06-30-2021, 07:54 PM
Washington — Donald Rumsfeld, the two-time defense secretary and one-time presidential candidate whose reputation as a skilled bureaucrat and visionary of a modern U.S. military was soiled by the long and costly Iraq War, has died, his family said in a statement. He was 88.
[attachment=9151]
"It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of Donald Rumsfeld, an American statesman and devoted husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather," the statement said. "At 88, he was surrounded by family in his beloved Taos, New Mexico."
Rumsfeld first served as defense secretary from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford before entering the private sector. He served a second time from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush.
Regarded by former colleagues as equally smart and combative, patriotic and politically cunning, Rumsfeld had a storied career under four presidents and nearly a quarter century in corporate America.
In 2001 he began his second tour as Pentagon chief under Mr. Bush, but his plan to "transform" the armed forces was overshadowed by the September 11 attacks. He oversaw the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, where he was blamed for setbacks including the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and for being slow to recognize a violent insurgency.
First published on June 30, 2021 / 3:29 PM
hxxps://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-rumsfeld-dies-former-defense-secretary-age-88/
[attachment=9151]
"It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of Donald Rumsfeld, an American statesman and devoted husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather," the statement said. "At 88, he was surrounded by family in his beloved Taos, New Mexico."
Rumsfeld first served as defense secretary from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford before entering the private sector. He served a second time from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush.
Regarded by former colleagues as equally smart and combative, patriotic and politically cunning, Rumsfeld had a storied career under four presidents and nearly a quarter century in corporate America.
In 2001 he began his second tour as Pentagon chief under Mr. Bush, but his plan to "transform" the armed forces was overshadowed by the September 11 attacks. He oversaw the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, where he was blamed for setbacks including the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and for being slow to recognize a violent insurgency.
First published on June 30, 2021 / 3:29 PM
hxxps://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-rumsfeld-dies-former-defense-secretary-age-88/