Robert Gates: former Defense Secretary, CIA Director--and Eagle Scout.

• Author: Wolf, Mark
• Position: ON RECORD - Interview

Robert Gates, currently president of the Boy Scouts of America, has served the country as secretary of defense, as director of the CIA and as an intelligence professional at the National Security Council and the White House under eight presidents. He has been president of Texas A&M University and the National Eagle Scout Association. He's served on many boards, won numerous awards and written several books. A native of Kansas, he earned a doctorate in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University.

STATE LEGISLATURES: The Boy Scout Law says that a Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. How did this affect you growing up?

GATES: The Scout Oath and Law have been with me all my life. I have a photograph of my father in the study in a Boy Scout uniform in front of his house in Kansas City in 1918. He wasn't an Eagle Scout, but he made sure both my brother and I were. It really was a formative part of my life, and my earliest experiences with leadership were in the Boy Scouts. There's nothing quite like trying to get a bunch of 12- and 13-year-olds to do what they don't want to do--and you're only a year older. If you can do that, you can probably manage just about anything.

What approach are you taking with the Boy Scouts since the organization repealed its ban on gay Scoutmasters?

My approach is the same as it was in leading the intelligence community and CIA, and then being president of Texas A&M and finally secretary of defense, which was having an inclusive decision-making process. People aren't surprised, and they have an opportunity to weigh in with their opinions. I think when people feel they've been a part of the process and they've been respected, it's much easier for them to agree to a decision or support a decision, even if, in fact, originally they didn't.

What about your experiences with the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy?

I think the same principles apply. Our folks came in and I told the president that before any action was taken, we had to consult with the troops. We had to get the views of the troops and their families about what they thought about this change, the impact it would have, their concerns and so on, so we could shape the decision to take those concerns into account.

For the first time probably ever, the military actually had a conversation with itself about this subject and, lo and behold, when we got those surveys...