Actually, no.
And part of the lack of responsiveness on the part of the current US government has to do with the inability of those in power to grasp reality: Robert Gates, like every other member of the administration including the president, serves the American people.
He is currently serving under Barack Obama and Barack is the eight president he has served under.
This is not a minor point nor are we new to making it. Back in September of 2005, Ava and C.I. were correcting Worldwide Liar Colin Powell who was claiming that being Secretary of State meant he served George W. Bush:
Liar's the way many will remember Colin Powell. Belief in your country doesn't allow you to lie to your country. Belief in your Bully Boy does. That's something this adminstration fails to grasp. They all think they're working for the Bully Boy. Powell makes statements to that effect. He's full of many things including his "service" to the Bully Boy. The administration is supposed to be working for the country. Presidents come and go. The nation is what is supposed to matter. Belief in your country would mean you tell the people the truth.
When laws are broken -- take Watergate -- "I was serving my president" is not an excuse or -- ask G. Gordon Liddy -- a get-out-of-jail card. That's because your oath of office isn't to a president.
Do most Americans realize that Cabinet Secretaries are sworn in?
"I, Robert Gates, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."
You are allowed to substitute "affirm" for "swear." (Gates didn't.) That's the oath he took December 18, 2006, as administered by president of vice Dick Cheney.
Where in any of that does he swear to serve Bully Boy Bush? He doesn't. Nor does the oath even mention the office of president.
There's a reason for that. We don't have kings (or queens) in America. Our highest elected official is the president and even he or she serves the American people.
It's shameful and embarrassing that those responsible for the Pentagon website -- which robs so much of the tax payer monies -- thinks so little of the American people that they 'forget' them in their rush to build a junta.