The Mattis-Bannon Race for Secret President May Be the Most Important of Our Lives

By Eric Levitz

February 9, 2017
12:28 p.m.

Secretary of Defense James Mattis is nicknamed “Mad Dog” — a reference to his love of swearing and killing enemy soldiers. He has said that “it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot” members of the Taliban, and told Iraqi military leaders, “If you fuck with me, I’ll kill you all.” The general was such a fervent opponent of the Iran nuclear agreement — and staunch proponent of covert confrontation with Tehran — President Obama relieved him of his duties in 2013.

But in the retirement home for Islamophobic cranks that is the Trump White House, James Mattis is the closest thing to a coolheaded, diplomatic dove.

The former general has already torpedoed Trump’s torture plans, defended NATO against the president’s slings and arrows, and, reportedly, pushed for the president to add exemptions to his ban on immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations.

And, through it all, Mattis has been serving as a kind of “equanimity translator” for the president — adapting Trump’s belligerent tweets into carefully worded diplomatic missives to calm our allies’ shaky nerves. Per the Washington Post: