Opinion & viewpoint

‘Wise Man’ Robert Gates Trashes Donald Trump, Doubts Obama’s Spunk

So on Saturday, when the ever-active Gates was snowed in a block from the White House, where he had dispensed information and vital insights to eight presidents, I gave him a call to try to find out why Obama has been surprised again and again by dictators and, indeed, terrorists, around the world.

Gates, nursing a bit of a cold, mainly wanted to talk about his new book, A Passion for Leadership: Lessons on Change and Reform from Fifty Years of Public Service.

But you can’t talk about leadership in the United States, and especially in foreign policy, without talking about current and future presidents. And Gates nailed the problem with Obama: He is a hyper-rationalist in what’s still an irrational world.