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Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.

Donald Rumsfeld

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Donald Rumsfeld
Age: 88 †
Born: 1932
Born: July 9
Died: 2021
Died: June 29
Author
Businessperson
Diplomat
Former U.S. Secretary Of Defense
Military Officer
Politician
Chicago
Illinois
Donald Henry Rumsfeld
Avoid
Necessarily
Necessary
Leadership
Vision
Occasionally
Sharp
Edges

More quotes by Donald Rumsfeld

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Control your time. If you're working off your in-box, you're working off the priorities of others. Be sure the staff is working on what you move to them from the President, or the President will be reacting, not leading.
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Any country on the face of the Earth with an active intelligence program knows that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.
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The United States isn't going to do anything that it's not capable of doing. And if we do something, we'll be capable of doing it.
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When business accepts help from the government, it can be like going to bed with a hippopotamus. It's nice and warm for the moment, but then your bedmate rolls over and crushes you.
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There are a lot of things that are said by people in the military, or civilian life, or in the Congress, or in the Executive Branch, that are their views. And that's the way we live. We're a free people. And that's the wonderful thing about our country.
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Never assume the other fellow will not do something you wouldn't do.
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First rule of politics: you can't win unless you're on the ballot. Second rule: If you run, you may lose. And, if you tie, you do not win.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Is it likely that an aircraft carrier or a cruise missile is going to find a person?
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Look for what's missing. Many advisors can tell a President how to improve what's proposed or what's gone amiss. Few are able to see what isn't there.
Donald Rumsfeld
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I don't know anybody that I can think of who has contended that the Iraqis had nuclear weapons.
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And there is, I am certain, among the Iraqi people a respect for the care and the precision that went into the bombing campaign.
Donald Rumsfeld
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You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.
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Secretary Powell and I agree on every single issue that has ever been before this administration except for those instances where Colin's still learning.
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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.
Donald Rumsfeld
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They may have had time to destroy them, and I don't know the answer.
Donald Rumsfeld
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We do have a saying in America: if you're in a hole, stop digging ..... erm, I'm not sure I should have said that.
Donald Rumsfeld
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We have an orientation that tends to make us think that everything is our responsibility and that we should be doing this. It is the Iraqis' country, 28 million of them. They are perfectly capable of running that country.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Don't think of yourself as indispensable or infallible. As Charles De Gaulle said, the cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Work continuously to trim the White House staff from your first day to your last. All the pressures are to the contrary.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Let your family, staff, and friends know that you're still the same person, despite all the publicity and notoriety that accompanies your position.
Donald Rumsfeld