Donald Rumseld, the two-time U.S. Secretary of Defense under Presidents Gerald Ford and George W. Bush, who helped craft America’s response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as well as its subsequent invasions into Iraq and Afghanistan, died on Tuesday, his family confirmed in a statement. He was 88.
Rumsfeld “was surrounded by family in his beloved Taos, New Mexico,” his family wrote in a statement.
“History may remember him for his extraordinary accomplishments over six decades of public service,” Rumsfeld’s family said in a statement, “but for those who knew him best and whose lives were forever changed as a result, we will remember his unwavering love or his wife Joyce, his family and friends, and the integrity he brought to a life dedicated to country.”
Rumsfeld, who oversaw both the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000’s and Cold War tactics in the 1970’s, is both the youngest (43) and the second-oldest (74) person to serve as Defense Secretary.
Rumsfeld spent decades in Washington, first as a congressman for the state of Illinois, and then as an adviser in the Nixon administration, before departing for Belgium as the U.S. Ambassador to NATO from 1973-1974.
Prior to his tenure leading the Pentagon under Ford, Rumsfeld served as his White House Chief of Staff.
Rumsfeld holds the unique renown of being the only defense secretary to serve two nonconsecutive terms: first from 1975-1977 under Ford, and then under President Bush from 2001-2006. He ultimately resigned from that role in Nov. 2006, one day after the GOP lost control of both the House and Senate in the U.S. midterm elections.
In his 2011 memoir, “Known and Unknown,” Rumsfeld expressed no regrets about his leading the U.S. invasion into Iraq, writing: “Ridding the region of Saddam’s brutal regime has created a more stable and secure world.”
Regarded by former colleagues as equally smart and combative, patriotic and politically cunning, Rumsfeld had a storied career under four presidents and nearly a quarter century in corporate America.
In 2001 he began his second tour as Pentagon chief under President George W. Bush, but his plan to “transform” the armed forces was overshadowed by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He oversaw the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, where he was blamed for setbacks including the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and for being slow to recognize a violent insurgency.
A spokesperson for Rumsfeld told the New York Times that he passed away due to complications from multiple myleoma.
This is a developing story. Check back later for further updates.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
