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Don't automatically obey Presidential directives if you disagree or if you suspect he hasn't considered key aspects of the issue.

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
Issue
Suspect
Keys
Obey
Aspect
Suspects
Issues
Aspects
Hasn
Disagree
Presidential
Directives
Considered
Automatically

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Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.
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If I know the answer I'll tell you the answer, and if I don't I'll just respond cleverly.
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There are known knowns there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know.
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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.
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They may have had time to destroy them, and I don't know the answer.
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Congress, the press, and the bureaucracy too often focus on how much money or effort is spent, rather than whether the money or effort actually achieves the announced goal.
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The natural state of man is to want to be free. To have opportunities. To have choices.
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Our task, your task... is to try to connect the dots before something happens. People say, 'Well, where's the smoking gun?' Well, we don't want to see a smoking gun from a weapon of mass destruction.
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Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned it was - by a taxpayer.
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Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.
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Remember where you came from.
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We don't seek empires.We're not imperialistic.
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Preserve the President's options. He may need them.
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Don't divide the world into 'them' and 'us.' Avoid infatuation with or resentment of the press, the Congress, rivals, or opponents. Accept them as facts. They have their jobs and you have yours.
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No. That's someone else's business. Quagmire is - I don't do quagmires.
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Most of the 50 or so invitations you receive each week come from people inviting the President's Chief of Staff, not you. If you doubt that, ask your predecessor how many he received last week.
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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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If you foul up, tell the President and correct it fast. Delay only compounds mistakes.
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If you try to please everybody, somebody's not going to like it.
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If you look ahead 10 years, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the people of Russia had become fans of missile defence.
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