Obama opts for establishment advisers

Gates was a member of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group and is widely respected by Democrats in Congress, but he retains strong Republican lineage.

The 65-year-old climbed the CIA bureaucracy from an entry-level position to become director under President George H.W. Bush. He also served on his National Security Council, as he had for Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.

Close friend of Bush family
Gates helped lead U.S. efforts to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan in the 1980s while at the CIA and was deputy national security adviser during Operation Desert Storm, the first U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Gates is a close friend of the Bush family. He was interim dean of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M and became the university's president in 2002. The school is home to the elder Bush's presidential library.

When the younger Bush called, Gates reluctantly left his university post two years ago to take over the Pentagon from the rancorous Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Gates spokesman Geoff Morrell would not confirm that Gates has been offered the job by Obama.

"He has never closed the door on the possibility of serving if needed, but his preference has always been to go back home," when the Bush administration ends, Morrell said.

Gates supported the Iraq war and the military buildup there, although he has also endorsed new efforts to draw down forces in Iraq and beef up troop numbers in Afghanistan — a strategy also voiced by Obama.

Gates has won praise from Democrats for his willingness to work with all sides on Capitol Hill and his moves to swiftly can Pentagon leaders who he believed were not performing. During his brief tenure he has fired the Army and Air Force secretaries as well as the Air Force chief of staff.

'A lot of humility'
Jon Soltz, an Iraq war veteran and chairman of VoteVets.org, a veterans advocacy group, said his group has been hard on the Bush administration but holds respect for Gates.

"He comes across as very honest, and has a lot of humility," Soltz said. And he's not worried that Gates will be hobbled by his previous associations.

"It's more about the policy than it is about the person in that role. It's the commander in chief that guides policy."

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