Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeldis an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the second oldestperson to have served as Secretary of Defense. Additionally, Rumsfeld was a three-term U.S. Congressman from Illinois, Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, Counsellor to the President, the United States Permanent...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth9 July 1932
CityEvanston, IL
CountryUnited States of America
Control your own time. Don't let it be done for you. If you are working off the in-box that is fed you, you are probably working on the priority of others.
If you develop rules, never have more than ten.
There are a lot of people who lie and get away with it, and that's just a fact.
If in doubt, don't. If still in doubt, do what's right.
Reduce the layers of management. They put distance between the top of an organization and the customers.
Don't think of yourself as indispensable or infallible. As Charles De Gaulle said, the cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.
Amidst all the clutter, beyond all the obstacles, aside from all the static, are the goals set. Put your head down, do the best job possible, let the flak pass, and work towards those goals.
If a prospective Presidential approach can't be explained clearly enough to be understood well, it probably hasn't been thought through well enough. If not well understood by the American people, it probably won't 'sail' anyway. Send it back for further thought.
In the execution of Presidential decisions work to be true to his views, in fact and tone.
Know that the amount of criticism you receive may correlate somewhat to the amount of publicity you receive.
Let your family, staff, and friends know that you're still the same person, despite all the publicity and notoriety that accompanies your position.
I don't do quagmires.
I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today will last five days, five weeks or five months, but it won't last any longer than that.
Be yourself. Follow your instincts. Success depends, at least in part, on the ability to 'carry it off.'