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Preserve the President's options. He may need them.

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
Preserve
Preserves
President
May
Need
Needs
Hype
Options

More quotes by Donald Rumsfeld

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You can have a broad popular democracy movement and have it end being taken over by the most vicious people and the result is you don't end up with free political systems or free economic systems, you end up with a handful of radicals controlling the country.
Donald Rumsfeld
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In unanimity there may well be either cowardice or uncritical thinking.
Donald Rumsfeld
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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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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
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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.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Oh, Lord. I didn't mean to say anything quotable.
Donald Rumsfeld
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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.
Donald Rumsfeld
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We don't seek empires.We're not imperialistic.
Donald Rumsfeld
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A terrorist can attack any time, any place using any technique and you can't defend everywhere against every technique at every moment.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Do you have any regrets? Of course I do.
Donald Rumsfeld
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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.
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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Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned it was - by a taxpayer.
Donald Rumsfeld
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A few. . . critics are the only people I ever heard use the phrase 'imminent threat.' I didn't, the president didn't.
Donald Rumsfeld
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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.
Donald Rumsfeld
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If you can't solve a problem, make it bigger.
Donald Rumsfeld
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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.
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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Reduce the layers of management. They put distance between the top of an organization and the customers.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Keep your sense of humor. As General Joe Stillwell said, 'The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind'.
Donald Rumsfeld