"There are some people who think you have to hate them in order to shoot them. I don't think you do. It's just business."
Many Marines still look up to Mattis as a cult-like figure. Nevertheless, he has always been seen as a consummate professional.
A Marine officer we spoke with told Business Insider: "The more I learned about him, the more I saw that the things we were doing right seemed to be associated with his philosophy of command."