion of Condi and Rumsfeld having lunch together? Or Rumsfeld and Powell?" says a Clinton staffer.) Not long after the war-council meetings drew to a close and Obama gave his West Point speech, I asked Clinton about Gates' methods. "He listens more than he talks. He is very careful about when he intervenes and what he says because he knows his words carry a lot of weight...
...unlaced boots, jeans, flannel shirts and goggles. Gates' patriotic speech moved them. One woman told me that whenever she didn't feel like doing her job tightening those screws, she reminded herself that she would be saving the life of Johnny from next door. Most of the workers travel long distances to the factory. All along the road to the airport were boarded-up businesses and "For Sale" signs. Oshkosh Corp., under contract with the Pentagon, is one of the few employers around...