Donald Rumsfeld facts for kids

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Donald Rumsfeld
21st United States Secretary of Defense
In office
January 20, 2001 – December 18, 2006
President George W. Bush
Deputy Paul Wolfowitz (2001-2005)
Gordon R. England (2005-2007)
Preceded by William Cohen
Succeeded by Robert Gates
13th United States Secretary of Defense
In office
November 20, 1975 – January 20, 1977
President Gerald Ford
Deputy Bill Clements
Preceded by James R. Schlesinger
Succeeded by Harold Brown
6th White House Chief of Staff
In office
September 1974 – November 20, 1975
President Gerald Ford
Preceded by Alexander Haig
Succeeded by Dick Cheney
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 13th Congressional district
In office
January 3, 1963 – March 20, 1969
Preceded by Marguerite S. Church
Succeeded by Phil Crane
Personal details
Born July 9, 1932 (1932-07-09) (age 86)
Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Joyce H. Pierson
Children Valerie J. Rumsfeld Richard
Marcy K. Rumsfeld Walczak
Donald Nicholas Rumsfeld
Alma mater Princeton University
Georgetown University Law Center
Military service
Service/branch United States Navy
Rank Captain

Donald Hebb Rumsfeld (born 9 July 1932) is a United States businessman and politician. Rumsfeld was the 13th United States Secretary of Defense under President Gerald Ford from 1975 to 1977, and the 21st Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006. He is both the youngest (43 years old) and the oldest (74 years old) person to have held the position, as well as the only person to have held the position for two non-consecutive terms. Rumsfeld is also the second longest serving Secretary of Defense, behind Robert McNamara.

John R. Steelman • Sherman Adams • Wilton Persons • W. Marvin Watson • H. R. Haldeman • Alexander Haig • Donald Rumsfeld • Dick Cheney • Hamilton Jordan • Jack Watson • James Baker • Donald Regan • Howard Baker • Kenneth Duberstein • John H. Sununu • Samuel K. Skinner • James Baker • Mack McLarty • Leon Panetta • Erskine Bowles • John Podesta • Andrew Card • Joshua Bolten • Rahm Emanuel • William M. Daley • Jack Lew • Denis McDonough
White House Logo
Cabinet of President Gerald Ford (1974–1977)
Vice President
Vacant (1974), Nelson Rockefeller (1974–1977)
Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States
Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger (1974–1977)
Secretary of the Treasury
William E. Simon (1974–1977)
Secretary of Defense
James R. Schlesinger (1974–1975) • Donald Rumsfeld (1975–1977)
Attorney General
William Saxbe (1974–1975) • Edward Levi (1975–1977)
Secretary of the Interior
Rogers Morton (1974–1975) • Stanley K. Hathaway (1975) • Thomas S. Kleppe (1975–1977)
Secretary of the Agriculture
Earl Butz (1974–1976) • John Albert Knebel (1976–1977)
Secretary of Commerce
Frederick B. Dent (1974–1975) • Rogers Morton (1975) • Elliot Richardson (1975–1977)
Secretary of Labor
Peter J. Brennan (1974–1975) • John Thomas Dunlop (1975–1976) • William Usery, Jr. (1976–1977)
Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare
Caspar Weinberger (1974–1975) • F. David Mathews (1975–1977)
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
James Thomas Lynn (1974–1975) • Carla Anderson Hills (1975–1977)
Secretary of Transportation
Claude Brinegar (1974–1975) • William Thaddeus Coleman, Jr. (1975–1977)
Forrestal • Johnson • Marshall • Lovett • Wilson • McElroy • T. Gates • McNamara • Clifford • Laird • Richardson • Schlesinger • Rumsfeld • Brown • Weinberger • Carlucci • Cheney • Aspin • Perry • Cohen • Rumsfeld • R. Gates • Panetta • Hagel • Carter
Seal of the United States Department of Defense


Images for kids

  • Rumsfeld1954 princeton yearbook

    Rumsfeld's 1954 yearbook portrait from Princeton

  • Donald Rumsfeld congress

    Rumsfeld during his time in Congress

  • Richard Nixon and Donald Rumsfeld with son Nick

    Rumsfeld with his son, Nick, in the Oval Office with President Nixon, 1973

  • Ford meets with Rumsfeld and Cheney, April 28, 1975

    Chief of Staff Rumsfeld (left) and Deputy-Chief of Staff Dick Cheney (right) meet with President Ford, April 1975

  • Ford-rumsfeld

    Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld shares a laugh with President Ford in a Cabinet meeting, 1975

  • Rumsfeld is sworn-in as Secretary of Defense, January 20, 2001

    Rumsfeld is administered the oath of office as the 21st Secretary of Defense on January 20, 2001 by Director of Administration and Management David O. Cooke (left), as Joyce Rumsfeld holds the Bible in a ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building

  • The Pentagon is functioning

    "The Pentagon is functioning" was the message Rumsfeld stressed during a press conference in the Pentagon briefing room barely eight hours after terrorists crashed a hijacked commercial jetliner into the Pentagon. Rumsfeld is flanked, left to right, by Secretary of the Army Tom White, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Hugh Shelton, and Senators John Warner (R-VA), and Carl Levin (D-MI), the Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

  • Rumsfeld-Memo-HowStart

    Excerpt from Donald Rumsfeld memo dated Nov 27 2001

  • Donald Rumsfeld Tommy Franks

    Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld (left) and the Commander of U.S. Central Command General Tommy Franks, listen to a question at the close of a Pentagon press conference on March 5, 2003. Rumsfeld and Franks gave reporters an operational update and fielded questions on the possible conflict in Iraq.

  • US Navy 031002-F-2828D-227 Secretary of Defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld responds to a reporter's question during a Pentagon press briefing

    Secretary Rumsfeld responds to a reporter's question during a Pentagon press briefing. Rumsfeld and General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave reporters an operational update on Operation Iraqi Freedom on October 2, 2003.

  • US Navy 041224-M-8096K-064 Secretary of Defense (SECDEF), Donald Rumsfeld takes a photo with some Marines at Camp Fallujah, Iraq

    Rumsfeld poses with Marines during one of his trips to Camp Fallujah, Iraq, on Christmas Eve 2004.

  • Margaret Thatcher 060912-F-0193C-006

    Rumsfeld with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher alongside the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace, 2006

  • Bush and Rumsfeld shakes hands, November 8, 2006

    Rumsfeld shakes President Bush's hand as he announces his resignation, November 8, 2006.

  • Donald Rumsfeld shares a laugh with Robert Gates

    Rumsfeld shares a laugh with his successor, Robert Gates, at a ceremony to unveil his official portrait as Secretary of Defense, June 25, 2010

  • Pentagon Memorial dedication 2008 1st bench

    Dedication ceremony of the Pentagon Memorial in 2008

  • Defense.gov News Photo 050702-F-7203T-593

    Rumsfeld gives the command at the 2005 Pepsi 400, which he served as the grand marshal

  • President Ford and Soviet General Secretary Leonid I. Brezhnev - NARA - 7162534 (crop)

    Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, President Ford and Rumsfeld in Vladivostok, Soviet Union, November 1974

  • Defense.gov News Photo 051024-F-5586B-016

    Rumsfeld and Victoria Nuland at the NATO-Ukraine consultations in Vilnius, Lithuania, on October 24, 2005


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