Word: washingtonization
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...anecdotes and one-liners he's collected over the years. His favorite comedians are both dead - George Carlin and W.C. Fields. Their sensibilities suit Gates' own - taking down institutions, puncturing pomp. He's even adopted some of their style. He loves to tell the same jokes about egos in Washington - "where people say, I'll double-cross that bridge when I get to it," and "the only place in the world you can see a prominent person walking down lovers' lane holding his own hand." (See pictures of U.S. soldiers delivering aid to Haiti...
...said there was a lot of consistency in his strong support for surges both in Iraq and Afghanistan. His aide interrupted to clarify. "This goes back to the Cold War, sir." Gates thought for a moment. Even his chief of staff, Robert Rangel, the most influential unknown man in Washington, seemed curious to see what the boss would say. "If there's a consistency, it is my belief that the country is - I am very much an American exceptionalist" - he paused - "and I believe that we are, as a country, the greatest force for good in the history...
...office overlooking the Washington Monument, Gates has hung portraits of the leaders who most inspire him, Eisenhower and Marshall. Since 2007, when Gates re-emerged on the government speaking circuit, he has had one consistent obsession - the relationship between State and Defense. Like a nervous tic, he never misses the chance to tell an audience how, for most of his career, the secretaries of State and Defense have barely been on speaking terms...
...hobbies - hiking, B movies and books - he loves to play hardball buying cars. His bargaining skills are so legion that a car salesman asked him, "Where the hell'd you learn to negotiate?" Gates replied, "I had a lot of practice with the Soviets," allowing an example of Washington bravado to leak from his lips. Negotiating what he wants in the corridors of power - no one does it better, say his friends...
...latter quality that has made Gates so valuable. He is a problem solver, a fixer and a loyal soldier. In Washington those qualities go a long way. For a long time now, the wise men in Washington have been the problem solvers, and the fixers have been regarded as sages. But the fixer is not the moral leader, the one who provides American policy with its purposes. It's worth remembering that what finally matters are the values and the principles he is fixing...