Robert Gates considered Michael Bloomberg a possible Pentagon successor

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates writes in his buzzy memoir that, when it came time to hand over the reins at the Pentagon, he created a short list of possible successors that included one unlikely name: Michael Bloomberg, the news company billionaire serving as New York City's mayor at the time.

"For my own job, my short list included Hillary [Clinton], Colin Powell, [then-CIA director Leon] Panetta, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg," Gates reveals on page 537 of "Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War."

Panetta was plainly Gates' top choice, and ultimately got the job. Gates doesn't spell out why Bloomberg would have made a solid candidate to replace him, though New York City's government bureaucracy probably rivals the Pentagon's.