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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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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
House
Pressures
Firsts
Continuously
First
Staff
Work
Contrary
Pressure
Lasts
Last
White
Trim

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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.
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Listening to both sides does not necessarily bring about a correct judgment.
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General Boykin has requested that an inspector general review this matter. And I have indicated that if that's his request, I think it's appropriate.
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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.
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Now, settle down, settle down. Hell, I'm an old man, it's early in the morning and I'm gathering my thoughts here.
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Certainty without power can be interesting, even amusing. Certainty with power can be dangerous.
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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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I believe what I said yesterday. I don't know what I said, but I know what I think and I assume it's what I said.
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Make decisions about the President's personal security. He can overrule you, but don't ask him to be the one to counsel caution.
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If you can't solve a problem, make it bigger.
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Inspectors do not have the duty or the ability to uncover terrible weapons hidden in a vast country. The responsibility of inspectors is simply to confirm evidence of voluntary and total disarmament. Saddam Hussein has the responsibility to provide that evidence, as directed, and in full
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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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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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In unanimity there may well be either cowardice or uncritical thinking.
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If you develop rules, never have more than ten.
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No terror state poses a greater or more immediate threat to the security of our people and the stability of the world than the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
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Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.
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Never assume the other fellow will not do something you wouldn't do.
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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.
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We'll have to deal with the networks. One of the ways to do that is to drain the swamp they live in. And that means dealing not only with the terrorists, but those who harbor terrorists. This will take a long, sustained effort. It will require the support of the American people as well as our friends and allies around the world.
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