Newsmaker: Republican Maverick Hagel Forged Bond With Obama Over Iraq -- Reuters
From his lonely position as an early Republican critic of the Iraq war, former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel sometimes lectured his more timid Senate colleagues. "If you wanted a safe job, go sell shoes," he told them.
Now Democratic President Barack Obama, putting together his team for his second term, is poised to choose the intensely independent thinker to run the Pentagon. If Hagel is confirmed by the Senate, he will have to oversee the withdrawal of U.S. troops from another war zone - Afghanistan - and grapple with spending cuts.
The formal announcement of Hagel's nomination could come as early as Monday, Democratic Party sources said.
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My Comment: President Obama even admits it .... on foreign policy issues and on the military ... both he and Hagel are on the same page.