Acknowledgments
This book has been four years in the making. To help organize its writing, as well as to put order into my voluminous documentary record and establish the supporting website, I have relied on an extraordinary team of individuals. The core group was headed by Keith Urbahn, my chief of staff and a Navy reserve intelligence officer, who has taken on historical, creative, and managerial responsibilities well beyond his years. Victoria Coates brought an academic perspective and a relentless insistence on documentation and precision—invaluable assistance from an art historian, of all things. Matt Latimer, an attorney and former Pentagon and White House speechwriter, contributed not only his considerable knowledge and talent but also his boundless interest in Richard M. Nixon.
This group was ably supported by our outstanding staff led by our office manager, Linda Figura. Aliza Kwiatek was an intrepid and meticulous fact checker. Will Cappelletti, Pratik Chougule, and Brice Long, along with Sarah Conant, Steve Duggan, Elizabeth Goss, Lisa Ricks, and Kailey Walczak, did yeoman’s duty transcribing the seemingly endless streams of dictation and interviews and fielding requests for illustrations and documents. Nancy Pardo, my longtime and valued assistant in Chicago, has undertaken hundreds of hours of dictation transcription and been an all-around personal oracle. The publisher at Sentinel, Adrian Zackheim and his associates, provided experienced advice, as did Patti Pirooz and John McElroy in my reading of the audio version. Bob Barnett’s unique perspective on the entire process has proved invaluable.
I have benefited from a group of stalwart if painfully honest readers, including Pete Biester, Steve Cambone, Torie Clarke, Larry Di Rita, Doug Feith, Anne Gardner, Admiral Ed Giambastiani, and Jean Edward Smith.
I also consulted directly with associates who participated in many of the events I describe, so that I could take into account their distinct perspectives as well. They include some of the most honorable and patriotic men I’ve had the privilege of serving alongside—men who dedicated their careers to serving our nation in the uniform of the U.S. military:
Lt. Gen. David Barno
Lt. Gen. Steven Blum
Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin
Col. Steven Bucci
Adm. Vern Clark
Gen. Bantz Craddock
Lt. Gen. Michael DeLong
Gen. Tommy Franks
Gen. John Handy
Vice Adm. Staser Holcomb
Lt. Gen. Michael Maples
Gen. Richard Myers
Gen. Jack Keane
Adm. Timothy Keating
Gen. Peter Pace
Lt. Gen. Gus Pagonis
Gen. Gene Renuart
Gen. Peter Schoomaker
Adm. James Stavridis
Capt. Troy Stoner
Vice Adm. Stan Szemborski
They also include other colleagues, patriots, and friends who have served their country in many ways:
Karen Ballard
Brad Berkson
Marshall Billingslea
Frank Carlucci
Lee Casey
Lynne Cheney
David Chu
J. D. Crouch
James Denny
François DeRose
Anthony Dolan
Raymond DuBois
Jaymie Durnan
Eric Edelman
Robert Ellsworth
Bob Gardner
Peter Geren
Jack Goldsmith
Alan Greenspan
Richard Haver
Jim Haynes
Ryan Henry
Charles Hill
Andy Hoehn
Marty Hoffmann
Ron James
Ned Jannotta
Reuben Jeffery
Jerry Jones
Zalmay Khalilzad
Henry Kissinger
Ken Krieg
Bruce Ladd
Art Laffer
Richard Lawless
Lewis Libby
William Luti
James MacDougall
Paul McHale
Thomas Miller
Newt Minow
Jeb Nadaner
John Negroponte
Luke Nichter
Roger Pardo-Maurer
Michael Pillsbury
Robert Rangel
Paul Rester
David Rivkin
Eric Ruff
Benjamin Runkle
Suzanne Schaffrath
William J. Schneider
Abram Shulsky
George Shultz
Laurence Silberman
Daniel Stanley
S. Frederick Starr
Dick Stevens
Cully Stimson
Christopher Straub
Marin Strmecki
Marc Thiessen
Ted Vogt
James Wade
Bill Walker
Joe Wassel
Ruth Wedgewood
Robert Wilkie
Brenda Williams
Christopher Williams
Paul Wolfowitz
Frank Zarb
One drawback to living so long is that there are friends and colleagues who are no longer with us. I first considered writing a book in the 1990s in consultation with John Robson, a friend of more than fifty years. While John died before this iteration of the project was launched, his guidance and recommendations have stayed with me—particularly his knack for getting me to look at issues from different viewpoints and his admonition to keep living life to the fullest regardless of age or infirmity. Three other friends stand out who were with us at the outset of this project but were not able to see the final product: Peter Rodman, who encouraged me to make full use of my archival material; Bill Safire, who shared his friendship and superb writing expertise; and Bob Goldwin, who was the same intellectual sounding board he had been during the Nixon and Ford administrations.
Thanks are also due to Margaret McAleer, John Haynes, and the staff of the Library of Congress, where the bulk of my papers are on deposit. Bob Storer of the Defense Department’s Washington Headquarters Services has been an invaluable help with my DoD records. I also appreciate the contributions of David Horrocks and Bill McNitt and the staff at the Gerald R. Ford Library as well as assistance from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, the Richard M. Nixon Library, the Ronald Reagan Library, and the George W. Bush Presidential Center. Pulitzer Prize–winning photographer David Hume Kennerly contributed not only the front and back jackets of this book, but also unpublished photographs for the illustration sections.
Finally, I want to acknowledge my great fortune in having a family that has been a source of encouragement and inspiration: my two loving parents, George and Jeannette Rumsfeld, and my sister, Joan Ramsay. I am most of all indebted to the person to whom this memoir is dedicated. As well as her love, Joyce has brought insight, grace, and her trademark joy to my life for our now more than fifty-six years together. She and our three children, Valerie, Marcy, and Nick, have been with me every step of the way with their support and always with good-humored perspective. This memoir is, after all, their story as well as mine.
Even given the hundreds of hours of consultation, research, and review as well as the extensive documentation employed, I recognize it is inevitable that some errors have crept into a book of this scale. As regrettable as it is to accept this human reality, the responsibility for them is mine.
My proceeds from the project will go to the programs my foundation supports for the men and women in uniform, including the wounded and their families. If this book does nothing else but reflect my respect and appreciation for them, that will be enough.
List of Acronyms
ABM: Anti-Ballistic Missile
AID: Agency for International Development
ANA: Afghan National Army
AOR: military area of responsibility
BRAC: base realignment and closure
CBW: chemical or biological weapon
CENTCOM: U.S. Central Command
CERP: Commander’s Emergency Res
ponse Program
CJCS: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
CLC: Cost of Living Council
COIN: counterinsurgency
CPA: Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq
Defcon: Defense condition
DHS: Department of Homeland Security
DNI: director of national intelligence
DoD: Department of Defense
EFP: explosively formed penetrator
EPA: Environmental Protection Agency
FAA: Federal Aviation Administration
FARC: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
FCC: Federal Communications Commission
FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency
FOIA: Freedom of Information Act
GI: General Instrument Corporation
HEW: Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
ICC: International Criminal Court
IED: improvised explosive device
IGC: Iraqi Governing Council
IIA: Iraqi Interim Authority
INL: Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, U.S.
Department of State
ISAF: International Security Assistance Force—Afghanistan
ISF: Iraqi Security Forces
ISG: Iraq Survey Group
JCS: Joint Chiefs of Staff
JSOC: Joint Special Operations Command
JSTARS: Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System
LAF: Lebanese armed forces
MARSOC: Marine Corps Special Operations Command
MCA: Military Commission Act of 2006
MEF: Marine Expeditionary Force
MNF: multinational force
MRAP: mine resistant ambush protected vehicle
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NGO: nongovernmental organization
NIC: National Intelligence Council
NIE: national intelligence estimate
NMCC: National Military Command Center
NORAD: North American Aerospace Defense Command
NORTHCOM: U.S. Northern Command
NSA: National Security Agency
NSC: National Security Council
NSPD: national security policy directive
ODA: Operational Detachment Alpha
OEO: Office of Economic Opportunity
OLC: Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice
OMB: Office of Management and Budget
OPLAN: operation plan
ORHA: Office Of Reconstruction And Humanitarian Assistance—Iraq
OSD: Office of the Secretary of Defense
PA&E: program analysis and evaluation
PKK: Kurdistan Workers’ Party
POW: prisoner of war
PRC: People’s Republic of China
PRT: provincial reconstruction team
ROTC: Reserve Officers’ Training Corps
RPG: rocket-propelled grenade
SAS: British Special Air Service
SALT: Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
SLRG: Senior Level Review Group, U.S. Department of Defense
SOCOM: U.S. Special Operations Command
SOF: U.S. Special Operations Forces
SOUTHCOM: U.S. Southern Command
SVTC: secure video teleconference
TPFDD: time-phased force and deployment data
UAV: unmanned aerial vehicle
WMD: weapons of mass destruction
List of Illustrations
First Insert
1. Donald and Joan Rumsfeld, c. 1938. (Rumsfeld Collection)
2. Lt. George Rumsfeld and Jeannette Rumsfeld, Coronado, California, c. 1944. (Rumsfeld Collection)
3. The Philmont Scout Ranch guides, Cimarron, New Mexico, 1949. (Rumsfeld Collection)
4. The Princeton University Varsity wrestling team, Princeton, New Jersey, 1953. (Bric-A-Brac [1954], Prince ton University Archives.)
5. Donald Rumsfeld and Joyce Pierson, Princeton, New Jersey, June 15, 1954. (Rumsfeld Collection)
6. The crew of a Navy S2F, Naval Air Station Glenview, Glenview, Illinois, c. 1961. (Rumsfeld Collection)
7. Marcy, Joyce, Valerie, and Donald Rumsfeld, Glenview, Illinois, 1962. (Rumsfeld Collection)
8. Donald Rumsfeld, Ned Jannotta, et al., Rumsfeld for Congress headquarters, Winnetka, Illinois, April 10, 1962. (Courtesy of Chicago History Museum, ICHi-62635, Photographer: Chicago Daily News)
9. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Donald Rumsfeld, 1962. (Rumsfeld Collection)
10. Donald Rumsfeld and Gerald Ford, U.S. Capitol Building, 1964. (Norman Matheny, 1964, The Christian Science Monitor, www.CSMonitor.com)
11. Donald and Marcy Rumsfeld, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, and Virgil Grissom, U.S. Capitol Building, c. 1965. (U.S. Government)
12. Donald Rumsfeld, President Lyndon Baines Johnson, et al., East Room of the White House, April 11, 1968. (Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, Photograph by Yoichi Okamoto)
13. President Richard Nixon, Donald Rumsfeld, Joyce Rumsfeld, Nick Rumsfeld, et al., Rose Garden, the White House, May 26, 1969. (Bettmann Collection, Corbis Images)
14. Donald Rumsfeld, Office of Economic Opportunity office, Washington, D.C., c. 1969. (Office of Economic Opportunity, U.S. Government)
15. Bryce Harlow, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Donald Rumsfeld, Washington, D.C., c. 1970. (Official White House photograph)
16. Donald and Joyce Rumsfeld and Henry Kissinger, the White House, August 4, 1970. (Official White House photograph, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum)
17. Donald Rumsfeld and El Cordobés (Manuel Benítez Pérez), outside Córdoba, Spain, May 1972. (U.S. Government)
18. President Richard Nixon, Donald Rumsfeld, John Mitchell, John Erlichman, Charles Colson, Bryce Harlow, Bob Haldeman, and Bob Finch, Key Biscayne, Florida, November 7, 1970. (Official White House photograph by Byron Schumacher, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum) 19. President Richard Nixon, Vice President Spiro Agnew, Donald Rumsfeld, and members of the Taos Pueblo Indian Tribal Council, Cabinet Room, the White House, July 8, 1970. (Official White House photograph, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum)
20. John McCloy, Robert Murphy, Donald Rumsfeld, Elliot Richardson, and Anwar al-Sadat, Cairo, United Arab Republic, October 2, 1970. (Rumsfeld Collection)
21. Donald and Nick Rumsfeld and President Richard Nixon, Oval Office, the White House, February 13, 1973. (Official White House photograph by Ollie Atkins, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum)
22. President Richard Nixon, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and Donald Rumsfeld, NATO headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, June 26, 1974. (NATO handout, Corbis Images)
23. Joyce and Marcy Rumsfeld, Greece, August 1974. (Rumsfeld Collection)
24. Donald and Valerie Rumsfeld, Greece, August 1974. (Rumsfeld Collection)
25. Herman Kahn, Donald Rumsfeld, and President Gerald Ford, Oval Office, the White House, October 28, 1974. (Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library, White House photograph by David Hume Kennerly)
26. Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, the White House, March 5, 1975. (Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library, White House photograph by Jack Kightlinger)
Second Insert
27. Larry Eagleburger, Henry Kissinger, Donald Rumsfeld, and Dick Cheney, Air Force One, Arizona, October 21, 1974. (Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library, White House photograph by David Hume Kennerly)
28. David Kennerly, Donald Rumsfeld, and President Gerald Ford, the White House tennis court, July 16, 1975. (Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library, White House photograph by Ricardo Thomas)
29. Secretary of Treasury Bill Simon, Ron Nessen, President Gerald Ford, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Alan Greenspan, Vail, Colorado, December 27, 1974. (Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library, White House photograph by David Hume Kennerly)
30. General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, Donald Rumsfeld, Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, President Gerald Ford, et al., Okeansky Sanitarium, Vladivostok, USSR, Novemb
er 24, 1974. (Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library, White House photograph by David Hume Kennerly)
31. Donald Rumsfeld, Leona Goodell, and President Gerald Ford, Air Force One, September 5, 1975. (Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library, White House photograph by David Hume Kennerly)
32. President Gerald Ford, Donald Rumsfeld, et al., Hotel St. Francis, San Francisco, California, September 22, 1975. (Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library, White House photograph by David Hume Kennerly)
33. Jeannette, Joyce, Nick, Marcy, and Valerie Rumsfeld, the Pentagon, November 20, 1975. (Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library, White House photograph by David Hume Kennerly)
34. Joyce and Nick Rumsfeld, the Pentagon, November 20, 1975. (Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library, White House photograph by David Hume Kennerly)
35. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Vice Adm. Staser Holcomb, Donald Rumsfeld, Joe Sisco, et al., Blair House, Washington, D.C., January 28, 1976. (Ron Sachs/CNP/ Sygma Collection/Corbis Images)
36. Donald Rumsfeld, President Gerald Ford, Ambassadors André de Staerke, François de Rose, David Bruce, et al., the Pentagon, March 29, 1976. (Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library, White House photograph by William Fitz-Patrick)
37. Valerie, Marcy, Nick, and Joyce Rumsfeld, Betty Ford, Donald Rumsfeld, and President Gerald Ford, Oval Office, the White House, January 19, 1977. (Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library, White House photograph by Ricardo Thomas)
38. Jim Denny, Donald Rumsfeld, and John Robson, G. D. Searle & Co. headquarters, Skokie, Illinois, c. 1979. (© Jonathan Daniel)
39. U.S. Ambassador Mike Mansfield, Donald Rumsfeld, and Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, Tokyo, Japan, December 1982. (Rumsfeld Collection)
40. President Ronald Reagan and Donald Rumsfeld, Oval Office, the White House, November 3, 1983. (Ron Sachs/CPN/Corbis Images)
41. Jack Kemp, Howard Baker, Colin Powell, and Donald Rumsfeld, Dole for President campaign plane, 1996. (Rumsfeld Collection)
42. Elk herd at the Rumsfeld farm, El Prado, New Mexico, c. 2007. (Pete French)
43. Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, et al., c. 1970. (Rumsfeld Collection)
44. Vice President Dick Cheney, Judge Larry Silberman, President George W. Bush, Donald and Joyce Rumsfeld, Oval Office, the White House, January 26, 2001. (Department of Defense photograph by Robert D. Ward)
45. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Condi Rice, Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon, c. March 2001. (David Hume Kennerly)
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