Since he took the reins of the U.S. Defense Department from James Mattis on Jan. 1, Patrick Shanahan has been, at best, stuck in limbo. Shanahan found both his competence and his ethics questioned on Capitol Hill, amid grumbling over his management style at the Pentagon.
Yet after a bruising 106 days as acting defense secretary, Shanahan is not only still standing, but he is also making a real imprint on Trump administration policy. Sources close to him say he is driving a tougher posture on Turkey and heightening a focus on competing with China on 5G telephony, among other changes. And while Shanahan drew fire during congressional hearings, he avoided any major foreign-policy gaffes, even as he dove right into thorny global affairs issues to address questions about his policy chops.
Read the full article and more in Foreign Policy.