All Robert M. Gates Quotes
- There's a lot of books out there about how you lead change in business, but I've certainly not seen any... on how you do that… Any
- Things have gotten so nasty in Washington. Funny
- Well, I've ruffled a few feathers at all the institutions I've led. But I think that's part of leadership. All
- I mean, when you get down to very low numbers of nuclear weapons, and you contemplate going to zero, how do you deal with the… Any
- Defense is not like other discretionary spending. Defense
- I've been very sensitive for a long time to the repeated pattern, during economic hard times or after a war, of the United States' essentially… Been
- I've seen, all too often in my career, people coming in to lead agencies and organizations and trying to impose change from the top down.… Agencies
- I've spent my entire adult life with the United States as a superpower and one that had no compunction about spending what it took to… Adult
- If Iraq and Afghanistan have taught us anything in recent history, it is the unpredictability of war and that these things are easier to get… Afghanistan
- One of the big changes in the Congress since I first came to Washington is that all of these folks go home every weekend. They… Adversaries
- Some people have said, in so many words, that I'm kind of wooly-headed in believing that the Iranians would see not having nuclear weapons as… Believe
- The reality is, the United States has global interests. Our defense budget is about the same as the defense budgets or military budgets of every… Budget
- There is no international problem that can be addressed or solved without the engagement and leadership of the United States and everybody in the world… Addressed
- Well, what I've said is that the war in Iraq will always be clouded by how it began, which was a wrong premise, that there… Began
- When I was the director of Central Intelligence in the early '90s, I tried to get the Air Force to partner with us in building… Air
- A wild and crazy weekend involves sitting on the front porch, smoking a cigar, reading a book. Book
- Even when I was at CIA, I'd go to visit foreign leaders and I'd say, 'You know, I'm not a diplomat. I'm just an old… Been
- Well, Israel, obviously, thinks of the Iranian nuclear program as an existential threat to Israel. Existential
- You know, if I were an - if I were a Taliban, I'd say, 'What did al-Qaida ever do for me except get me kicked… Afghanistan
- power... Military success is not sufficient to win: economic development, institution-building and the rule of law, promoting internal reconciliation, good governance, providing basic services to… Along
- If Poindexter made a comment to me like that, it would have been in the context of once the authorized program is approved there would… Any
- Health care costs are eating the Defense Department alive. Alive
- I have instincts. Instincts
- I had no concerns - I had no reason to have concerns based on what was available to me about North's contacts with the private… Available