salutation, james m. mattis. this letter of r"> salutation, james m. mattis. this letter of r" property="og:description"> salutation, james m. mattis. this letter of r">
my position. the end date for my tenure is february 28th, 2019. and it is signed without salutation, james m. mattis. this letter of resignation today was not released by the white house. it was released by the pentagon. i can't imagine the white house would have ever released this if the pentagon didn't do it. just because there is no lack of clarity here. this was a resignation in protest against the president and his behavior. at least that's how this reads to me. there is no hint that secretary mattis was fired or that his resignation because he wanted to spend more time writing symphonies or something. he's resigned over these two clear issues, treating allies with respect and as he puts it, being clear-eyed about malign actors. beyond this blunt letter, though, i think another way you could tell this wasn't the president firing the defense secretary, is because this