“The line of hundreds of troops and civilians to have Robert Gates sign a copy of his new book,
Duty
, snaked through stanchions at the Pentagon and wound itself outside on to the sun-soaked courtyard on Thursday,” USA Today reports.

“Being a (mostly) beloved former Defense secretary helped boost attendance. Writing a book that blasts Congress, the vice president and bloated bureaucracies didn’t hurt, either. And authoring a 600-page memoir that praises the service and sacrifices of privates and four-stars and their families is guaranteed to be a hit in these halls.”