[span class="hw"]Donald Rumsfeld[/span], Government Official [/p][ul][li]Born: 9 July 1932 [/li][li]Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois [/li][li]Best Known As: U.S. Secretary of Defense, 2001-2006[/li][/ul] Donald Rumsfeld became Secretary of Defense under [a href="http://www.answers.com/topic/george-w-bush" class="ilnk" target="AnswersQueryWindow" onclick="window.status='close';"]George W. Bush[/a] in January of 2001, and after the attacks of 11 September 2001 he became a familiar face on television as a spokesman for U.S. military forces. Rumsfeld was already something of a Washington insider; his Republican connections extended back to 1958, when he became an assistant to Congressman Dave Dennison of Ohio. He served as a congressman from Illinois (1962-69) before going to work as an economic adviser for President [a href="http://www.answers.com/topic/richard-nixon" class="ilnk" target="AnswersQueryWindow" onclick="window.status='close';"]Richard Nixon[/a] (1969-73). He then worked in the [a href="http://www.answers.com/topic/gerald-ford" class="ilnk" target="AnswersQueryWindow" onclick="window.status='close';"]Gerald Ford[/a] administration as White House Chief of Staff and then as the youngest-ever Secretary of Defense (1975-77). During the 1980s Rumsfeld served in various capacities as an advisor to the [a href="http://www.answers.com/topic/ronald-reagan" class="ilnk" target="AnswersQueryWindow" onclick="window.status='close';"]Ronald Reagan[/a] administration, but spent most of his time in private industry. He served on corporate boards in such the pharmaceutical, banking and communications industries and spent eight years as the CEO of pharmaceutical giant G. D. Searle & Co. He returned to the Pentagon in 2001, becoming the 21st Secretary of Defense. After the attacks on the U.S. in 2001, Rumsfeld directed forces in an attack on Afghanistan and was a vigorous proponent of invading Iraq to topple [a href="http://www.answers.com/topic/saddam-hussein" class="ilnk" target="AnswersQueryWindow" onclick="window.status='close';"]Saddam Hussein[/a] (2003). When success in Iraq was slow in coming, critics -- both civilian and military -- piled on Rumsfeld. The day[i style="color: rgb(128, 128, 128);"] ... [/i][/p] [a href="http://www.answers.com/topic/donald-rumsfeld?method=26&initiator=answertip:continue" target="AnswersQueryWindow" onclick="var ac = document.getElementById('answertipClose'); if (ac) ac.innerHTML='close'; else window.status='close';return true;"][img]http://site.answers.com/main8399/images/answerTip_readMore.gif" class="answertipReadMore"][/a]
