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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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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
Everything
Orientation
Country
Tends
Make
Perfectly
Think
Million
Thinking
Capable
Millions
Responsibility
Running
Iraqis

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In unanimity there may well be either cowardice or uncritical thinking.
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Members of the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate are not there by accident. Each managed to get there for some reason. Learn what it was and you will know something important about them, about our country and about the American people.
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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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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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One of your tasks is to separate the 'personal' from the 'substantive.' The two can become confused, especially if someone rubs the President wrong.
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Remember where you came from.
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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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A few. . . critics are the only people I ever heard use the phrase 'imminent threat.' I didn't, the president didn't.
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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.
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Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.
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Being Vice President is difficult. Don't make it tougher.
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Don't do or say things you would not like to see on the front page of The Washington Post.
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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'.
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When starting at the bottom, be willing to learn from those at the top.
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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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The natural state of man is to want to be free. To have opportunities. To have choices.
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No. That's someone else's business. Quagmire is - I don't do quagmires.
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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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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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