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| Donald Rumsfeld | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 21st United States Secretary of Defense | |
| In office January 20, 2001 – Present | |
| Preceded by | William S. Cohen |
| Succeeded by | Robert Gates is Secretary-designate |
| 13th United States Secretary of Defense | |
| In office November 20, 1975 – January 20, 1977 | |
| Preceded by | James R. Schlesinger |
| Succeeded by | Harold Brown |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 9, 1932 Evanston, IL, USA |
| Political party | Republican |
Donald Henry Rumsfeld (born July 9 1932, Evanston, Illinois) is the 21st and current United States Secretary of Defense. His term of office began January 20, 2001, under President George W. Bush. On November 8, 2006, Rumsfeld tendered his resignation as Secretary of Defense. He will continue to serve until confirmation of a successor by the Senate and stands to become the longest-serving Secretary of Defense if he remains until December. He also served as the 13th Secretary of Defense under President Ford from 1975 to 1977. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to have served as U.S. Secretary of Defense.
Rumsfeld also served in various positions under President Richard Nixon, as well as four terms in the United States House of Representatives, and as U.S. Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (1973–1974).
He was an aviator in the U.S. Navy between 1954 and 1957, before transferring to the Reserve. In public life he has also served as an official in numerous federal commissions and councils.
Background and family
Youth
Donald Rumsfeld was born in Evanston, Illinois to George Donald Rumsfeld and Jeannette Huster. His great-great-grandfather Heinrich Rumsfeld emigrated from Weyhe near Bremen in Northern Germany in the 19th century. One of his ancestors (named "Rumpsfeld", with a P) from Leeste married a girl in Südweyhe. The name was later misspelled in the church book. He grew up in Winnetka, Illinois.
Rumsfeld is an Eagle Scout and recipient of both the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and Silver Buffalo Award from the Boy Scouts of America.
Education
Donald Rumsfeld went to Baker Demonstration School for middle school and graduated from New Trier High School. He attended Princeton University on academic and NROTC scholarships (A.B., 1954) where he was an accomplished amateur wrestler and a member of the Lightweight Football team. While at Princeton, he was roommates with fellow future Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci.
His Princeton University senior thesis was titled: "The Steel Seizure Case of 1952 and Its Effects on Presidential Powers".
In 1956, after a stint in the U.S. Navy, he attended and subsequently dropped out of Georgetown University Law Center (1957).
Domestic life
Rumsfeld married Joyce H. Pierson (born September 18, 1932) on December 27, 1954. They have three children and six grandchildren. Their three children are psychologist Valerie J. Rumsfeld Richard (born March 3, 1956), homemaker Marcy K. Rumsfeld Walczak (born March 28, 1960), and internet entrepreneur Donald Nicholas "Nick" Rumsfeld (born June 26, 1967).
Military service
Rumsfeld served in the U.S. Navy from 1954 to 1957 as an aviator and flight instructor, training in North American SNJ basic trainers and later flying Grumman F9F Panther fighters. In 1957, he transferred to the Ready Reserve and continued his Naval service in flying and administrative assignments as a drilling reservist until 1975. He transferred to the Standby Reserve when he became Secretary of Defense in 1975 and to the Retired Reserve with the rank of Navy Captain in 1989.
Early political career
In 1957, during the Eisenhower Administration, he served as Administrative Assistant to David S. Dennison Jr., a Congressman representing the 11th district of Ohio. Dennison served one term, losing in the Democratic landslide of 1958. Rumsfeld then moved on to become a staff assistant to Congressman Robert P. Griffin of Michigan.
After a two year stint with investment banking firm A. G. Becker from 1960 to 1962, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives for the 13th Congressional District in Illinois in 1962, at the age of 30, and was re-elected by large majorities in 1964, 1966, and 1968.
In the Congress, he served on the Joint Economic Committee, the Committee on Science and Aeronautics, and the Government Operations Committee, as well as the Subcommittees on Military and Foreign Operations. He was also a co-founder of the Japanese-American Inter-Parliamentary Council.
Rumsfeld has been associated with the Chicago School of Economics, and can be seen in Milton Friedman's PBS series Free to Choose.
Rumsfeld made a brief flirtation with the Presidency in 1988 but never formally announced his candidacy.
Career
Nixon Administration
Rumsfeld resigned from Congress in 1969 — his fourth term — to serve in the Nixon Administration as Director of the United States Office of Economic Opportunity, Assistant to the President, and a member of the President's Cabinet (1969-1970); named Counselor to the President in December of 1970, Director of the Economic Stabilization Program; and member of the President's Cabinet (1971-1972).
In 1971 President Nixon was recorded saying about Rumsfeld ".. at least Rummy is tough enough" and "He's a ruthless little bastard. You can be sure of that."
In February of 1973, Rumsfeld left Washington to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels, Belgium. He served as the United States' Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council and the Defense Planning Committee, and the Nuclear Planning Group. In this responsibility, he represented the United States on wide ranging military and diplomatic matters.
Ford Administration
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In August 1974, he was called back to Washington, to serve as transition chairman for the new president, Gerald R. Ford. He had been Ford's confidant since their days in the U.S. House, when Ford was House minority leader. Later in Ford's presidency, Rumsfeld became White House Chief of Staff (1974-1975); and the 13th U.S. Secretary of Defense (1975-1977).
During this period he oversaw the transition to an all-volunteer military, and although he supported the Ford administration's efforts at détente, Rumsfeld sought to reverse the gradual decline in the defense budget and to build up U.S. strategic and conventional forces. He noted that trends in comparative U.S.-Soviet military strength had not favored the United States for 15 to 20 years, and that if continued they "would have the effect of injecting a fundamental instability in the world."
As part of the Ford administration, Rumsfeld helped formulate the White House response to the death of CIA scientist Frank Olson.
In 1975, a military recruit in New Jersey died and 500 others were infected with a flu that the Centers for Disease Control diagnosed as "swine flu". A memo from the Health, Education and Welfare secretary to the head of the Office of Management and Budget noted that "the projections are that this virus will kill one million Americans in 1976." At Rumsfeld's urging, the Ford administration quickly produced and distributed a large number of doses of the vaccine. However, some batches were contaminated and 52 people died while 628 fell ill. The program was stopped and no one outside of the original outbreak contracted swine flu.
In 1977, Rumsfeld was awarded the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Private career
In early 1977 Rumsfeld briefly lectured at the Woodrow Wilson School and Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, in Evanston, Illinois, USA.
From 1977 to 1985 Rumsfeld served as Chief Executive Officer, President, and then Chairman of G.D. Searle & Company, a worldwide pharmaceutical company based in Skokie, Illinois, whose products included, among others, the oral contraceptive pill Enovid. During his tenure at Searle, Rumsfeld led the company's financial turnaround that in turn earned him awards as the Outstanding Chief Executive Officer in the Pharmaceutical Industry from the Wall Street Transcript (1980) and Financial World (1981). Rumsfeld is believed to have earned around $12 million from Searle's sale to Monsanto.
It was under Rumsfeld that Searle got the Food and Drug Administration's approval for the controversial artificial sweetener, aspartame, which it marketed as NutraSweet.
From 1985 to 1990 he was in private business. During his business career, Rumsfeld continued public service in various posts, including:
- Member of the President's General Advisory Committee on Arms Control — Reagan Administration (1982 - 1986);
- President Reagan's Special Envoy on the Law of the Sea Treaty (1982 - 1983);
- Senior Advisor to President Reagan's Panel on Strategic Systems (1983 - 1984);
- Member of the U.S. Joint Advisory Commission on U.S./Japan Relations — Reagan Administration (1983 - 1984);
- President Reagan's Special Envoy to the Middle East (1983 - 1984);
- Member of the National Commission on the Public Service (1987 - 1990);
- Member of the National Economic Commission (1988 - 1989);
- Member of the Board of Visitors of the National Defense University (1988 - 1992);
- Chairman Emeritus, Defense Contractor, Carlyle Group (1989 - 2005);
- Member of the Commission on U.S./Japan Relations (1989 - 1991);
- Member of the Board of Directors for ABB Ltd. (1990 - 2001);
- FCC's High Definition Television Advisory Committee (1992 - 1993);
- Chairman, Commission on the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States (1998 - 1999);
- Member of the U.S. Trade Deficit Review Commission (1999 - 2000);
- Member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR);
- Chairman of the U.S. Commission to Assess National Security Space Management and Organization (2000);
- Honorary Vice-Chancellor of Yale University (2001), honoring Rumsfeld's U.S. foreign policy work.
Rumsfeld served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Instrument Corporation from 1990 to 1993. A leader in broadband transmission, distribution, and access control technologies for cable, satellite and terrestrial broadcasting applications, the company pioneered the development of the first all-digital high-definition television (HDTV) technology. After taking the company public and returning it to profitability, Rumsfeld returned to private business in late 1993. From January 1997 until being sworn in as the 21st Secretary of Defense in January 2001, Rumsfeld served as Chairman of Gilead Sciences, Inc. He was also a board member of the RAND Corporation.
ABB and North Korea
Rumsfeld sat on ABB's board from 1990 to 2001, earning $190,000 a year. ABB is a European engineering giant based in Zürich, Switzerland; formed through the merger between ASEA of Sweden and Brown Boveri of Switzerland. In 2000 this company sold two light water nuclear reactors to KEDO for installation in North Korea, as part of the 1994 agreed framework reached under President Bill Clinton.
The sale of the nuclear technology was a high-profile contract. ABB's then chief executive, Göran Lindahl, visited North Korea in November 1999 to announce ABB's "wide-ranging, long-term cooperation agreement" with the communist government. Rumsfeld's office said that the Secretary of Defense did not "recall it being brought before the board at any time". But ABB spokesman Björn Edlund told Fortune that "board members were informed about this project."
Rumsfeld has also served in executive responsibilities of various local charities across the United States. From 1986 to 1989 he was appointed to serve as United Way Inter-governmental Affairs Director in Washington, D.C..
As a result of his foreign policy achievements as Inter-governmental Affairs Director, he was asked to serve the U.S. State Department. Given the title "foreign policy consultant", he held the role from 1990 to 1993.
Reagan Administration
During his period as Reagan's Special Envoy to the Middle East (November 1983 – May 1984), Rumsfeld was the main conduit for crucial American military intelligence, hardware and strategic advice to Saddam Hussein, then fighting Iran in the Iran-Iraq war. This policy was adopted when the war began to go strongly in Iran's favor, and it looked as if Iran would overrun Iraq completely. Although the United States was hesitant to support a Soviet client state, the prospect of a greatly expanded Iran outweighed these concerns. When he visited on December 19 – December 20 1983, he and Saddam Hussein had a 90-minute discussion that covered Syria's occupation of Lebanon, preventing Syrian and Iranian expansion, preventing arms sales to Iran by foreign countries, increasing Iraqi oil production via a possible new oil pipeline across Jordan. According to declassified U.S. State Department documents Rumsfeld also informed Tariq Aziz (Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister) that: "Our efforts to assist were inhibited by certain things that made it difficult for us ... citing the use of chemical weapons."
During his brief bid for the 1988 Republican nomination, Rumsfeld stated that restoring full relations with Iraq was one of his best achievements. This was not a particularly controversial position at the time, when most American politicians considered ties with Iraq an effective bulwark against Iran.
George H. W. Bush and Clinton years
Rumsfeld's civic activities included service as a member of the National Academy of Public Administration and a member of the boards of trustees of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation, the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and the National Park Foundation. He was also a member of the U.S./Russia Business Forum and Chairman of the Congressional Leadership's National Security Advisory Group.
Rumsfeld was a founder and active member of the Project for the New American Century. He co-signed a 29 January 1998 PNAC letter sent to President Bill Clinton:
...turn your Administration's attention to implementing a strategy for removing Saddam's regime from power. This will require a full complement of diplomatic, political and military efforts. Although we are fully aware of the dangers and difficulties in implementing this policy, we believe the dangers of failing to do so are far greater. We believe the U.S. has the authority under existing UN resolutions to take the necessary steps, including military steps, to protect our vital interests in the Gulf. In any case, American policy cannot continue to be crippled by a misguided insistence on unanimity in the UN Security Council. We urge you to act decisively. If you act now to end the threat of weapons of mass destruction against the U.S. or its allies, you will be acting in the most fundamental national security interests of the country. If we accept a course of weakness and drift, we put our interests and our future at risk.
From January to July 1998 Rumsfeld chaired the 9-member Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States. They concluded that Iraq, Iran, and North Korea could develop intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities in five to ten years and that US intelligence would have little warning before such systems were deployed.
George W. Bush Administration
Rumsfeld was named Defense Secretary soon after President George W. Bush took office in 2001. Bush's selection of Rumsfeld surprised some media commentators, because he had not been seen as particularly close to Bush's father, who at one point called him a "real tool." However, Rumsfeld had held a close relationship with Vice President Dick Cheney from previous White House administrations.
Rumsfeld immediately announced a series of sweeping reviews intended to plot the transformation of the U.S. military into a lighter, more nimble force. These studies, led by Pentagon analyst Andrew Marshall, drew widespread resistance from the military services and members of Congress, who worried that Rumsfeld would cancel pet projects.
Following the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, Rumsfeld led the military planning and execution of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Rumsfeld pushed hard to send as small a force as possible to both conflicts, a concept codified as the Rumsfeld Doctrine.
Rumsfeld's plan resulted in a lightning invasion that took Baghdad in well under a month with very few American casualties. Many government buildings, plus major museums, electrical generation infrastructure, and even oil equipment were looted and vandalized during the transition from the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime to the establishment of the Coalition Provisional Authority. Critics further complained that there was no plan to deal with the existing Iraqi armed forces. They were disbanded, leaving hundreds of thousands of armed and unemployed men in the country. A violent insurrection began shortly after the occupation started.
After the German and French governments voiced opposition to invading Iraq, Rumsfeld labeled these countries as part of "Old Europe", implying that countries which supported the war were part of a newer, modern Europe.
He gives more press conferences than his predecessors. The BBC Radio 4 current affairs program Broadcasting House had been so taken by Rumsfeld's various remarks that it once held a regular slot called "The Donald Rumsfeld sound bite of the Week" in which they played his most amusing comment from that week. Rumsfeld himself is said to have found the slot "hilarious."
Bush retained Rumsfeld after his 2004 presidential re-election, which raised eyebrows among Democrats and some Republicans. December 2004, Rumsfeld came under fire after a "town-hall" meeting with U.S. troops where he responded to a soldier's comments about inferior military equipment by saying "you go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you want."
September 11, 2001
Rumsfeld's activities during the September 11, 2001 attacks were outlined in a Pentagon press briefing on 15 September 2001. Within 180 minutes of the start of the first hijacking and 120 minutes of American Airlines Flight 11 striking the World Trade Center, Rumsfeld raised the defense condition signaling of the United States offensive readiness to DEFCON 3; the highest it had been since the Arab-Israeli war in 1973.
Raising the DEFCON readied some, but not all, Air Force fighters. The 9/11 Commission Report states: "That morning NEADS (NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector) could call on two alert sites, each with one pair of ready fighters: Otis Air National Guard Base in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia. Other facilities, not on "alert", would need time to arm the fighters and organize crews."
Military decisions
Some Republicans called for Rumsfeld's replacement after Bush's re-election due to what was perceived as inadequate troop strength (Rumsfeld Doctrine) used during the invasion of Iraq.
Rumsfeld stirred controversy by quarreling for months with the CIA over who had the authority to fire Hellfire missiles from Predator drones, although according to The 9/11 Commission Report, the armed Predator was not physically ready for deployment until the Spring of 2002. (pp. 189-90, 211-214)
Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon note:
- These quarrels kept the Predator from being used against al Qaeda.... The delay infuriated the terrorist hunters at the CIA. One individual who was at the center of the action called this episode "typical" and complained that "Rumsfeld never missed an opportunity to fail to cooperate. The fact is, the Secretary of Defense is an obstacle. He has helped the terrorists. Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, The Next Attack (New York: Times Books, 2005) ISBN 0-8050-7941-6 p. 161.
Prisoner abuse
Rumsfeld vigorously defended the Bush administration's decision to detain alleged illegal enemy combatants without protection under the Third Geneva Convention. The Geneva Conventions do not cover illegal combatants. Critics feel that Rumsfeld should have been held personally responsible for the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal. Rumsfeld himself said, "These events occurred on my watch as secretary of defense. I am accountable for them." However, military investigations into the matters did not find him responsible for any wrongdoing.
Condolence letters
In December of 2004, Rumsfeld was heavily criticized for using a signing machine instead of personally signing over 1000 letters of condolence to the families of soldiers killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan. He promised to personally sign all letters in the future.
Tamiflu
From January 1997 until being sworn in as the 21st Secretary of Defense in January 2001, Donald Rumsfeld was Chairman of the Board of Gilead Sciences which is the developer of Tamiflu (Oseltamivir) which is used in the treatment of bird flu. Several news sources including USA Today , and CNN have published stories implying that Donald Rumsfeld profits from sales of Tamiflu to the U.S. Government while he is in office, although they note that he has recused himself from any decisions involving Gilead and also had the Pentagon's General Counsel issue additional instructions outlining what he could and could not be involved in if there were an avian flu pandemic and the Pentagon had to respond.
War critics
Rumsfeld has come under fire for his remarks at the American Legion's national convention when he accused critics of the Bush administration's Iraq and counter-terrorism policies of "trying to appease a new type of fascism." Also, Rumsfeld claimed that the administration's critics have "moral and intellectual confusion" about what threatens the nation's security and accused them of lacking the courage to fight back . .
Supporters
Rumsfeld has been not only critisized by media outlets. Some media outlets support him. For example, Washington Times published praising him.
Resignation
Eight retired generals called for Rumsfeld to resign in early 2006, mostly questioning his military planning and strategic competence. Rumsfeld rebuffed these criticisms, stating that "out of thousands and thousands of admirals and generals, if every time two or three people disagreed we changed the secretary of defense of the United States, it would be like a merry-go-round." Conservative commentator Patrick J. Buchanan reports that "Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, who travels often to Iraq and supports the war, says that the generals mirror the views of 75 percent of the officers in the field, and probably more." President Bush responded to the criticism by stating that Rumsfeld is "exactly what is needed," and also defended him in his controversial decider remark.
On November 4, 2006, the Military Times newspapers owned by the Gannett Company, which include the Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times, and Marine Corps Times, jointly published an editorial calling for Bush to fire Rumsfeld. It stated:
It is one thing for the majority of Americans to think Rumsfeld has failed. But when the nation’s current military leaders start to break publicly with their defense secretary, then it is clear that he is losing control of the institution he ostensibly leads.... Rumsfeld has lost credibility with the uniformed leadership, with the troops, with Congress and with the public at large. His strategy has failed, and his ability to lead is compromised. And although the blame for our failures in Iraq rests with the secretary, it will be the troops who bear its brunt.
On November 8, 2006, one week after stating he would stand by his defense secretary for his final two years in office but after losing the House and the Senate to Democratic control, Bush announced that Rumsfeld would resign his position as Secretary of Defense. President Bush has nominated Robert Gates to succeed Rumsfeld. The Senate must confirm this nomination for Gates to be appointed.
Lawsuits
Pentagon database
Several New York teenagers brought a lawsuit against Rumsfeld in federal court over a Pentagon database of potential military recruits. The Pentagon defended the database as critical to national security, but the plaintiffs argue that the database retains information on people as young as 16 in violation of federal privacy laws. New York Civil Liberties Union director Donna Lieberman said, "On the one hand Congress has afforded broad latitude to collect information but on the other hand the Department of Defense has completely flouted those limits."
Iraq detention
American filmmaker Cyrus Kar from Los Angeles was detained for two months in Iraq without being charged in May 2005 after he visited Iraq to make a documentary film about Cyrus the Great, the Persian king. On 7 July 2006, he sued Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and other military officials, calling the government's detention policies unconstitutional. He also claimed that he was hooded, threatened, taunted and insulted by U.S. soldiers. He was alleged to have been smuggling washing machine timers for use in improvised explosive devices in a taxi he was riding in to Baghdad. He was released on 10 July 2005 after his family sued the federal government for violating his civil rights and holding him even after the FBI cleared him of suspicion. The lawsuit said his detention violated his civil rights, Geneva Conventions, as well as International law. "Human rights monitors note that the vast majority of the over 15,000 detainees in U.S. military custody in Iraq have never been charged, tried, provided counsel, or allowed to challenge their detention in court, and over one-fifth of them have been detained for over a year in this manner," the suit states.
Alleged overseas torture
On March 1, 2005, American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights First filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Illinois on behalf of eight detainees who they say were subjected to torture and abuse by U.S. forces under the command of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
The suit charges Rumsfeld with violations of the U.S. Constitution and international law prohibiting torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment. The lawsuit also seeks compensatory damages on behalf of the eight men allegedly tortured and abused by U.S. military forces after being captured in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Additionally, the New York-based law firm, Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) announced Wednesday November 8th 2006 that it plans to file a war crimes lawsuit against Donald Rumsfield in Germany.
Awards
- The Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ford (1977)
- Donald Rumsfeld was awarded the Royal Order of the Intare by King Kigeli V of Rwanda.
- George C. Marshall Medal by the U.S. Army Association (1984)
- Woodrow Wilson Medal by Princeton University (1985)
- Dwight D. Eisenhower Medal (1993)
- Lone Sailor Award by the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation (2002)
- Statesmanship Award by the U.S. Assoc of Former Members of Congress (2003)
- James H. Doolittle Award by the Hudson Institute (2003)
- Ronald Reagan Freedom Award by the Reagan Library (2003)
- Gerald R. Ford Medal presented by President Ford and the Ford Foundation (2004)
- Distinguished Eagle Scout Award by the Boy Scouts of America
Affiliation history
Institutional affiliations
- Center for Security Policy: Longtime associate; winner of the CSP's 1998 "Keeper of the Flame" award (5)
- Hoover Institution: Member, board of trustees
- Project for the New American Century: Signed PNAC's founding statement of principles as well as two policy letters on Iraq
- Freedom House: Board member
- RAND Corporation: Board member
- Committee for the Free World: Former chairman
- Bohemian Club: Member
Government posts, panels, and commissions
- U.S. Commission to Assess National Security Space Management and Organization: Chairman (2000)
- U.S. Ballistic Missile Threat Commission: Chairman (1998)
- Secretary of Defense (1975-77)
- White House Chief of Staff in Ford administration (1974-75)
- U.S. Ambassador to NATO (1973-74)
- U.S. Congress: Representative from Illinois (1962-69)
- U.S. Navy: Various posts, including aviator (1954-57); reserves (1957-1975) Retired as a Navy Captain (1989)
Corporate connections and business interests
- Gilead Sciences: joined Gilead as a director in 1988 Chairman (1997-2001)
- General Instrument Corporation: Chairman and CEO (1990-93)
- G.D. Searle pharmaceutical company: CEO/Chairman/President (1977-1985)
- Bechtel Corporation: Was involved in Iraq-Bechtel negotiations in the 1980s on a pipeline project
- Gulfstream Aerospace: Former director
- Tribune Company: Former director
- Metricom, Inc.: Former director
- Sears, Roebuck and Co.: Former director
- ABB AB: Former director
- Kellogg Company: director 1985 - 199? while Carlos Gutierrez (x Cuba 1960) president CEO and chairman Kellogg until named Secretary Commerce under Bush from 2005
Education
- Princeton University: A.B. (1954)
Intellectual heritage
See also
- Agathidium rumsfeldi - a slime-mold beetle named after Rumsfeld
- U.S. Congressional Delegations from Illinois
- Old Europe - comment by Rumsfeld regarding Iraq-war participation
- Winkler v. Rumsfeld
- List of US Cabinet Secretaries who have held multiple cabinet positions
References
- Rumsfeld family tie is first victim of war, Daily Telegraph, February 9, 2003
- Scouting. 94 (4): 35 Scouting magazine http://www.scoutingmagazine.org Scouting magazine.
{{cite journal}}: Check|url=value (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|month=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) September 2006 - Princeton University Senior Theses Full Record: Donald Henry Rumsfeld
- Free to Choose: Tyranny of Control
- Nixon White House conversation 464-12
- DefenseLink's Rumsfeld Biography
- A Shot in the Dark: Swine Flu's Vaccine Lessons, Washington Post, 26 May 2002
- DefenseLink's Secretary of Defense Biography
- George Washington University, National Archives, Iraq, PDF format
- Project for the New American Century letter to U.S. President Clinton, 29 January 1998
- Report of the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States
- After Outcry, Rumsfeld Says He Will Sign Condolence Letters, Washington Post, December 18 2004
- Rumsfeld sympathy signed by machine, Daily Telegraph, December 20 2004
- http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20061109-082804-2585r.htm
- http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/14/washington/14military.html
- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2138760_2,00.html
- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/14/AR2006041401649_pf.html
- http://www.slate.com/id/2139847/#sb2140026
- http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49756
- http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/14/iraq.rumsfeld/index.html
- "Editorial: Time for Rumsfeld to go", Army Times, 4 November 2006;"Editorial: Time for Rumsfeld to go", Marine Corps Times, 4 November 2006; "Editorial: Time for Rumsfeld to go", Navy Times, 4 November 2006;"Editorial: Time for Rumsfeld to go", Air Force Times, 4 November 2006
- http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/03/rumsfeld.resign/
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/6130296.stm
- http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217119,00.html
- Rumsfeld quitting as defense secretary. CNN.com Retrieved 8 November, 2006.
External links
Works
- OnlyOneWorld.NET Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's April 11th Speech and commentary on it.
- What the Secretary Has Been Saying official speeches and transcripts
- Rumsfeld's Rules advice on government, business and life, January 29 2001
- Strategic Imperatives in East Asia by Donald Rumsfeld (Heritage Foundation, 1998) ISBN B0006FCPRU
- Donald Rumsfeld's Project Syndicate op/eds
- Statement by Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld on London Bombings July 7 2005
Biographies
- White House Biography
- Rumsfeld's War: The Untold Story of America's Anti-Terrorist Commander by Rowan Scarborough (Regnery Publishing, 2004) ISBN 0-89526-069-7
- Rumsfeld: A Personal Portrait by Midge Decter (Regan Books, 2003) ISBN 0-06-056091-6
- The Rumsfeld Way: The Leadership Wisdom of a Battle-Hardened Maverick by Jeffrey A. Krames (McGraw-Hill, 2002) ISBN 0-07-140641-7
Documentaries and reports
- The Best of Donald Rumsfeld
- Shaking Hands With Saddam Hussein
- PBS Frontline - Rumsfeld's War October 2004 documentary
- Washington Post - Rumsfeld's War archives 2001-2004 with video and discussions
Articles
- The Carlyle Connection How the Pentagon Learned to Love the Weapon No One Wanted, Geoffrey Gray, The Village Voice, May 2002.
- The Saddam in Rumsfeld's Closet, Jeremy Scahill
- Close-Up: Young Rumsfeld, James Mann, The Atlantic Monthly, November 2003
- The Donald Rumsfeld Library of Quotations, BBC Radio 4
- 'This is war' Rumsfeld told Bush, Washington Times, February 23 2004
- ABB to deliver systems, equipment to North Korean nuclear plants ABB News Release, January 20 2000.
- Rummy's North Korea Connection Richard Behar, Fortune Magazine, April 30, 2003.
- Donald Rumsfeld: a Machiavellian Artist in Power Voltaire Network, October 2004
- Tanker Inquiry Finds Rumsfeld's Attention Was Elsewhere R. Jeffrey Smith, Washington Post, June 20, 2006.
- More Retired Generals Call for Rumsfeld's ResignationNew York Times, April 14, 2006
- White House backs Rumsfeld, says he's no bogeyman , Reuters, September 5, 2006
- Figureheads On The Chopping Block, Infowars, 8 November 2006
- Rumsfeld departure shakes Bush administration, BBC, 9 November 2006
- Rumsfeld out, Gates in Washington Times, 10 November 2006
| Preceded byMarguerite S. Church | U.S. Representative of Illinois's 13th Congressional District 1963–1969 |
Succeeded byPhil Crane |
| Preceded byAlexander Haig | White House Chief of Staff 1974–1975 |
Succeeded byDick Cheney |
| Preceded byHenry M. Paulson | United States Presidential Line of Succession 6th in line |
Succeeded byAlberto Gonzales |
| Preceded byHenry M. Paulson | United States order of precedence as of 2006 |
Succeeded byAlberto Gonzales |
| United States secretaries of defense | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Members of the Cabinet of the United States | ||
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| Cabinet members |  | |
| Cabinet-level members | ||
| acting Cabinet of Joe Biden | ||
- Current events
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