Rumsfeld was the only person to have served two consecutive terms as the head of the Defense Department under President Gerald Ford, and then under President George W. Bush.Rumsfeld entered the Pentagon in 2001 with ambitious plans for transforming the military's business model and developing new weapons systems that incorporate emerging technologies. Instead, he was forced to focus on managing the insurgencies in Iraq/Afghanistan. This often chaotic effort resulted in a series of disasters, including torture at Abu Ghraib by U.S. forces and increasing casualties due to U.S. troops who were not equipped enough. Rumsfeld was fired in 2006.Rumsfeld received a degree from Princeton University in 1954 in political science. He then served three years in the Navy. Rumsfeld, a native of Illinois, ran a campaign to run for Congress in the 13th Congressional District in Illinois. He won in 1962 at age 30 and was reelected three more times. He was a major co-sponsor of Freedom of Information Act.He was a counselor to several presidents, beginning with Richard Nixon. In 1969, he was appointed to the Office of Economic Opportunity. He then served as the president's counselor. Before being appointed ambassador to NATO, he was also the director of Nixon's Economic Stabilization Program.Rumsfeld was appointed chief of staff to Ford in 1974 after Nixon's resignation. Rumsfeld later appointed Ford secretary of defense. Rumsfeld recruited Dick Cheney from his former staff and staunch ally to take over the White House role.Rumsfeld, the secretary of defense, was responsible for the push into Afghanistan and Iraq following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Rumsfeld did not live to see the end. The U.S. troops will not leave Afghanistan until the summer and many thousand are still in Iraq. There is no end in sight.Two decades later, those wars are now ending for U.S. troops. The last American troops will leave Afghanistan in early July, just days after the death of General George W. Bush. There were 4,400 U.S. troops killed in Iraq, 32,000 injured, and 2,200 deaths in Afghanistan.Ironically, Rumsfeld tried to limit both wars' size by finding ways to do them cheaply and quickly. This push had long-term disastrous consequences as U.S forces struggled with the enemy and developed effective plans to counter it.Rumsfeld dismissed suggestions that Iraq could become a long and difficult counterinsurgency battle from the very beginning of the planning of the invasion. Rumsfeld famously said that stuff happens after Baghdad falls to Saddam Hussein. He refused to even call the local fighters insurgents years later.Rumsfeld dismissed even the possibility of roadside bombs ripping through American Humvees with poor weapons and killing scores of Americans.He stated in 2004 that you only go to war with what army you have and not with what army you want. A tank can carry all the armor you want, but it can also be destroyed. You can also have an up-armored Humvee and it can be blown down.Rumsfeld, a consummate Washington insider was adept at playing the bureaucracy. At the Pentagon, he became famous for issuing hundreds upon hundreds of snowflakes and short directives to the department. These memos contained everything from direct orders to thoughts on press conference etiquette, as well as complaints about career officials slowing him down.As he entered the Pentagon's front door, he kept his eyes on the future. He saw a historic modernization of the department and an upgrade in the arsenal of weapons that the military uses to combat. His ambitions were thwarted by the September 11 attacks and two wars that are only now ending for U.S troops.Rumsfeld was defense secretary between 2001 and 2006, when he was fired in the aftermath of a devastating midterm election for Republicans. Rumsfeld also invested billions in military modernization projects. Many of these ended up going bust after they were based on unproven ideas.His tenure was marked by the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq and Guantanamo bay in Cuba, which were two of the most significant controversies.
