V.A. Chief Spent Career Seeking Out Tough Tasks
For Robert McDonald, New Demands at Veterans Affairs
By DAVE PHILIPPS and RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.
The New York Times
After nearly drowning as a child, Robert McDonald was so terrified of water that despite earning dozens of Boy Scout merit badges, he refused to take the swim test to become an Eagle Scout.
But during his first year at the United States Military Academy, it was swim or quit, since every plebe is required to jump off a high dive with a weighted pack, boots and rifle. So Mr. McDonald conquered his fear and completed the test.
In the many years since, former cadets and colleagues have cited that story to make a larger point about Mr. McDonald, who on Tuesday was confirmed by the Senate to be the new secretary of Veterans Affairs. As Mr. McDonald himself put it in an interview several years ago, “I had a goal that was bigger than my fear.”
With his confirmation, Mr. McDonald, 61, may have been handed the biggest challenge of his life: responsibility for leading a vast federal agency scarred by bureaucratic dysfunction and investigations, growing caseloads, a personnel shortage and faked waiting lists intended to cover up delays in health care.
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