Gates Approached About Being Obama’s Running Mate

Barack Obama considered former Defense Secretary Robert Gates as his running mate in 2008, Stars and Stripes reports.

Gates says in his new memoir, Duty, that he received a call from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in 2008 about the position, and answered several questions about his public stance on abortion and a few other issues.

Writes Gates: “It took a lot of willpower for me to keep from bursting out laughing. I couldn’t figure out if he was serious, if it was just idle flattery, or if he was delusional … I never told anyone, in part because I didn’t think they would believe me.”