Saturday, February 18, 2012
200,000 Already Voted in Arizona Presidential Primary
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Pawlenty Reflects on Presidential Campaign
Sunday, July 3, 2011
While Rick Perry Rests, Presidential Talk Ramps Up
Obama Sends off Gates with Presidential Medal of Freedom
Speaking in front of a number of active and retired military and civilian leaders, Obama turned to Gates and said, "this was not part of the program," before he announced the award.
Gates was noticeably surprised by the honor and when he stood to receive it he quipped, "We should all know by now you're getting pretty good at this covert ops stuff," -- a reference to the now infamous Bin Laden raid.
Obama recognized Gates for his unique service under two presidents, Democratic and Republican, while the nation was in the midst of two wars. He encouraged the rest of Washington to take note of the selfless manner in which Gates served, putting politics aside and his "nation first."
Obama thanked Gates for his 40 years in government and called him one the nation's finest public servants.
Among the many people Gates recognized for their contributions through his tenure, he saved the most important for last. He thanked his wife Becky for standing by his side since they met on a blind date 45 years ago in Bloomington, Indiana.
Secretary Gates and his wife will fly to their home in Washington state Thursday afternoon with a normal military escort and full communications. He will remain in the military's top civilian position until Leon Panetta is sworn in as the 23rd Secretary of Defense at 9:00 a.m. Friday in the Pentagon.
Gates has served in his role as secretary since December 18th, 2006 and will be the 4th longest serving defense secretary behind Robert McNamara, Caspar Weinberger and Donald H. Rumsfeld.
Filed In Pentagon Print Email Share Comments Recommend Tweet You must login to comment.View the discussion thread. Politics Headlines Kan. Planned Parenthood Receives Abortion LicenseLawmaker Wants Veterans Cemetery Investigated OverDebt Limit Deal Needed by Mid-July to AvoidJudge Denies Boeing Motion to Dismiss Labor CaseFox News Poll: Balanced Budget Amendment Favored, Our Contributors Contributors Choose contributor to read posts Choose an authorAdam HousleyAlicia AcunaAmanda MarshallAnita SiegfriedtAnita VogelAnne Marie RihaAnne McGinnApril GirouardBen EvanskyBeth SullivanBret BaierBrian HaefeliBrooks BlantonBryan BoughtonCarl CameronCaroline ShivelyCatherine HerridgeCatherine LoperChad PergramCherie GrzechChris StirewaltColleen WilliamsCraig SavageCristina CorbinDan SpringerDaniela SicuranzaDavid Lee MillerDavid LewkowictDenis KingDominic Di-NatalieDominique PastreDoug LuzaderDoug RohrbeckDouglas KennedyElena IsellaElizabeth PrannEric ShawnErin VogelEve ZibelFaith ManganGardbGarrett TenneyGrace CutlerGreg PalkotJacqueline PhamJake GibsonJames RosenJames SprankleJamie ColbyJamie NelsonJason DonnerJennifer GriffinJennifer SuzaraJim AngleJim MurphyJodie CurtisJohn BoswellJohn BrandtJohn L. Wallace IIIJonathan HuntJonathan SerrieJonathan WachtelJoy LinJudson BergerJulie BanderasJulie KirtzJustin FishelKathleen FosterKelly ChernenkoffKelly David BurkeKelly WrightKendall GasteluKimberly SchwandtKris GutierrezKristin BrownL.A. HolmesLacey HalpernLaura IngleLaura PrabuckiLauren GreenLauren PickLee RossLeland VittertLexi StempleLindsay StewartlynchdMaggie KerkmanMarla CichowskiMary Quinn O'ConnorMeaghan LeisterMegan Dumpe KenworthyMichelle MacalusoMike LevineMike TobinMoira HopkinsMolly HennebergMolly LineNancy HarmeyerNicole BuschOrlando SalinasPaige DukemanPaige KollockPatrick ManningPatrick SummersPete GriffinPeter DoocyPhil KeatingRick LeventhalRobert LeeRose AstorinaRuth RavveSarah CourtneySerafin GomezShannon BreamShayla BezdrobShira BushStephen ClarkSteve BrownSteve CentanniSteve HarriganTrish TurnerVaruna BhatiaWendell GolerWes BarrettWhitney KsiazekWilliam LaJeunesse Featured Contributors »