Keeping his promise to appoint at least one Republican to a senior executive position, US President-elect Barack Obama retained Defence Secretary Robert M Gates.
It is the first time a Defence Secretary has been carried over from one administration to the next, when one administration is Republican and the other Democrat.
Given the critical nature of the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, plus Obama's pledge to pursue a bipartisan agenda, the move had been expected by many Washington DC insiders.
Gates served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1991 until 1993. He is the only career officer in CIA's history to rise from entry-level employee to director.
Addressing media persons, Obama said that Gates has restored accountability during his tenure and won the confidence of military commanders. He also has 'earned the respect of members of Congress on both sides of the aisle for his pragmatism and competence', he added.
Image: US Secretary of Defense Robert M Gates receives a briefing from a group of Army soldiers before going on a foot patrol in Gjilan, Kosovo.
Photograph: Haraz N Ghanbari-Pool/Getty Images
Also see: Birth of a new nation
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