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In our system leadership is by consent, not command. To lead a President must persuade. Personal contacts and experiences help shape his thinking. They can be critical to his persuasiveness and thus to his 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
Leadership
Command
Personal
Contact
System
Shape
Help
Experiences
President
Thus
Helping
Critical
Contacts
Must
Shapes
Persuade
Thinking
Lead
Consent
More quotes by Donald Rumsfeld
The reality is that [Barack] Obama has some 15 countries in the current Libya coalition. President Bush put together close to 50 countries for the Afghan coalition, some 40 countries for the Iraqi coalition, more than 90 countries for the Proliferation Security Initiative and over 90 countries in the Global War on Terror.
Donald Rumsfeld
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
Arguments of convenience lack integrity and inevitably trip you up.
Donald Rumsfeld
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.
Donald Rumsfeld
It is unknowable how long that conflict [the war in Iraq] will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.
Donald Rumsfeld
They may have had time to destroy them, and I don't know the answer.
Donald Rumsfeld
If you foul up, tell the President and correct it fast. Delay only compounds mistakes.
Donald Rumsfeld
Napoleon was asked, Who do you consider to be the greatest generals? He responded saying, The victors.
Donald Rumsfeld
In unanimity there may well be either cowardice or uncritical thinking.
Donald Rumsfeld
You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.
Donald Rumsfeld
We know where they are. They are in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad.
Donald Rumsfeld
I don't know anybody that I can think of who has contended that the Iraqis had nuclear weapons.
Donald Rumsfeld
Pieces of intelligence, scraps of intelligence...you run down leads and you run down leads, and you hope that sometimes it works.
Donald Rumsfeld
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
The natural state of man is to want to be free. To have opportunities. To have choices.
Donald Rumsfeld
Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.
Donald Rumsfeld
It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.
Donald Rumsfeld
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
The worst mistake is to have the best ladder and the wrong wall.
Donald Rumsfeld
What is needed [to combat terrorism], in my view, is resolve, not retreat courage, not concession. Rather than thinking in terms of an exit strategy, focus on a strategy for success.
Donald Rumsfeld
