Robert Gates' Career in Government

Hard Liner
Gates (above at center) continued to climb the professional ladder during the Reagan Administration, when he became deputy director for intelligence at CIA. Even as Mikhail Gorbachev instituted glasnost, a policy of openness towards the West, Gates' bona fides as a cold warrior endeared him to his superiors. He quickly rose to second-in-command and was even nominated to be director until his nomination was derailed over concerns that Gates had not done enough to stop the Iran-Contra scandal.

• Robert Gates in Afghanistan