Steve Inskeep Quotes

The Secretary of Defense is not a super General or Admiral. His task is to exercise civilian control over the Department for the Commander-in-Chief and the country.

There are now reports that President Obama will name Massachusetts Senator John Kerry to be the next secretary of defense. Apparently this is part of America's new defense strategy to bore our enemies to death.

By nominating Chuck Hagel to be his Defense secretary, President Obama is putting forward an aloof contrarian who doesn't suffer fools - a striving politician who considers himself above politics.

As Secretary of Defense I have to be cautious and prudent.

We must have a Secretary of Defense who will manage, and not be managed, by the Pentagon.

In a democracy such as ours military policy is dependent on public opinion.

Secretary Perry became the 19th secretary of defense and the first enlisted man to serve in that role. He had time in the highest ranks of the Pentagon and was instrumental in the dismantlement of the nuclear warheads in the United States and Russia. Throughout his career, he has devoted himself to protecting the interests of the nation.

The reason we've always had a civilian in that job [Secretary of Defence] is because we really believe that it is policymakers who ought to control the military and not have the military control the military.

As a former secretary of defense, I think Donald Rumsfeld is the best secretary of defense the United States has ever had.

War is much too serious a thing to be left to military men.

There are in most states one or two ministers of war, one of whom is the minister of naval affairs.

My job is to give the president and secretary of defense military advice before they know they need it.

War is too serious a matter to entrust to military men.

I had no difficulty as Secretary of Defense moving from the Bush administration to the Obama administration.

The Military shall be subordinate to the Civil authority

In baseball it’s three strikes and you’re out. What is it for the Secretary of Defense? …. Isn’t it time for you to resign.

Our military structure and tactics have been designed more to protect the service interest than the national interest.

The Chinese military is on a different page from the Chinese civilian leadership.

Only four secretaries of defense served longer than Robert M. Gates. Many others were as dedicated; many sacrificed a great deal. Alone among them all, however, Mr. Gates had the task of turning around two wars that the U.S. was losing.

In picking Gen. Jim Mattis for Defense secretary, President-elect Donald Trump has said that he found his 'Gen. George Patton.' Yet that label may not really capture what makes Mattis a distinctive choice.

We cannot have a separate group of people that are military and a separate civilian society. Otherwise, it's dangerous to democracy.

When former Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote his recent book, 'Duty', it was full of tough assessments and candor.

It is an honor of a lifetime to be appointed secretary of defense and to lead the greatest military in history.

The secretary of defense makes recommendations, sometimes will make strong recommendations to the president of the United States. But the president, whoever it is at that time, decides, makes the call on whether or not to take that recommendation.

Certainly, we shouldn't go about making a habit of taking generals and making them secretary of defense.