Bob Gates: I Haven’t Been ‘Particularly Impressed’ by Any of the 2016 Candidates

GATES: “I haven’t been particularly impressed, frankly, by anybody at this point. On either side of the aisle, I’m— I’m not seeing much courage when it comes to support of the trade agreements which are, I think, very important for this country. I think the president’s right on that. I think that there’s an awful lot of easy solutions to tough problems that are being bruited about. So— so I think we have to wait. Most of these candidates have no experience in foreign policy. In fact, very few do, on the Republican side -- have any experience or very little, maybe two or three years in the Senate. But, perhaps, their views will be flushed out and— and become more cogent as the campaign goes along but so far they’re in early days And I think their views are probably largely unformed.”