A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times – An Instant New York Times Bestseller: A Pentagon Insider's Tumultuous Years Under President Trump

by Mark T. Esper

General Milley, still troubled by Trump’s attempts to put him in charge of civil unrest response on June 1 and sensitive to the social media backlash against him, spoke up about his role, focusing on the “obligation” he had “to provide best military advice.” Meadows said he understood but added something to the effect that Milley had to support or be loyal “to the president.” Milley shot back immediately that his “duty was not to support the president”—as Meadows requested—but “to follow legal orders and his oath.” He was trying to educate Meadows, but it caught the chief of staff off guard. Meadows became defensive, straightened up in his chair some, and then launched into a series of arguments that masqueraded as questions. The room started getting tense again. Milley explained his role well, stressing that, under the law, he was an “adviser to the president and the secretary of defense on military matters.” He had “no formal place in the chain of command,” he said, which flowed from the president to the secretary of defense, and from there—from me—to either the combatant commanders or the service secretaries. Milley was doing a good job explaining his role to Meadows, but I didn’t want the chief of staff to think my silence, as the chairman spoke, in any way suggested a lack of support on my part for what Milley was saying. So, I jumped in and doubled down on Milley’s main points, emphasizing the difference between a civilian political appointee such as myself and a uni...