A CAUTIOUS PROFESSIONAL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000706090009-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 19, 2011
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: February 3, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/19 :CIA-RDP90-009658000706090009-4
i hn~'~~rrr rc NtW YURK TIMES
ONPA~? 3 February 198
7
A Cautious Professional
Robert Michael Gates
By PHILIP SHENON-?
Special to The Neer York Timd
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 - Rober~
M. Gates, President Reagan's nomi
Intelligence, is frequently describe
as a smart, cautious intelligence arts
Mae
in the
News
These are characteris-
tics that have led Mr.
Gates to key intelligence
posts under tour Presi-
dents and brought him
enthusiastic, bipartisan
support on Capitol Hill. At 43 years
oM, Mr. Gates would be the youngest
Director of Central Intelligence. re-
placing amen 30 years his senior.
Mr. Gates, a career officer who is
now the No. 2 official at the Central
Intelligence Agency, is expected to
face few hurdles in winning Senate
cwMirmation.
Still, he is certain to be questioned
about his role In the sale of American
arms to Iran and the diversion of
profits to Nicaraguan rebel groups. A
report issued last week by the Senate
Intelligence Committee notes that
Mr. Gates learned last October of the
possibility that money from the [ran
arms sale had been tunneled to the
rebels, known as contras, and raises
questions about how he handled that
Wormation. The diversion was con-
firmed publicly more than a month
later.
'Stralghttorward' Testimony
The chairman of the Senate Intelli-
gence Committee, Senator David L.
Boren, Democrat of Nebraska. said in
an interview that he had reviewed
Mr. Gates's recent testimony before
the committee about the Iran affair
and "it appears, on first impression,
that he was pretty straightforward
with the committee."
Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, the reac-
tion to Mr. Gates's appointment was
overwhelmingly supportive.
Representative David McCurdy,
Democrat of Oklahoma and a mem-
ber of the House Intelligence Com-
mttte~e, said the appointment signaled
a new era of cooperation between the
C.I.A. and Congress - a relationship
that had soured markedly under Mr.
Gates's predecessor, William J.
Casey
STAT
"This is a clear shift in direction,"
Representative McCur "What
Bob press represents, is the
whereas Casey was more of an advo-
care. This is going to be a necessary
shot-in-the-arm for Congress."
Noted for Loyalty
Lawmakers have indicated that
they might also raise questions about
the degree of independence that Mr.
Gates would exercise under Presi-
dent Reagan.
While he is admired for the intellec-
tualfreedom he stirred among intelli-
gence analysts at the C.[.A., Mr.
Gates was also noted for his unwaver?
ing loyalty to Mr. Casey, a fierce ad-
vocate of the Reagan Administra-
tion's foreign policy, particularly its
,support for the Nicaraguan rebels.
A former American intelligence of-
ficial who questioned Mr. Gates's
willingness to argue against mis-
guided Administraton policies said:
"He has very effectively assumed the
identity of each of the very different
masters he has served in the past
eight to 10 yearn That's not my notion
of independence."
Yet at the same time, some legisla-
tors credited Mr. Gates with keeping
the agency's intelligence analyses ob-
jective, even if they conflicted with
Administration policy.
Representative McCurdy said he
had seen a "remarkable shift in the
quality" of intelligence reports pre-
pared by C.I.A. analysts under the di-
rection of Mr. Gates, who is a Soviet
affairs specialist.
According to the C.I.A., Mr. Gates
has never worked as a "spy" -the
sort of cloak-and-dagger agent found
darting through foreign capitals in
popular fiction. Instead, he has been a
desk-bound analyst of the informa-
tion gathered by others.
Lawmakers and former intelli-
gence officials said they understood
that Mr. Gates had been promised
easy access to the President. Mr.
Casey is one of Mr. Reagan's closest
friends and most powerful adWsers
on foreign policy.
STAT
"While he may not have as much
access as Casey, Gates can develop a
good rapport with the President if he
works it right," said Adm. Stanstield
Turner, who served as the Director of
Central Intelligence under President
Caner.
Robert Michael Gates was born
Sept. 25, 1943, in Wichita, Kan. He
graduated in 1965 from the College of
William and Mary, where he was
named the graduate "who has made
the greatest contribution to his fellow
man."
He also holds a master's degree in
history from Indiana University and
a doctorate in Russian and Soviet his?
tory from Georgetown University.
He joined the C.I.A. in 1966 as an in-
telligence analyst. In 1974, Mr. Gates
was assigned to the National Security
Council staff and remained there
under Presidents Nixon, Ford and
Carter, returning to the C.I.A. five
years later.
Mr. Gates, who many regard as in-
tensely ambitious, moved up quickly
through the agency. in 1982, he was
appointed Deputy Director for Intelli?
Bence, directing the component of the
C.I.A. responsible for all intelligence
analysis
In that post. Mr. Gates was credited
with raising the number and quality
of intelligence reports. Among other
things, he fnstituted a method of hold?
ing C.1.A. analysts accattrttabk for
. their record of forecasting ea foreign
policy.
Mr. Gates's ties with Mr. Casey led
to his appointment last year as
Deputy Director of Central Intelli-
gence and then acting C.I.A. Director
when Mr. Casey underwent surgery
last December for removal of a brain
tumor.
A number of Administration offi-
cials said they believed that Mr.
Gates was nominated to his new post
at Mr. Casey's urging.
As is typical of career intelligence
officers, little is known about Mr.
Gates's life away from the agency. It
is known that he and his wife, Rebec-
ca, have two young children.
Role in hart Arms Deal
Mr. Gates's involvement in the Iran
arms deal is expected to come under
intense scrutiny during the Senate
confirmation hearings.
The Intelligence Commttee report
released last week said that he had
been involved in efforts to provide
Iran with intelligence information,
apparently in the hope that Iranian
officials, thankful for the information
and arms, would assist in freeing
American hostages held in Lebanon.
STAT
Continued
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/19 :CIA-RDP90-009658000706090009-4
 Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/19 :CIA-RDP90-009658000706090009-4
In January 1986, the report said, ~
Mr. Gates participated in a meeting
to discuss the information that was
destined for Iran. -
"Gates testified that he objected to
the release of some specific intelli-
gence relating to Iraq but that he was
overruled," it said. "C.I.A. was di-
rected to prepare the intelligence ma-
terial."
Last October, the repurt said, Mr.
Gates became aware of concern by a
senior C.I.A. official that money From
the Iran arms sale had been diverted.
to the contras.
"Gates directed that Casey be
briefed, and the C.I.A. officer testified
that he met with Casey on Oct. 7 and
repeated what he had told Gates," the
report added.
Senators are expected to ask what
Mr. Gates did with information about
the possible diversion over the course
of the following month. it was not
until late November, the Administra-
tion has said, that President Reagan
became aware of the diversion.
According to the committee's re-
port, Mr. Gates and Mr. Casey went
to the National Security Adviser,
John M. Poindexter, on Oct. 15 and
urged him to disclose the Iran initia-
tive "to the public, to avoid having it
'leak out in drips and drabs.' "
Changing Leadership at the C.I.A.: Six Who Have Served
Every President since the C.I.A. was founded 40 years ago has Gates -President Reagan have each named two. In the last decade,
nominated at least oee Director of Central Intelligence. Prosidsnts directors have left office on virtually the same timetable as the
Truman, Johnson and -with yeste-day's nomination of Robert M. Presidents they served. These are the most recent directors.
Vlll~ln 1. Carty ARiR ~SlsAeld
Jan. 28,1881- T1n1K
Jan. 29,187 Marchl,1877-
Veteran of Offlos~of Jan. 20,1881
Strategic Services ink Naval Academy
World War II ... slassmaM of Jknmy
Lawyer and venture Carter ...Named
Capitalist ... president cf the
Appointed chairman Naval War Co11eQe,
of the Securities and
Exchange
Commission in 1971
...Became Ronald
Reagan'a campaign
manager, 1980.
1972 ... Appointed
fleet and area
commander of ttte
North Atlantic Treaty
Organization, 1974
... Commander in
chief, ANied Forces
SoutMm Europe,
1875.
CilOI'~e 011th
Jan. 30,1878-
Jan. 20,1977
Republican
Congressman,
1988-70 .. .
Representative to
the United Nations,
1970 ... Named
chairman of the
Republican National
Committes,1872.. .
Headed the new
United States iiason
office in Peking,
1974-75.
X11 ~. C0i0~
Sept 4,1873-
Jan. 30,1878
Joined C.I.A. in 1950
...Named C.I.A.
station chief in
Saigon, 1959.. .
Deputy director of
Vietnamese
pacification
program, 1968.. .
Presided over
Operation Phoenix
to weed out
Vietcong agents,
which he later
admitted may have
involved "some
illegal killing."
S~
Feb. 2,1873-
July 2,1873
Assistant director of.
the Office of
Management and
Budget, 1989.. .
Nominated by
President Nixon to
be chairman of the
Atomic Energy
Commisaion,1971
... Secretary of
Defense, 1973-75
.Named
Secretary of Energy
by President Carter,
1977.
RIc1~rd M.11~11r
June 30,1888-
Feb. 2,1873
O.S.S. veteran . .
First career officer
to head Me
C.I.A.... Appointed
Ambassador to Iran
by President Nixon.
1973.
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/19 :CIA-RDP90-009658000706090009-4