Quote

Make decisions about the President's personal security. He can overrule you, but don't ask him to be the one to counsel caution.

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
Decision
Asks
President
Overrule
Make
Counsel
Caution
Decisions
Personal
Security

More quotes by 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.
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Control your own time. Don't let it be done for you. If you are working off the in-box that is fed you, you are probably working on the priority of others.
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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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... something under $50 billion for the cost. How much of that would be the U.S. burden, and how much would be other countries, is an open question.
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Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.
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Pieces of intelligence, scraps of intelligence...you run down leads and you run down leads, and you hope that sometimes it works.
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I don't believe anyone that I know in the administration ever said that Iraq had nuclear weapons.
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When starting at the bottom, be willing to learn from those at the top.
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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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I don't know anybody that I can think of who has contended that the Iraqis had nuclear weapons.
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In unanimity there may well be either cowardice or uncritical thinking.
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Have a deputy and develop a successor. Don't be consumed by the job or you'll risk losing your balance. Keep your mooring lines to the outside world - family, friends, neighbors, people out of government, and people who may not agree with you.
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I think it's very useful for you folks (reporters) to try your damndest to be precise. And don't repeat things that are inaccurate if you can possibly avoid it. And when you see things that are inaccurate, knock them down -- because there's a bucket of it floating around.
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It's a difficult thing today to be informed about our government even without all the secrecy.
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They may have had time to destroy them, and I don't know the answer.
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When you raise issues with the President, try to come away with both that decision and also a precedent. Pose issues so as to evoke broader policy guidance. This can help to answer a range of similar issues likely to arise later.
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Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Do you have any regrets? Of course I do.
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Napoleon was asked, Who do you consider to be the greatest generals? He responded saying, The victors.
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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.
Donald Rumsfeld