Rumsfeld, Donald

▪ 2003

      U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was no stranger to controversy in 2002. Besides overseeing the largest buildup in U.S. defense spending since the presidency of Ronald Reagan, he presided over the short life and the death of the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Information (OSI), which was created following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Although the OSI's purpose was to create a favourable view of the U.S. military in foreign countries, concerns grew in Congress and the media that the office might initiate propaganda campaigns. In February 2002 Rumsfeld stated that such criticism was “off the mark” but that he was closing the OSI anyway because of the damage done to its credibility. Then, in May, he announced he was canceling the $11 billion Crusader artillery program because the self-propelled gun was far too heavy to airlift easily to distant theatres of war. The Crusader was a major acquisition program for the army and had been eight years in development. In June Rumsfeld undertook a diplomatic mission to South Asia to avert a possible war between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. During the trip he infuriated Pakistani officials by claiming that al-Qaeda terrorists were active in the disputed Kashmir region between the two countries. Later he publicly acknowledged that his claim was speculative.

      Donald Henry Rumsfeld was born in Chicago on July 9, 1932. After graduating from Princeton University (A.B., 1954), he served three years as an aviator in the U.S. Navy. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1962 and was subsequently reelected three times. He resigned from Congress in 1969 to head Pres. Richard Nixon's Office of Economic Opportunity. In 1973–74 Rumsfeld was Nixon's ambassador to NATO.

      Under Pres. Gerald R. Ford, Rumsfeld served first as White House chief of staff (1974–75), then as secretary of defense (1975–77), the youngest person ever to hold that post. As defense secretary, Rumsfeld established the B-1 strategic bomber, the Trident ballistic missile submarine, and MX (Peacekeeper) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) programs.

      From 1977 to 1985 Rumsfeld was CEO, president, and then chairman of G.D. Searle & Co., a pharmaceutical firm. He was chairman and CEO of General Instrument Corp. from 1990 to 1993 and later served as chairman of Gilead Sciences, Inc. Before returning to the defense secretary's post in 2001 under Pres. George W. Bush, Rumsfeld chaired the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States. That commission's findings were released in 1998 in a document commonly known as the “Rumsfeld report.” His report, which claimed that a so-called rogue state such as North Korea or Iran could—but not necessarily would—build a ballistic missile capable of striking the continental U.S. within five years, spurred debate over proposals to build a national missile defense system.

Peter Saracino

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▪ American government official

in full  Donald Henry Rumsfeld 

born July 9, 1932, Chicago, Ill., U.S.

 

 U.S. government official who served as secretary of defense (1975–77; 2001–06) in the Republican administrations of Presidents Gerald R. Ford (Ford, Gerald R.) and George W. Bush (Bush, George W.).

      After graduating from Princeton University (A.B., 1954), Rumsfeld served three years as an aviator in the U.S. Navy. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1962 and was subsequently reelected three times. He resigned from Congress in 1969 to head Pres. Richard Nixon (Nixon, Richard M.)'s Office of Economic Opportunity. In 1973–74 Rumsfeld was Nixon's ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Under President Ford, Rumsfeld served first as White House chief of staff (1974–75), then as secretary of defense (1975–77), the youngest person ever to hold that post. As defense secretary, Rumsfeld established the B-1 strategic bomber, the Trident ballistic missile submarine, and MX (Peacekeeper) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) programs.

      After Ford's loss to Jimmy Carter, Rumsfeld entered the private sector. From 1977 to 1985 he was CEO, president, and then chairman of G.D. Searle & Co., a pharmaceutical firm. He was chairman and CEO of General Instrument Corp. from 1990 to 1993 and later served as chairman of Gilead Sciences, Inc. Rumsfeld chaired the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States. That commission's findings were released in 1998 in a document commonly known as the “Rumsfeld report.” The report, which claimed that a so-called rogue state such as North Korea or Iran could—but not necessarily would—build a ballistic missile capable of striking the continental United States within five years, spurred debate over proposals to build a national missile defense system.

  In 2001 Rumsfeld became secretary of defense under President Bush. In addition to his continued support of a national missile defense system, he sought to modernize and streamline the military. Following the September 11 attacks later that year, Rumsfeld oversaw the U.S.-led attack on Afghanistan that resulted in the overthrow of the Taliban, which was harbouring Osama bin Laden (bin Laden, Osama)—mastermind of the September 11 and other terrorist attacks against U.S. targets—and other al-Qaeda (Qaeda, al-) members. In March 2003 U.S. forces launched an invasion of Iraq (Iraq War) (see Iraq War). The regime of Iraqi Pres. Ṣaddām Ḥussein was quickly toppled, and Rumsfeld initially earned praise for his handling of the war. However, as fighting continued, some accused him of deploying an inadequate number of troops. He faced further criticism in 2004 when photographs of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad were published. Following the 2006 midterm elections—in which the Republicans suffered heavy losses, in large part because of the growing opposition to the Iraq War—Rumsfeld announced his resignation. He was replaced by Robert M. Gates (Gates, Robert M.) in December 2006.

 

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