Quote

Well, so be it. Nothing's perfect in life, so you have an election that's not quite perfect. Is it better than not having an election? You bet.

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
Life
Election
Quite
Perfect
Better
Wells
Well
Nothing

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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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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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 think we ought to have a new rule: You can ask two questions, and then we can pick the one we want to answer.
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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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It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.
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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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Don't think of yourself as indispensable or infallible. As Charles De Gaulle said, the cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.
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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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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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Arguments of convenience lack integrity and inevitably trip you up.
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The natural state of man is to want to be free. To have opportunities. To have choices.
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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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Oh, Lord. I didn't mean to say anything quotable.
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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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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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Any country on the face of the Earth with an active intelligence program knows that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.
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After the German abstention at the UN, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle commented that Germany doesn't always have to stand on the side of its traditional allies. Berlin can look for new partners all over the world.
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If in doubt, don't. If still in doubt, do what's right.
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We know where they are. They are in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad.
Donald Rumsfeld