Former Sen. Chuck Hagel on Thursday recalled how President Obama approached him to lead the Defense Department before a Senate Armed Services committee hearing.
“The president asked me to come see him and we had a long conversation one night, just the two of us,” Hagel said. “It was over an hour. We talked about the job, the world, security, the future, and within the context of that conversation we got down into what about this job? I didn’t try to sell him on the job that I could do it. In fact, when he asked me about why am I qualified or why would I be uniquely qualified, I said I’m not. There are a lot of qualified Americans that can do this job. I don’t think a lot of them in the sense they are out there everywhere. But I’m not the only one. I said Mr. President, I’m not going to try to convince you that I’m the right person. You know my record and you know what I believe.”
Hagel continued: “I told the president, he was here at a very defining time. If I can help him do that, if I can help this country, I want to do it. The experiences I will bring to the job, Senator, you know I think I’ve got a varied background.”
