Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War

E298598

book political memoir

Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War is a political memoir by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, offering an insider’s account of American defense and foreign policy during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (1)

Label	Occurrences
Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War canonical	2

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2791119 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War
Context triple: [Robert M. Gates, notableWork, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War]

A. Bush at War
"Bush at War" is a nonfiction book by journalist Bob Woodward that chronicles the decision-making and inner workings of the George W. Bush administration in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
B. Madam Secretary: A Memoir
"Madam Secretary: A Memoir" is the autobiography of former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, recounting her life story and career in American diplomacy.
C. Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 political comedy-drama film that chronicles U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson’s covert efforts to support Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War.
D. Witness to Power
Witness to Power is a political memoir by former Nixon aide John Ehrlichman that offers an insider’s account of the Nixon White House and the Watergate scandal.
E. Witness to War
Witness to War is a documentary-style film by Australian artist and filmmaker George Gittoes that explores the human impact and brutal realities of armed conflict.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War
Target entity description: Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War is a political memoir by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, offering an insider’s account of American defense and foreign policy during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations.

A. Bush at War
"Bush at War" is a nonfiction book by journalist Bob Woodward that chronicles the decision-making and inner workings of the George W. Bush administration in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
B. Madam Secretary: A Memoir
"Madam Secretary: A Memoir" is the autobiography of former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, recounting her life story and career in American diplomacy.
C. Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 political comedy-drama film that chronicles U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson’s covert efforts to support Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War.
D. Witness to Power
Witness to Power is a political memoir by former Nixon aide John Ehrlichman that offers an insider’s account of the Nixon White House and the Watergate scandal.
E. Witness to War
Witness to War is a documentary-style film by Australian artist and filmmaker George Gittoes that explores the human impact and brutal realities of armed conflict.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	book ⓘ political memoir ⓘ
author	Robert M. Gates ⓘ
awarded	New York Times bestseller status ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
describesAdministration	Barack Obama presidency ⓘ surface form: Barack Obama administration Bush administration ⓘ surface form: George W. Bush administration
describesOfficeHeld	United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ
focusesOnEvent	Afghanistan strategy debates ⓘ Iraq War troop surge of 2007 ⓘ surface form: Iraq War troop surge U.S. counterinsurgency operations ⓘ
genre	memoir ⓘ non-fiction ⓘ
hasPerspective	first-person narrative ⓘ
isbn10	0307959473 ⓘ
isbn13	9780307959478 ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
libraryOfCongressClassification	E897.4.G38 ⓘ
mainCharacter	Robert M. Gates ⓘ
market	adult non-fiction readers ⓘ
mediaType	audiobook ⓘ ebook ⓘ print ⓘ
notableFor	critique of decision-making in Iraq and Afghanistan wars ⓘ insider account of U.S. defense policy ⓘ portrayal of civil-military relations in the United States ⓘ
oclcNumber	858354676 ⓘ
pages	640 ⓘ
placeOfPublication	New York City ⓘ
publicationDate	2014-01-14 ⓘ
publisher	Alfred A. Knopf ⓘ
relatedWork	From the Shadows ⓘ
setting	Pentagon ⓘ Washington, D.C. ⓘ
subject	Barack Obama presidency ⓘ surface form: Barack Obama administration Bush administration ⓘ surface form: George W. Bush administration Iraq War ⓘ United States defense policy ⓘ United States foreign policy ⓘ War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) ⓘ surface form: War in Afghanistan
timeOfWriting	after Robert M. Gates left office as Secretary of Defense ⓘ
timePeriodCovered	2006–2011 ⓘ Barack Obama presidency ⓘ Bush administration ⓘ surface form: George W. Bush presidency
topic	bureaucratic politics in Washington ⓘ civil-military relations ⓘ national security decision-making ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Robert M. Gates → notableWork → Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War ⓘ

A Passion for Leadership: Lessons on Change and Reform from Fifty Years of Public Service → relatedWorkOfAuthor → Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War ⓘ

All labels observed (1)

How this entity was disambiguated Show

Statements (47)

How these facts were elicited Show

Referenced by (2)

How this entity was disambiguated

How these facts were elicited