'Donald Henry Rumsfeld' (born
July 9 1932) is a
businessman, and
U.S. Republican politician, the 13th
Secretary of Defense under
President Gerald Ford from
1975 to
1977, and the 21st
Secretary of Defense under President
George W. Bush from
2001 to
2006. He is both the youngest (43 years old) and the oldest (74 years old) person to have held the position, as well as the only person to have held the position for two non-consecutive terms, and the second longest serving, behind
Robert McNamara.
Rumsfeld has also served in various positions under President
Richard Nixon, served four terms in the
United States House of Representatives, and served as
United States Ambassador to
NATO. Rumsfeld was an aviator in the
United States 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. Rumsfeld is considered by some to be the most controversial defense secretary in US history.
[1][2][3]
Background and family
Youth
Donald Rumsfeld was born in
Chicago,
Illinois, to George Donald Rumsfeld and Jeannette Huster. His great-grandfather Johann Heinrich Rumsfeld emigrated from
Weyhe near
Bremen in
Northern Germany in 1876.
[4] In Germany, the name was sometimes spelled "Rumpsfeld". Rumsfeld grew up in
Winnetka, Illinois.
Rumsfeld became an
Eagle Scout in 1949 and is the recipient of both the
Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the
Boy Scouts of America.
[5] and their
Silver Buffalo Award in 2006. He was a
ranger at
Philmont Scout Ranch in 1949.
[6] Rumsfeld would later buy a vacation house 30 miles west of Philmont at
Taos, New Mexico.
[7]
Education
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). In extracurricular activities he was an accomplished amateur wrestler and a member of the
Lightweight Football team playing
defensive back. While at Princeton his roommate was another 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."
[8]
In 1956 he attended
Georgetown University Law Center, but did not graduate.
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).
Rumsfeld lives in
St. Michaels, Maryland, in a former
bed-and-breakfast that began its history as a plantation home named "Mount Misery."
[9] The plantation is infamous as the site of the captivity of
Frederick Douglass at the hands of the "slave breaker"
Edward Covey.
Military service
Rumsfeld served in the
U.S. Navy from 1954 to 1957 as a
naval aviator and flight instructor. His initial training was in the
North American SNJ Texan basic trainer after which he transitioned to flying the
Grumman F9F Panther fighter. In 1957, he transferred to the
Naval Reserve and continued his naval service in flying and administrative assignments as a drilling reservist until 1975. He transferred to the
Individual Ready Reserve when he became Secretary of Defense in 1975 and retired with the rank of
Captain in 1989."
[10]
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. In 1959, Rumsfeld then moved on to become a staff assistant to Congressman
Robert P. Griffin of
Michigan.
[11]
After a two-year stint with investment banking firm
A. G. Becker from 1960 to 1962,
[12] he was elected to the
United States House of Representatives for
Illinois' 13th congressional district in 1962, at the age of 30, and was re-elected by large majorities in 1964, 1966, and 1968.
[13]
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.
[14]
Rumsfeld has been associated with the
Chicago School of Economics and can be seen in
Milton Friedman's PBS series ''Free to Choose''.
[15]
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 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."
[16]
In February 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 capacity, he represented the United States in wide-ranging military and diplomatic matters.
Ford Administration
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 asserted, along with
Team B, 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."
[10]
Secretary Rumsfeld, seated at the Cabinet table, laughing with President
Gerald Ford in 1975.
In 1977, Rumsfeld was awarded the nation's highest civilian award, the
Presidential Medal of Freedom.
[18]
Private career
In early 1977 Rumsfeld briefly lectured at Princeton's
Woodrow Wilson School and Northwestern's
Kellogg School of Management, in
Evanston, Illinois.
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,
Metamucil,
Dramamine, and 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.
Rumsfeld served as
United Way Inter-governmental Affairs Director in
Washington, D.C. from 1986 to 1989. He was asked to serve the
U.S. State Department as a "foreign policy consultant," a role he held from 1990 to 1993 concurrently with
General Instrument Corporation CEO and
ABB corporate board member.
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."
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."
[19] Rumsfeld brought many gifts from the Reagan administration. These gifts included pistols, medieval spiked hammers even a pair of golden cowboy spurs. Until the 1991 Gulf war these were all displayed at Saddam's Victory Museum in Baghdad which held all the gifts bestowed on Saddam by world leaders.
[20]
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 U.S. policy considered ties with Iraq an effective bulwark against Iran.
George H.W. Bush and Clinton years
Rumsfeld's public 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, a conservative think tank dedicated to overthrowing Saddam Hussein with military force. On
January 29,
1998, he signed a PNAC letter calling for President
Bill Clinton to implement "regime change" in Iraq.
[21]
From January to July 1998 Rumsfeld chaired the nine-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 U.S. intelligence would have little warning before such systems were deployed.
[22]
Opposing effort to release Jonathan Pollard
Rumsfeld's letter to Clinton urging him not to grant clemency to Jonathan Pollard.
Rumsfeld has long been an opponent of the release or sentence commutation of convicted spy
Jonathan Pollard. In late 1998, in response to media reports that President Clinton was considering issuing a pardon to Pollard, Rumsfeld sent a letter to President Clinton, urging him not to grant clemency. According to Rumsfeld, seven former U.S. Secretaries of Defense signed the letter urging Clinton not to pardon Pollard or commute his sentence. Eventually, President Clinton decided against granting Pollard clemency. (See letter on right.)
George W. Bush Administration
Rumsfeld was named Defense Secretary soon after President
George W. Bush took office in 2001. He immediately announced a series of sweeping reviews intended to plot the transformation of the U.S. military into a lighter force. These studies were led by Pentagon analyst
Andrew Marshall.
Following the
September 11, 2001 attacks, 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. 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 that supported the war were part of a newer, modern Europe.
[23]
He gave 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.
Bush retained Rumsfeld after his 2004 presidential re-election. In 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
September 15,
2001. Within three hours of the start of the first hijacking and two hours 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.
[24]
Run-up to Iraq
Approximately five hours after the attack on the
World Trade Center, Rumsfeld told aides he wanted the; "best info fast. Judge whether good enough hit S.H. [Saddam Hussein] at same time. Not only UBL [Osama bin Laden]."
[25][26]
Military decisions
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 ready for deployment until early 2002.
[27]
Daniel Benjamin and
Steven Simon note:
In Rumsfeld's final television interview as Secretary of Defense, he responded to a question by
Brit Hume as to whether he pressed General
Tommy Franks to lower his request for 400,000 troops for the
Iraq War by stating:
Rumsfeld told Hume that Franks ultimately decided against such a troop level.
Prisoner abuse
Rumsfeld vigorously defended the Bush administration's decision to detain alleged illegal enemy combatants without protection under the
Third Geneva Convention, because the Article 4 of the Convention limits rights to those who fight in uniform, under a defined command structure, and carry arms openly. There was nonetheless a large amount of pressure to apply the
Geneva Conventions to cover these
illegal combatants by many international bodies. 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."
[28] However, military investigations into the matters did not find him responsible for any wrongdoing.
In November 2006, the former U.S. Army Brigadier General
Janis Karpinski, in charge of
Abu Ghraib prison until early 2004, told Spain's
El Pais newspaper she had seen a letter apparently signed by Rumsfeld that allowed civilian contractors to use techniques such as
sleep deprivation during interrogation. ''"The methods consisted of making prisoners stand for long periods, sleep deprivation ... playing music at full volume, having to sit in uncomfortably ... Rumsfeld authorised these specific techniques."'' She said that this was contrary to the
Geneva Convention and quoted from the same ''"Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind"''. According to Karpinski, the handwritten signature was above his printed name and in the same handwriting in the margin was written: ''"Make sure this is accomplished"''. There have been no comments from either
the Pentagon or U.S. Army spokespeople in Iraq on Karpinski's accusations.
[29]
Condolence letters
In December 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.
[30][31]
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.
[32] Several news sources 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.
[33][34]
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."
[35] 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.
[36][37]
Calls for resignation
Eight retired generals and admirals called for Rumsfeld to resign in early 2006 in what was called the "Generals Revolt", mostly questioning his military planning and strategic competence.
[38][39][40] 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."
[41] Conservative commentator
Pat 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."
[42] President Bush responded to the criticism by stating that Rumsfeld is "exactly what is needed,"
[43] and also defended him in his controversial
decider remark.
Resignation
Rumsfeld shakes the President's hand as he announces his resignation,
November 8,
2006.
On
November 1,
2006, President Bush stated he would stand by Rumsfeld as defense secretary for the length of his term as president.
[44] Rumsfeld wrote a resignation letter dated November 6th, and, per the stamp on the letter, Bush saw it on Election Day, November 7th.
[ Rumsfeld resigned before election, letter shows Kristin Roberts ] In the
elections, the House and the Senate shifted to Democratic control. After the elections, on
November 8, Bush announced Rumsfeld would resign his position as Secretary of Defense. Many Republicans were unhappy with the delay, believing they would have won more votes if voters had known Rumsfeld was resigning.
Investigative journalist
Robert Perry reported that Bush had asked Rumsfeld to resign because he disagreed with Bush's "surge" plan to escalate the war in Iraq, and had suggested in his
November 6, 2006 memorandum to the president considering “an accelerated drawdown of U.S. bases" and withdrawal of U.S. troops from their vulnerable locations
[45]
Bush nominated
Robert Gates for the position.
[46][47][48][49] At a press conference announcing the resignation of Rumsfeld and the nomination of Bob Gates, Bush stated, "America is safer and the world is more secure because of the service and the leadership of Donald Rumsfeld."
[50]
On
December 18,
2006, Rumsfeld's resignation took effect and
Robert Gates was sworn in as his successor. One of his last actions as defense secretary was to pay a surprise visit to Iraq on
December 10,
2006 to bid farewell to the United States military serving in Iraq.
[51]
Including his time serving as the 13th Secretary of Defense under President Ford from 1975 to 1977, Rumsfeld is the second-longest-serving Secretary of Defense in history, falling nine days short of becoming the longest-serving Pentagon chief (after the
Vietnam-era Secretary of Defense,
Robert McNamara).
In a farewell ceremony attended by President Bush on
December 16,
2006, Rumsfeld's long-time political collaborator Vice President Dick Cheney called the secretary "the finest secretary of defense this nation has ever had."
Post-resignation activities
In the months after his resignation, Rumsfeld toured the New York publishing houses in preparation for a potential memoir
[1]. Such a book would reportedly be used by Rumsfeld to justify the military strategy used in Iraq under his watch. An agreement on a book deal has not been announced.
According to ''Time'' magazine, Rumsfeld is also in the early stages of establishing an educational foundation that would provide fellowships to talented individuals from the private sector who want to serve for some time in government. Rumsfeld would self-finance the foundation
[52].
United Kingdom former
Conservative foreign secretary and defence secretary Sir
Malcolm Rifkind told the
BBC that Rumsfeld was "incompetent" on
1 September 2007 in relation to claims by Major General
Tim Cross, the senior UK official involved in post-war planning for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, that U.S. policy was "fatally flawed"
[53].
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."
[54]
Alleged overseas torture
On
March 1,
2005, the
American Civil Liberties Union and
Human Rights First filed a lawsuit against Rumsfeld in a federal court in
Illinois on behalf of eight detainees who they say were subjected to torture and abuse by U.S. forces.
The suit charged 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.
[55]
On
March 27,
2007, a federal judge dropped the charges against Rumsfeld citing the legal precedent that U.S. Government officials cannot be held personally responsible for actions committed while in office.
[56]
On
December 18,
2006, U.S. citizen
Donald Vance filed suit against Rumsfeld and the U.S. government alleging illegal incarceration and torture he endured in Iraq. Vance, a former U.S. Navy sailor, went to Iraq as a civilian security-contractor for
Shield Group Security (SGS). He became an unpaid informant for the F.B.I., passing them evidence over a period of several months suggesting that SGS was engaged in illegal weapons trading with the Iraqi Interior Ministry. When Vance felt he was in grave danger, U.S. forces retrieved him from the Red Zone but subsequently detained him without charges for 97 days at
Camp Cropper. Vance's lawsuit against Rumsfeld and the U.S. Government alleges that during his detention he was tortured and his rights of habeas corpus were violated.
Attempted war crimes prosecutions
On
14 November 2006, human rights advocates
Wolfgang Kaleck, and the New York-based
Center for Constitutional Rights brought charges at the
German Federal Attorney General (''Generalbundesanwalt'') against Rumsfeld, former
CIA Director George Tenet,
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales,
Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez and a number of other high U.S. officials by invoking
command responsibility for their involvement in human rights violations in
Abu Ghraib in Iraq and
Guantanamo Bay. Kaleck, and Michael Ratner and Peter Weiss of the Center for Constitutional Rights, act as advocates for more than 30 human rights organisations as well as 11 former prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo.
According to a spokesmen of the agency Federal Public Prosecutor Monika Harms will examine the statement of claim now.
[57][58]
On
March 15 2007, the city council of
Berkeley, California endorsed the war crimes complaint from Germany.
[2]
The German prosecutor ultimately decided against launching an investigation into Rumsfeld, and Kaleck is now seeking to file war crimes charges in Spain.
[59]
A similar charge brought by Kaleck, Ratner and Weiss in 2004 had been rejected by German Federal Public Prosecutor Kay Nehm with the explanation that criminal prosecution in the nations of the accused and the victims should be given priority.
[60]
Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights claimed that Rumsfeld was one of the architects of the U.S. torture program, and that he personally supervised the torture of
Mohamed al-Kahtani, which is allegedly documented in the Schmidt report, an internal investigation.
[61]
Awards
★ The
Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ford (1977)
★ From 1977 to 1985 he served as Chief Executive Officer, President, and then Chairman of G.D. Searle & Co., a worldwide pharmaceutical company. The successful turnaround there earned him awards as the Outstanding Chief Executive Officer in the Pharmaceutical Industry from the
Wall Street Transcript (1980) and
Financial World (1981).
★
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
[62]
★
Distinguished Eagle Scout Award by the
Boy Scouts of America
★
Union League of Philadelphia Gold Medal for Citizenship (2006)
★ Rumsfeld has been awarded 11 honorary degrees.
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
★ Secretary of Defense (2001–06)
★
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
★
John Boyd of
OODA Loop fame.
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
★
Hillbilly armor — about Rumsfeld questioned in Iraq by soldier about armor
References
1. Profile: Donald Rumsfeld
2. Profile: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
3. Gracious me
4. Biography: Donald Rumsfeld November 8, 2006
5. , , , , Scouting, September 2006
6. Secretary Rumsfeld's Remarks at the White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation — U.S. Department of Defense News Transcript — August 29, 2005
7. Donald and Joyce Rumsfeld Marriage Profile at About.com
8. Princeton University Senior Theses Full Record: Donald Henry Rumsfeld
9. Weekends With the President's Men Peter T Kilborn
10. DefenseLink's Rumsfeld Biography
11. RUMSFELD, Donald Henry on ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed April 22, 2007.
12. Donald Rumsfeld biography from the Associated Press. Accessed April 22, 2007.
13. Donald Rumsfeld biography from Whitehouse.gov. Accessed April 22, 2007.
14. Donald Rumsfeld biography from White House press release dated November 3, 1975. Accessed April 22, 2007.
15. Free to Choose: Tyranny of Control
16. Nixon White House conversation 464-12
17. DefenseLink's Rumsfeld Biography
18. DefenseLink's Secretary of Defense Biography
19. George Washington University, National Archives, Iraq, PDF format
20.
21. Project for the New American Century letter to U.S. President Clinton, 29 January 1998
22. Report of the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States
23. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2687403.stm
24. http://www.911commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf
25. CBS News: Plans For Iraq Attack Began On 9/11
26. Notes from 9/11 Obtained Under FOIA
27. http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/pdf/sec6.pdf] (pp. 189–90, 211–214)
28. "Rumsfeld 'the best'" — CNN
29. — "Rumsfeld okayed abuses says former US Army general" Reuters News
30. After Outcry, Rumsfeld Says He Will Sign Condolence Letters, ''Washington Post'', December 18 2004
31. Rumsfeld sympathy signed by machine, ''Daily Telegraph'', December 20 2004
32. http://www.gilead.com/wt/sec/pr_933190157/
33. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-11-16-tamiflu-usat_x.htm
34. http://money.cnn.com/2005/10/31/news/newsmakers/fortune_rumsfeld/
35. http://www.forbes.com/technology/ebusiness/feeds/ap/2006/08/29/ap2980069.html
36. http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/3763202.html
37. http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=455389
38. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/14/washington/14military.html
39. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2138760_2,00.html
40. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/14/AR2006041401649_pf.html
41. http://www.slate.com/id/2139847/#sb2140026
42. http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49756
43. http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/14/iraq.rumsfeld/index.html
44. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2621650&page=1
45. | Rumsfeld's Mysterious Resignation, August 17, 2007
46. http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/03/rumsfeld.resign/
47. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/6130296.stm
48. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217119,00.html
49. Rumsfeld quitting as defense secretary. ''CNN.com'' Retrieved 8 November, 2006.
50. President Bush Nominates Dr. Robert M. Gates to be Secretary of Defense
51. Rumsfeld Bids Farewell to GIs in Iraq
52. Time
53. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6974611.stm Fresh UK attack on US Iraq policy] BBC, 1 September 2007
54. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/24/AR2006042400852.html
55. http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/17594prs20050301.html
56. http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/03/27/iraq.torturesuit/index.html
57. Adam Zagorin: Charges Sought Against Rumsfeld Over Prison Abuse''. TIME, 10 November 2006
58. Sebastian Wessels: ''Keine Ruhe für Rumsfeld''. jungeWelt, 15 November 2006 (German)
59. http://www.legalbrief.co.za/article.php?story=20070502082619995
60. ''U.S. lawyers file complaint over abuses in Abu Ghraib''. seattlypi.com, 1 Dezember 2004
61. http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/09/1444246
62. http://www.defenselink.mil/bios/rumsfeld_bio.html
External links
Works
★
U.S. Secretary of Defense official transcripts archive
★
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
Biographies
★
White House Biography
★
Department of Defense 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
★ ''Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall, and Catastrophic Legacy'' by Andrew Cockburn (Scribners, 2007) ISBN 1-4165-3574-8
Documentary video
★
PBS Frontline — Rumsfeld's War October 2004 documentary
★
Video clip of Rumsfeld (as special U.S. envoy to Middle East) meeting Hussein
Articles profiling Rumsfeld
★
The Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld,
PBS
★
Washington Post — Rumsfeld's War archives 2001–2004
★
Close-Up: Young Rumsfeld, James Mann, The Atlantic Monthly, November 2003
★
Donald Rumsfeld: a Machiavellian Artist in Power Voltaire Network, October 2004
★
The Donald Rumsfeld Library of Quotations,
BBC Radio 4
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