Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who recently retired after serving in both the Bush and Obama administrations, will speak at Claremont McKenna’s Athenaeum on April 4th. The spring 2012 Athenaeum lineup is scheduled to be released today.
Gates replaced Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense in 2006. Obama asked Gates to stay on the job shortly after the 2008 election, seeking continuity during wartime. Gates was the first defense secretary to remain on the job when the White House switched parties.
Gates, bottom right, watches the SEAL raid on Osama Bin Laden in the White House Situation Room on May 1, 2011. Photo courtesy of the White House.
As Secretary of Defense, Gates managed the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, along with the mission in Libya. During his tenure, Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden.
While Gates was generally considered a strong leader, he was more low-key than his predecessor and avoided the spotlight. President Obama joked about Gates’s “love for the Washington limelight” when he awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom upon his retirement. Obama went on to describe Gates as “a humble American patriot, a man of common sense and decency.”
Gates will be the second national security-focused former cabinet member to speak at the Athenaeum this year. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s controversial visit last November sparked protests. Worried about outsiders storming campus to protest Rice’s talk, CMC moved the event to Ducey Gym. The location change compromised the Ath’s intimate environment, and students lost the opportunity to dine with the first African-American woman Secretary of State.
Responding to the move, eleven current and former Ath Fellows wrote an open letter condemning the college’s decision. “Even if the administration claims the change is a unique reaction to a one-time security challenge, their logic would still apply to any speaker that might inspire vocal opposition,” they wrote. “We cannot endorse this potential path toward sterilizing future Ath events. What makes the Ath worthwhile is thought-provoking and important topics and ideas, even when controversial.”
Unlike Rice, Gates does not appear on antiwar group Code Pink’s “War Criminal Watch Calendar.” Whether students will protest Gates’s talk remains to be seen, as does whether Claremont McKenna will host Gates in the Athenaeum.
