Excellent piece by his former speechwriter here:
Rumsfeld was one of the last of the old-school public servants, who was kind to people in small, quiet ways; who helped a loved one cope with crippling drug addiction while simultaneously managing a war; who was friends with people ranging from the Kennedys to the Cheneys to Sammy Davis, Jr. and could put politics and policies aside to value them as people.
Mr. Rumsfeld was kind enough to join us on Midrats in April 2011.
In this time of demanding instant gratification, it's worth remembering one of his "Rumsfeld Rules"
Strategy doesn’t begin at one point and end at another. It involves planning and evaluation, requiring trade-offs and decisions along the way. It takes work, thought, and time.
His website can be found here.
Lets not rush to canonize this fool. Many of the procurement issues we're suffering now were caused under his watch.
ReplyDelete"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." Teddy Roosevelt https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Learn-About-TR/TR-Encyclopedia/Culture-and-Society/Man-in-the-Arena.aspx
DeleteNorman may have a cold and timid soul, but he's not wrong. Rumsfeld is a study in hubris, full of lessons on not what do do.
DeleteSee: https://www.19fortyfive.com/2021/07/how-to-remember-donald-rumsfeld/
ReplyDelete"None of this is to argue that Rumsfeld had no flaws and made no mistakes. All decisive leaders make mistakes. And long-serving leaders who make the best decisions also make the worst decisions, if only because they make the most decisions."
"Don Rumsfeld was human. He made mistakes which, because of his position, had tragic consequences. But he was a man of character and principle, who never failed to do what he thought best for Americans. His was an extraordinary life—one that can teach us about real leadership."