(November 8, 2006)—Texas A&M University President Dr. Robert Gates said Wednesday that while his position at A&M is the most enjoyable of his long career, he did not hesitate when the president asked him to return to duty to succeed Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense.

Mr. Bush introduced Gates as his nominee to replace Rumsfeld Wednesday afternoon.

“His experience has prepared him well for this new assignment,” Mr. Bush said, describing Gates as an agent of change and a strategic thinker who will bring a fresh perspective and new ideas to the war in Iraq.

Rumsfeld is the longest serving member of the president’s cabinet, and next month he will become the longest serving Secretary of Defense in US History.

“It’s been quite a time,” he said Wednesday afternoon as he praised Mr. Bush for his leadership in a war that he said is hard to understand and hard to explain.

In a letter addressed to the Aggie family, Gates said, “I love Texas A&M deeply, but I love our country more and, like the many Aggies in uniform, I am obligated to do my duty. And so I must go. I hope you have some idea of how painful that is for me and how much I will miss you and this unique American institution.”

Click Here To Read Robert Gates’ Statement To A&M Family

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, issued a statement Wednesday praising Rumsfeld for his service and Gates for his qualifications.

“Secretary Rumsfeld leaves behind a long and distinguished career serving our nation during critical times,” she said.

“I thank him for his service and look forward to working with Bob Gates, whom I have spoken with today, during the confirmation process. I have had the opportunity to work with Bob during his tenure as President of Texas A&M University and believe he is an extremely qualified candidate to help lead our troops and nation in the War on Terror.”

Gov. Rick Perry said Gates is uniquely qualified for the challenge.

“Like tens of thousands of Aggies before him, Gates has answered the call to serve his country. We wish him well as he undertakes the enormous challenge overseeing the U.S. Armed Forces and the War on Terrorism, and we thank him for his service to Texas A&M University,” he said.

The president told reporters Wednesday morning that he would nominate Gates to succeed Rumsfeld, whose resignation he announced during a post-election news conference.

Rumsfeld has been under fire from both Republicans and Democrats over the slow progress of the war in Iraq.

Mr. Bush says he and Rumsfeld agreed that "the timing is right for new leadership" at the Pentagon.

"Our military has experienced an enormous amount of change and reform during the last five years while fighting the war on terror, one of the most consequential wars in our nation's history," Mr. Bush said.

"Don Rumsfeld has been a superb leader during a time of change, yet he also appreciates the value of bringing in a fresh perspective during this time of war.

"Don Rumsfeld is a patriot and has served our country with honor and distinction," Mr. Bush said.

"He is a trusted advisor and a friend, and I'm deeply grateful for his service to our country."

Mr. Bush and Gates met over the weekend at the president’s ranch near Crawford to discuss the war.

Gates has been president of A&M since the summer of 2002.

He's a close friend of the Bush family.

Gates served as CIA director for the first President Bush from 1991 until 1993.

He joined the CIA in 1966 and served in the intelligence community for more than a quarter century.

Since leaving the CIA, Gates worked as a consultant, a lecturer and as interim dean of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at A&M from 1999-2001.

Click Here For White House Web Site

Click Here For DOD Web Site

Click Here For Texas A&M Web Site

Gates Timeline
(Source: Associated Press)
Aug. 1, 2002: Gates named 22nd president of Texas A&M in College Station.
August 2002: Gates sends a letter of apology to his counterpart at Texas Tech University for disparaging remarks about the West Texas university that made their way into A&M's football media guide. The piece called Tech fans "classless clowns."
September 2002: Longtime Texas A&M official J. Malone Southerland, a vice president for student affairs whose office oversaw the school's traditional bonfire, announced he would retire.
November 2002: Texas A&M alumni and students hold off-campus bonfire, reviving the traditional towering blaze that used to take place yearly on campus. It was the first bonfire since the 1999 bonfire collapsed, killing 12 people.
December 2002: Texas A&M fires longtime coach R.C. Slocum and announces hiring of high-profile football coach Dennis Franchione. A&M also hires Nebraska athletic director Bill Byrne.
December 2002: Gates creates a new administrative position to help foster diversity among students, staff and faculty members.
January 2003: A&M officials cancel students' planned "ghetto party" in a dormitory at which participants were to mimic racial stereotypes at a party observing the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
January 2003: Former Sen. Phil Gramm, a former A&M professor, has about 1,000 boxes of correspondence, press releases, files, audio and videotapes, clippings, memorabilia and other materials stored at the school's Cushing Memorial Library and Archives.
May 2003: A&M announces plans to open a branch campus in the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar specializing in engineering education and research.
July 2003: Gates announces the school will lay off about 40 employees and eliminate another 211 currently unfilled jobs to meet tighter budget conditions.
July 2003: Texas A&M System regents, after the Legislature decided to deregulate tuition, raised the rate by 20 percent on the main campus.
July 2003: Liberal Arts Dean Charles Johnson recommends the journalism department be eliminated, saying the cost to improve outdated curriculum or correct a faculty shortage is too high.
July 2003: Gates announces plans to hire more than 400 new professors over the next five years at a cost at least $40 million.
December 2003: Texas A&M System regents approve admissions plan that will not consider race as a factor in accepting students. The school's new plan will continue to make attracting minorities a top priority through increased outreach efforts in predominantly minority areas.
January 2004: Gates announces the school will no longer give preference to applicants whose parents or grandparents were graduates. The move came days after lawmakers criticized the legacy program and a state civil rights groups indicated it would sue the school if the policy didn't change.
March 2004: Gates lifts a moratorium on the sale of university-licensed bonfire memorabilia, but vendors must include a memorial ribbon on items in remembrance of the victims of the deadly 1999 bonfire collapse.
March 2004: A&M hires Billy Gillispie as basketball coach.
March 2004: Texas A&M regents approve a 21 percent tuition increase for the next fall.
April 2004: A&M, among the four universities forming a federally funded research center created to study the spread of disease in livestock. A&M was the lead school of those forming the center, which is part of a Department of Homeland Security way to keep bioterrorists from harming the nation's food supply.
September 2004: A&M announces minority recruitment efforts result in more black, Hispanic, Asian American and American Indian freshmen for the fall semester, reversing a seven-year trend at the predominantly white campus.
November 2004: A granite and bronze memorial dedicated on campus to honor the 12 people killed and the 27 injured in the 1999 deadly collapse of a Texas A&M bonfire.
January 2005: Gates announces sweeping organizational and procedural changes dealing with health and safety issues related to a campus fire and explosion that left two people dead.
June 2005: Gates announces plan to raise tuition by 12 percent at A&M.
July 2005: Texas A&M exceeds its $1 billion fundraising goal to improve teaching and research. The seven-year plan was designed to quadruple the school's endowment from $700 million to $3 billion.
February 2006: A&M announces it will resume offering a journalism major in the next few years.
March 2006: Gates appointed to bipartisan group charged with assessing the situation in Iraq.
July 2006: Tito Guerrero III, a 1970 A&M graduate, named as president and associate provost for diversity.
August 2006: After two years as the head of the A&M system, Robert D. McTeer announced he would retire as chancellor by the end of the year.

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