President Barack Obama has lunch with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in the Oval Office private dining room on Feb. 11, 2011. (Pete Souza/The White House)

During his tenure as Secretary of Defense under two presidents, Robert Gates upheld an aura of commitment to duty and non-partisanship. But as his new memoir reveals, it was often a tried and forced veneer. As our reporter Leo Shane describes it today: He’s not worried about that public persona anymore. Here's a look back at Gates' in the spotlight from his confirmation hearing in 2006, to his last days in office in 2011.

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