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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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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
Come
Chiefs
Many
Receive
Predecessor
People
Week
Predecessors
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Invitations
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Lasts
Staff
Last
Chief
President
Received
More quotes by Donald Rumsfeld
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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The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize. It's to change the behavior of the people that are being terrorized.
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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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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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Success tends to go not to the person who is error-free, because he also tends to be risk-averse. Rather it goes to the person who recognizes that life is pretty much a percentage business. It isn't making mistakes that's critical it's correcting them and getting on with the principal task.
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Remember where you came from.
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Then there are three or four countries that have said they won't do anything. I believe Libya, Cuba and Germany are ones that have indicated they won't help in any respect.
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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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If a person is determined to fight to the death, then they may very well have that opportunity.
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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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Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.
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Is it likely that an aircraft carrier or a cruise missile is going to find a person?
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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 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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It is unknowable how long that conflict [the war in Iraq] will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.
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In our system leadership is by consent, not command. To lead a President must persuade. Personal contacts and experiences help shape his thinking. They can be critical to his persuasiveness and thus to his leadership.
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Oh my goodness gracious, what you can buy off the Internet in terms of overhead photography. A trained ape can know an awful lot of what is going on in this world, just by punching on his mouse, for a relatively modest cost.
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[on Osama bin Laden] He is either alive and well or alive and not too well or not alive.
Donald Rumsfeld
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.
Donald Rumsfeld
If you try to please everybody, somebody's not going to like it.
Donald Rumsfeld
