In Ashton Carter, Nominee for Defense Secretary, a Change in Direction - NYTimes.com: Ashton B. Carter, the physicist nominated by President Obama on Friday to lead the Pentagon, is in the mold of past cabinet secretaries who have tangled with the White House and may advocate a stronger use of American power overseas.
Assertive and intellectual, Mr. Carter, 60, is in many ways the flip side of Chuck Hagel, the current defense secretary, who was seen as passive and who submitted his resignation under pressure last week. Mr. Carter is more like Robert M. Gates, Mr. Obama’s first defense secretary, who stood up to the White House. The two men are in close touch, and both have a jaundiced view of Washington.
While Mr. Carter very much wanted the top Pentagon job — he was passed over for it two years ago — he once compared working in Washington to “being a Christian in the Coliseum. You never know when they are going to release the lions and have you torn apart for the amusement of onlookers.”
