Editing Donald Rumsfeld (section)

===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>