Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Great moments in interviews

A high school student interviewed Defense Secretary James Mattis

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
The U.S. Marshall Plan logo. (Wikimedia Commons)
The U.S. Marshall Plan logo. (Wikimedia Commons)
The U.S. Marshall Plan logo. (Wikimedia Commons)

A high school student interviewed Defense Secretary James Mattis:

A high school student interviewed Defense Secretary James Mattis:

“TEDDY: We actually just studied Marshall Plan in my world history class.”

“MATTIS: Oh great. You know what I’m talking about then when we put together the United Nations, that was really American leadership but we did it with others.” 

I kid, but it actually is one of the better Mattis interviews I’ve read. He is good at speaking to young Americans, in part because he takes them seriously.

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

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