WORKING AT THE NSC seemed a little bit like conducting an orchestra. I had one very important power: I got to choose the “music” within my area—that is, the issue on which to spur a government-wide debate about what the United States should do. I then chaired meetings in the Situation Room,* gathering people from the intelligence community, the State Department, the Defense Department, the Treasury Department, USAID, and other agencies to explore whether we could agree on a desired strategy.
