Editing Donald Rumsfeld (section)

===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>