Robert Gates' Career in Government

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Gates got a second chance when President George H.W. Bush nominated him, despite fallout from Iran-Contra and Gates' failure to anticipate
George Bush Presidential Library

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Gates got a second chance when President George H.W. Bush nominated him, despite fallout from Iran-Contra and Gates' failure to anticipate the Soviet Union's collapse. This time around, the Senate confirmed him. Gates, at 48, became the youngest CIA director in history. He would use the position to move focus off the former Soviet Union and towards nuclear proliferation and the drug trade. In 1993, Gates resigned to pursue an academic career, eventually serving as president of Texas A&M.

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