Fear: Trump in the White House

by Bob Woodward

As a colonel, Mattis had taken the Marines into Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Navy captain, and SEAL for 17 years, Bob Harward had led the SEALs in. “Hey, want to go together?” Mattis had asked Harward in 2001. In the dozen years that followed, Harward had major assignments under Mattis. In the summer of 2013, now a vice admiral, Harward was sent to MacDill Air Force Base in Florida to become deputy central commander to Mattis. He checked into the BOQ, Bachelor Officer Quarters, worked a day, and went back to his room. All his belongings had been moved out. He was told everything had been moved to General Mattis’s house. Harward went over to the house. He walked into the kitchen and found General Mattis there, folding Harward’s underwear. “Sir,” Harward said, “what the fuck are you doing?” “I did my laundry,” Mattis said. “I figured I’d do yours too.” Harward found Mattis the most gracious, humble officer he had ever served under. Rather than introduce Harward as “my deputy,” Mattis said, “I want you to meet my co-commander.” When Harward retired and moved to the Middle East as the chief executive of Lockheed Martin in the United Arab Emirates, he kept in touch with Mattis. Mattis worried about the effects of the Obama administration’s failure to deter Iran. But “if you know Jim Mattis,” Harward said, “he’s not a fan of going to war.”

Mattis.