Crisis or boost? How David Petraeus' resignation from the CIA could be good for Barack Obama While he retired from the military to become CIA director, Gen Petraeus remains a soldier in the popular imagination, quite separate from colleagues in the administration who are associated with Mr Obama's divisive politics. His second term now secure, Mr Obama no longer need fear the general's potential political threat. And with Gen Petraeus's indiscretions now headline news, a presidential bid against Mr Obama's Democratic successor in 2016 seems far-fetched. Relations between the two men are thought not to have fully thawed since Mr Obama's decision to draw down US forces in Afghanistan earlier than Gen Petraeus had wanted following a review of the war. The general was reported to have told staff members that "the administration was f******* with the wrong guy" after drinking a glass of wine during a flight. Rumours began swirling in Washington yesterday morning that Gen Petraeus might be preparing to down in order to take the fall for failures of intelligence and security leading to the Sept 11 Benghazi attack. They turned out only to be half right. Yet Gen Petraeus's exit hands Mr Obama a new broom at Langley with which to clear one of the worst messes of his presidency - while tarnishing the presidential nominee of Republicans" dreams.