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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.

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
Tell
Amiss
Able
Advisors
Look
Proposed
Looks
Observation
Many
Improve
Missing
Gone
President

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Arguments of convenience lack integrity and inevitably trip you up.
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In unanimity there may well be either cowardice or uncritical thinking.
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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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I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to four hours?
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Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.
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And there is, I am certain, among the Iraqi people a respect for the care and the precision that went into the bombing campaign.
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Let your family, staff, and friends know that you're still the same person, despite all the publicity and notoriety that accompanies your position.
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There are a lot of people who lie and get away with it, and that's just a fact.
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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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You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.
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I am not going to give you a number for it because it's not my business to do intelligent work.
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Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.
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Leave the President's family business to him. You will have plenty to do without trying to manage the First Family. They are likely to do fine without your help.
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If there are people who yearn for the days when Saddam Hussein was in power, then I am not among them.
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There will be good moments, and there will be less good moments.
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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.
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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.
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Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned it was - by a taxpayer.
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Don't be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it.
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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.
Donald Rumsfeld