Editing Donald Rumsfeld (section)

==Career in government (1962–1975)==
===Member of Congress===
[[File:Donald rumsfeld 1963.jpg|thumb|left|Rumsfeld during his time in Congress]]
In 1957, during the [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] administration, Rumsfeld served as administrative assistant to [[David S. Dennison Jr.]], a Congressman representing the 11th district of Ohio. In 1959, he moved on to become a staff assistant to Congressman [[Robert P. Griffin]] of [[Michigan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000508 |title=RUMSFELD, Donald Henry |work=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |date=April 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070425194855/http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000508 |archive-date=April 25, 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> Engaging in a two-year stint with an investment banking firm, [[A. G. Becker & Co.]], from 1960 to 1962,<ref>{{cite news |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=http://quest.cjonline.com/stories/122900/gen_1229007572.shtml |title=Donald Rumsfeld |access-date=April 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070516103109/http://quest.cjonline.com/stories/122900/gen_1229007572.shtml |archive-date=May 16, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Rumsfeld then set his sights on becoming a member of [[United States Congress|Congress]].

He was elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] for [[Illinois's 13th congressional district]] in 1962, at the age of 30, and was re-elected by large majorities in 1964, 1966, and 1968.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/government/rumsfeld-bio.html |title=Donald Rumsfeld |publisher=[[White House]] |access-date=April 22, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601094302/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/government/rumsfeld-bio.html |archive-date=June 1, 2008}}</ref> While in Congress, he served on the [[Joint Economic Committee]], the Committee on Science and Aeronautics, and the Government Operations Committee, as well as on the Subcommittees on Military and Foreign Operations. He was also a co-founder of the Japanese-American Inter-Parliamentary Council<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ford.utexas.edu/LIBRARY/exhibits/cabinet/rumsfeld.htm |title=Donald Rumsfeld |publisher=White House |date=November 3, 1975 |access-date=April 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715153231/http://www.ford.utexas.edu/LIBRARY/exhibits/cabinet/rumsfeld.htm |archive-date=July 15, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> in addition to being a leading cosponsor of the [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//NSAEBB/NSAEBB194/index.htm |title=Freedom of Information Act at 40 |publisher=[[National Security Archive]] |date=July 4, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060704180357/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB194/index.htm |archive-date=July 4, 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1965, following the defeat of [[Barry Goldwater]] by [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] in the [[1964 United States presidential election|1964 presidential election]], which also led to the Republicans losing many seats in the House of Representatives, Rumsfeld proposed new leadership for the Republicans in the House, suggesting that representative Gerald Ford from Michigan's 5th congressional district was the most suited candidate to replace [[Charles A. Halleck]] as Republican leader.<ref name="Rumsfeld-2011">{{Cite book|last=Rumsfeld|first=Donald|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/650210649|title=Known and unknown : a memoir|date=2011|publisher=Sentinel|isbn=978-1-59523-067-6|location=New York|oclc=650210649|access-date=March 2, 2021|archive-date=June 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630202659/https://www.worldcat.org/title/known-and-unknown-a-memoir/oclc/650210649|url-status=live}}</ref> Rumsfeld, along with other members of the Republican caucus, then urged Ford to run for Republican leader. Ford eventually defeated Halleck and became House Minority Leader in 1965. The group of Republicans that encouraged Ford to run for the Republican leadership became known as the "[[Young Turks (U.S. politics)|Young Turks]]". Rumsfeld later served during Ford's presidency as his chief of staff in 1974, and was chosen by Ford to succeed [[James Schlesinger]] as United States Secretary of Defense in 1975.<ref name="Rumsfeld-2011" />

During Rumsfeld's tenure as member of the U.S. House of Representatives, he voiced concerns about [[United States in the Vietnam War|U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War]], saying that President Johnson and his national security team were overconfident about how the war was being conducted. On one occasion, Rumsfeld joined with other members of the House and traveled to Vietnam for a fact-finding mission to see for themselves how the war was going. The trip led to Rumsfeld believing that the [[South Vietnam]]ese government was much too dependent on the United States. Rumsfeld was also unsatisfied when he received a briefing about war planning from the commander of the U.S. troops in Vietnam, General [[William Westmoreland]].<ref name="Rumsfeld-2011" /> The trip led Rumsfeld to cosponsor a resolution to bring the conduct of the war to the House floor for further debate and discussion about U.S. mismanagement of the war. However, under constant pressure from the [[Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson administration]], the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]], who at that time held the majority at the House of Representatives, blocked the resolution from consideration.<ref name="Rumsfeld-2011" />

As a young Congressman, Rumsfeld attended seminars at the [[University of Chicago]], an experience he credits with introducing him to the idea of an [[Volunteer military|all volunteer military]], and to the economist [[Milton Friedman]] and the [[Chicago School of Economics]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[United States Department of Defense]] |url=http://www.defenselink.mil/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=216 |title=Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld speaking at Tribute to Milton Friedman (transcript) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060824220033/http://www.defenselink.mil/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=216 |archive-date=August 24, 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He later took part in Friedman's [[PBS]] series ''[[Free to Choose]]''.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Free to Choose Media |url=https://www.freetochoosenetwork.org/programs/free_to_choose/index_80.php?id=the_tyranny_of_control |title=Free to Choose: Tyranny of Control |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130506043939/http://www.freetochoose.tv/program.php?id=ftc1980_2&series=ftc80 |archive-date=May 6, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

During his tenure in the House, Rumsfeld voted in favor of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|Civil Rights Acts of 1964]] and [[Civil Rights Act of 1968|1968]],<ref>{{cite journal|title=House – February 10, 1964|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=110|issue=2|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|pages=2804–2805|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt2/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt2-10-2.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=House – July 2, 1964|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=110|issue=12|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=15897|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt12/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt12-4-2.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=House – August 16, 1967|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=113|issue=17|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=22778|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1967-pt17/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1967-pt17-5-1.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=House – April 10, 1968|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=114|issue=8|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=9621|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1968-pt8/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1968-pt8-1-2.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}}</ref> and the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=House – July 9, 1965|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=111|issue=12|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|pages=16285–16286|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt12/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt12-3-2.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=House – August 3, 1965|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=111|issue=14|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=19201|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt14/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt14-5-2.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}}</ref>

===Nixon administration===
Rumsfeld resigned from Congress in 1969{{snd}}his fourth term{{snd}}to serve in the Nixon administration in a variety of executive branch positions. Nixon appointed Rumsfeld director of the [[United States Office of Economic Opportunity]] (OEO), a position with [[Cabinet of the United States|Cabinet rank]]. Rumsfeld had voted against the creation of OEO when he was in Congress,<ref name="Mann20031101" /> and, according to his 2011 memoirs, he initially rejected Nixon's offer, citing his own inherent belief that the OEO did more harm than good, and he felt that he was not the right person for the job.<ref name="memoir">{{cite book|title=Known and Unknown: A Memoir|publisher=[[Sentinel (publisher)|Sentinel]]|last=Rumsfeld |first=Donald|year= 2011|isbn=978-1-59523-067-6|title-link=Known and Unknown: A Memoir}}</ref>{{rp|119–121}} After much negotiation, he accepted the OEO appointment with Nixon's "assurances that he would be ... also an assistant to the President, with Cabinet-level status and an office in the White House,"<ref name="Mann20031101">{{cite journal |last1=Mann |first1=James |title=Close-Up: Young Rumsfeld |journal=The Atlantic |date=1 November 2003 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/11/close-up-young-rumsfeld/302824/ |access-date=4 July 2021 |language=en |quote=Two Republican governors had turned down Nixon's invitations to head the Office of Economic Opportunity, an agency established during the Johnson Administration to run new programs aimed at eliminating poverty. Nixon offered the job to Rumsfeld, who had voted in Congress against many of those programs. ... Before taking the job Rumsfeld bargained hard. At a meeting with Nixon in Key Biscayne, he won assurances that he would be named not only head of the anti-poverty agency but also an assistant to the President, with Cabinet-level status and an office in the White House. |archive-date=July 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210702072016/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/11/close-up-young-rumsfeld/302824/ |url-status=live }}</ref> which "sweetened (the OEO position) with status and responsibility".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Administration: The New OEO Fan |magazine=Time |date=2 May 1969 |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,900793,00.html |access-date=4 July 2021 |issn=0040-781X |quote=Rumsfeld had refused an administration post at first but changed his mind when Nixon sweetened the OEO job with status and responsibility. |archive-date=July 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210705091755/https://cdn.optimizely.com/js/230919112.js |url-status=live }}</ref>

As director, Rumsfeld sought to reorganize the Office to serve what he later described in his 2011 memoir as "a laboratory for experimental programs".<ref name="memoir" />{{rp|125}} Several beneficial [[poverty reduction|anti-poverty programs]] were saved by allocating funds to them from other less-successful government programs. During this time, he hired Frank Carlucci<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-04/frank-carlucci-carlyle-chairman-who-led-pentagon-dies-at-87|title=Frank Carlucci, Carlyle Chairman Who Led Pentagon, Dies at 87|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|publisher=Bloomberg|date=June 4, 2018|access-date=June 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180604194726/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-04/frank-carlucci-carlyle-chairman-who-led-pentagon-dies-at-87|archive-date=June 4, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> and Dick Cheney<ref>{{cite web |title=Richard B. Cheney, 46th Vice President (2001–2009) |url=https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/vice-president/VP_Richard_Cheney.htm |website=www.senate.gov |publisher=U.S. Senate |access-date=4 July 2021 |quote=...the inauguration of Richard Nixon as president in 1969 set in motion a chain of events that would propel Cheney from a congressional fellow to White House chief of staff in seven fast years. His rapid ascent began when Nixon appointed Rumsfeld to head the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). Cheney sent Rumsfeld an unsolicited memo suggesting ways to handle his confirmation hearings, which prompted Rumsfeld to hire him. ... |archive-date=March 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319090820/https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/vice-president/VP_Richard_Cheney.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=O’Gara |first1=Geoffrey |title=Wyoming to the White House: Dick Cheney's Life in Politics |url=https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/wyoming-white-house-dick-cheneys-life-politics |website=WyoHistory.org |publisher=The Wyoming State Historical Society |access-date=4 July 2021 |date=October 31, 2015 |quote=...It was during Rumsfeld’s first stint in the executive branch, under Nixon, that he signed up Cheney as his chief lieutenant. This incongruously put two conservative Republicans in charge first of an anti-poverty program originated during President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society (the OEO), and ... |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411202805/https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/wyoming-white-house-dick-cheneys-life-politics |url-status=live }}</ref> to serve under him.[[File:Richard Nixon and Donald Rumsfeld with son Nick.jpg|thumb|Rumsfeld with his son, Nick, in the Oval Office with President Nixon, 1973]]

He was the subject of one of writer [[Jack Anderson (columnist)|Jack Anderson]]'s columns, alleging that "anti-poverty czar" Rumsfeld had cut programs to aid the poor while spending thousands to redecorate his office. Rumsfeld dictated a four-page response to Anderson, labeling the accusations as falsehoods, and invited Anderson to tour his office. Despite the tour, Anderson did not retract his claims, and only much later admitted that his column was a mistake.<ref name="memoir" />{{rp|125}}<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sullivan |first1=Patricia |title=Investigative Columnist Jack Anderson Dies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2005/12/18/investigative-columnist-jack-anderson-dies/9892c24e-0210-4079-a2dc-9c6fe686ede1/ |access-date=4 July 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=18 December 2005 |quote=...Mr. Anderson was considered significantly more accurate than his predecessor, although he was not error-free. He admitted he wrongly charged Donald H. Rumsfeld with lavishly decorating his office while cutting expenses on programs of the Office of Economic Opportunity.... |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112043027/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2005/12/18/investigative-columnist-jack-anderson-dies/9892c24e-0210-4079-a2dc-9c6fe686ede1/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/rumsfeld-book-known-and-unknown-excerpts |title=Rumsfeld Book Known and Unknown: Excerpts |date=February 3, 2011 |last=Kurtz |first=Howard |author-link=Howard Kurtz |website=[[The Daily Beast]] |access-date=July 5, 2021 |archive-date=July 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210706143556/https://www.thedailybeast.com/rumsfeld-book-known-and-unknown-excerpts |url-status=live }}</ref>

When Rumsfeld left OEO in December 1970, Nixon named him Counselor to the President, a general advisory position; in this role, he retained Cabinet status.<ref name="own rules" />{{rp|75}} He was given an office in the [[West Wing]] in 1969 and regularly interacted with the [[Nixon administration]] hierarchy. He was named director of the [[Economic Stabilization Act of 1970|Economic Stabilization Program]] in 1970 as well, and later headed up the [[ACCRA Cost of Living Index|Cost of Living Council]]. In March 1971 Nixon was recorded saying about Rumsfeld "at least Rummy is tough enough" and "He's a ruthless little bastard. You can be sure of that."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tapes.millercenter.virginia.edu/clips/rmn_rumsfeld.html |title=Nixon White House conversation 464-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124003134/http://tapes.millercenter.virginia.edu/clips/rmn_rumsfeld.html |archive-date=January 24, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Andrew Cockburn|title=Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall, and Catastrophic Legacy |publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2007|page=20|author-link=Andrew Cockburn}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Craig Unger|title=The Fall of the House of Bush: The Untold Story of how a Band of True Believers Seized the Executive Branch, Started the Iraq War, and Still Imperils America's Future |publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2007|page=50|author-link=Craig Unger}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Craig Unger|title=American Armageddon: How the Delusions of the Neoconservatives and the Christian Right Triggered the Descent of America – and Still Imperil Our Future |publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2008|page=50}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Naomi Klein|title=The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism |publisher=[[Metropolitan Books]]/[[Henry Holt (publisher)|Henry Holt]]|year=2007|title-link=The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism|author-link=Naomi Klein}}</ref>

In February 1973, Rumsfeld left Washington to serve as [[Ambassadors from the United States|U.S. Ambassador]] to the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] (NATO) in [[Brussels]], Belgium. He served as the United States' Permanent Representative to the [[North Atlantic Council]] and the [[Defense Planning Committee]], and the [[Nuclear Planning Group]]. In this capacity, he represented the United States in wide-ranging military and diplomatic matters, and was asked to help mediate a conflict on behalf of the United States between [[Cyprus]] and [[Turkey]].<ref name="memoir" />{{rp|157}}<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oU-3IBqRH2kC |title=Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy |year=2007 |last=Savage |first=Charlie |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=9780316019613 |author-link=Charlie Savage (author)|access-date=July 6, 2021 |archive-date=July 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210706143547/https://books.google.com/books?id=oU-3IBqRH2kC&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Ford administration===
[[File:Ford meets with Rumsfeld and Cheney, April 28, 1975.jpg|thumb|Chief of Staff Rumsfeld (left) and Deputy-Chief of Staff [[Dick Cheney]] (right) meet with President Ford, April 1975.]]

In August 1974, after Nixon resigned as president in the aftermath of the [[Watergate scandal]], Rumsfeld was called back to Washington to serve as the transition chairman for the new president, Gerald Ford. He had been Ford's confidante since their days in the House, before Ford was House minority leader and was one of the members of the "[[Young Turks (U.S. politics)|Young Turks]]" who played a major role in bringing Ford to Republican leadership in the House of Representatives.<ref name="Litlovers.com" /> As the new president became settled in, Ford appointed Rumsfeld [[White House Chief of Staff]], following Ford's appointment of General [[Alexander Haig]] to be the new [[Supreme Allied Commander Europe]]. Rumsfeld served from 1974 to 1975.<ref>{{cite web |title=Donald H. Rumsfeld |url=https://history.defense.gov/Multimedia/Biographies/Article-View/Article/571280/donald-h-rumsfeld/ |website=Office of the Secretary of Defense |access-date=July 2, 2021 |archive-date=May 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529112533/https://history.defense.gov/Multimedia/Biographies/Article-View/Article/571280/donald-h-rumsfeld/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Litlovers.com" />