Donald Rumsfeld, the two-time US defence secretary and one-time presidential candidate whose reputation as a skilled bureaucrat and visionary of a modern US military was unravelled by the long and costly Iraq war, has died. He was 88.
In a statement on Wednesday (US time), Rumsfeld's family said he "was surrounded by family in his beloved Taos, New Mexico."
Former president George W. Bush, under whom Rumsfeld served as Pentagon chief, hailed his "steady service as a wartime secretary of defence — a duty he carried out with strength, skill, and honour."
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Regarded by former colleagues as equally smart and combative, patriotic and politically cunning, Mr Rumsfeld had a storied career in government under four presidents and nearly a quarter century in corporate America. After retiring in 2008 he headed the Rumsfeld Foundation to promote public service and to work with charities that provide services and support for military families and wounded veterans.
"Rummy," as he was often called, was ambitious, witty, energetic, engaging and capable of great personal warmth. But he irritated many with his confrontational style. An accomplished wrestler in college, Rumsfeld relished verbal sparring and elevated it to an art form; a biting humour was a favourite weapon.
Still, he built a network of loyalists who admired his work ethic, intelligence and impatience with all who failed to share his sense of urgency.
Rumsfeld is the only person to serve twice as Pentagon chief. The first time, in 1975-77, he was the youngest ever. The next time, in 2001-06, he was the oldest.
Nine months into his second tour as defence secretary, on September 11, 2001, suicide hijackers attacked the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon, thrusting the nation into wars for which the military was ill-prepared. Rumsfeld oversaw the US invasion of Afghanistan and toppling of the Taliban regime.
The US-led invasion of Iraq was launched in March 2003. Baghdad fell quickly, but US and allied forces soon became consumed with a violent insurgency. Critics faulted Rumsfeld for dismissing the pre-invasion assessment of the Army's top general, Eric Shinseki, that several hundred thousand allied troops would be needed to stabilise Iraq.
Rumsfeld twice offered his resignation to President George W. Bush in 2004 amid disclosures that US troops had abused detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison — an episode he later referred to as his darkest hour as defence secretary.
Not until November 2006, after Democrats gained control of Congress by riding a wave of antiwar sentiment, did Bush finally decide Rumsfeld had to go.
Rumsfeld is survived by his wife, Joyce, three children and seven grandchildren.
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