Last updated November 18, 2010 9:47 p.m. PT
The head of U.S. Defense Secretary Don Rumsfelt rolled days after Republicans' 2006 election shellacking, and Robert Gates was handed the task of finding a passage out of the Iraq War quagmire.
A Surge later, Gates was kept on as Defense Secretary under President Obama. But the cabinet strongman says he wants to leave in 2011 before the presidential campaign heats up.
Before permanently retiring to his home at Big Lake in Skagit County, the former CIA director and Texas A & M president might consider taking on a big challenge in this Washington.
The 67-year-old Gates is being looked at, yearningly by some, as potentially the best "fit" for University of Washington president. It would be like Nixon going to "Red" China, a veteran spook and close adviser to Ronald Reagan and both Bushes landing at liberal Montlake.
Don't laugh, consider the possibilities. Another Cabinet member, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, is mentioned for the UW post. Locke didn't set the world on fire as Washington's governor, and higher education didn't share much in the state's prosperity. In gravitas, and transforming leadership, Gates looms over Locke like Mt. Rainier towers over the Tatoosh Range.
The University of Washington needs its own Surge. It is already plotting to mobilize more than 300,000 graduates in a bid to hold onto what's left of state support. A new alumni-sponsored website, www.uwimpact.org, is being activated as a lobbying tool.
Gates has a record for navigating the corridors of power, and the academy. He has fought to junk Cold War-type weapons systems that seem designed to turn back the Red Army at Germany's Fulda Gap. He's sacked a Secretary of the Army, a Surgeon General, a Secretary of the Air Force and an Air Force chief-of-staff for subpar performance.
He didn't do badly at Texas A & M. The faculty grew, so did graduate programs, a $300 million campus construction program was launched, and the university made progress toward a more diverse student body of Aggies.
The last achievement deserves emphasis. The University of Washington has stressed its "value" as a great research university and job generator. It has, however, been a ticket to the American dream for generations of undergraduates from a myriad of backgrounds.
The rising cost of a four-year education is stressing out families across America. The College Board recently reported that tuition and fees at four-year institutions rose 7.9 percent in 2009.
Undergraduate tuition and fees for in-state University of Washington students totals more than $1,000 above the national average of $7,605. In the University of California system, where the pricetag went up 32 percent last year, regents are pondering another 8 percent hike -- which would bring the total to $11,124.
Gates has a trained mind, having written a doctorate on Soviet history at Georgetown, dissertation topic: "Soviet Sinology: An Untapped Source for Kremlin Views and Disputes Relating to Contemporary Events in China."
With a background in Kremlinology, and a quarter-century at the CIA and National Security Council, he might be just the guy to figure out the mystery-wrapped-in-an-enigma that is Frank Chopp, and meet quietly in coffee house corners where the House Speaker does business.
Finally, Gates might just the guy to hammer sense into two-faced business bigdoms. They give speeches about the vital role of education, but have just beaten down a modest proposed income tax on the rich, and handcuffed the Legislature's ability to raise reveue or close tax loopholes.
Days after helping scuttle the tax and apply the cuffs, the Seattle Times editorialized: "But if weak support for four-years schools continues, the quality of higher education will be greatly diminished, a lousy idea for a region that prides itself on its high-tech bonafides and abilitiy to generate jobs for the future."
Somebody needs to get in the face of the person that wrote this pompous, sanctimonious screed. O.K. (name of Blethen), how would YOU support higher ed? The leadership of the Association of Washington Business, likewise, needs to be called out of its cliches.
Gates has kept a low profile here, not publicizing his generosity and even leaving a light security imprint. The only real Gates anecdote concerns a National Park Service ranger stumbling upon a retreat of CIA brass at the Little Beaver Creek campground on Ross Lake.
A Gates presidency would not please the loony left in Seattle, his past presidency of the National Eagle Scout Association might arouse suspicion, and he's been a director in a technology firm that works in electronic elections.
O.K., the man needs a break and probably has a second first-rate memoir to write. The "Magic Skagit" is an ideal setting to reflect on an achieving life.
A master strategist and mobilizing leader MUST be recruited or we can kiss good-bye to great university. UW searchers, think big!
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