Once called “Washington’s ultimate survivor” by The Washington Post, Frank C. Carlucci III served six presidents, traveled across the world on behalf of his country, and ultimately rose to prominence as secretary of defense. Through every era of his extraordinary and varied career, there was a common refrain: “Get Me Carlucci!” Get Me Carlucci combines Carlucci’s own words with interviews from his contemporaries and context from his daughter, Kristin Carlucci Weed, who completes her late father’s story while keeping his “characteristic deadpan humor and tell-it-like-it-is sensibility, no frills and no fuss.”

Starting with Carlucci’s childhood and moving to his pivotal roles in the Congo Crisis of the 1960s and the Portugal’s transition to democracy in the 1970s, Get Me Carlucci offers a unique look at the life of one of America’s most important behind-the-scenes actors. While Carlucci was not a seeker of the spotlight, his work shaped the world and his time as secretary of defense defined American Cold War policy.

“The president thought the world of him,” said Carlucci’s friend and mentee Colin Powell. “I thought the world of him.” Now read Frank Carlucci’s story in his own words.