110+ Donald Rumsfeld Quotes On Known Unknowns, Strategic And Influential

Donald Rumsfeld was an American politician who served as Secretary of Defense under President Gerald Ford from 1975 to 1977 and again under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006. He was one of the main architects of the Iraq War and was also a member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois. Rumsfeld was known for his blunt and often controversial remarks on a variety of topics. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Donald Rumsfeld on known unknowns, strategic, influential.

Top 10 Donald Rumsfeld Quotes

1. Reduce the number of lawyers. They are like beavers - they get in the middle of the stream and dam it up.
2. The Secretary of Defense is not a super General or Admiral. His task is to exercise civilian control over the Department for the Commander-in-Chief and the country.
3. Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.
4. Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.
5. We know where they are. They are in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad.
6. We know where they are [Iraq's weapons of mass destruction]. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat.
7. We do know of certain knowledge that he [Osama Bin Laden] is either in Afghanistan, or in some other country, or dead.
8. Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.
9. If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much.
10. Look for what's missing. Many advisors can tell a President how to improve what's proposed or what's gone amiss. Few are able to see what isn't there.

Donald Rumsfeld Short Quotes

• Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war.
• The most underestimated risk for a politician is overexposure.
• Don't speak ill of your predecessors or successors. You didn't walk in their shoes.
• Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned; it was - by a taxpayer.
• Think ahead. Don't let day-to-day operations drive out planning.
• Don't blame the boss. He has enough problems.
• Arguments of convenience lack integrity and inevitably trip you up.
• Don't divide the world into "them" and "us."
• Remember where you came from.
• When starting at the bottom, be willing to learn from those at the top.

Donald Rumsfeld Quotes About President

Many people around the President have sizeable egos before entering government, some with good reason. Their new positions will do little to moderate their egos. — Donald Rumsfeld

If you foul up, tell the President and correct it fast. Delay only compounds mistakes. — Donald Rumsfeld

The price of being close to the President is delivering bad news. You fail him if you don't tell him the truth. Others won't do it. — Donald Rumsfeld

In our system leadership is by consent, not command. To lead a President must persuade. Personal contacts and experiences help shape his thinking. They can be critical to his persuasiveness and thus to his leadership. — Donald Rumsfeld

When you raise issues with the President, try to come away with both that decision and also a precedent. Pose issues so as to evoke broader policy guidance. This can help to answer a range of similar issues likely to arise later. — Donald Rumsfeld

Make decisions about the President's personal security. He can overrule you, but don't ask him to be the one to counsel caution. — Donald Rumsfeld

See that the President, the Cabinet and staff are informed. If cut out of the information flow, their decisions may be poor, not made, or not confidently or persuasively implemented. — Donald Rumsfeld

Don't be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it. — Donald Rumsfeld

When asked for your views, by the press or others, remember that what they really want to know is the President's views. — Donald Rumsfeld

If in doubt, move decisions up to the President. — Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Rumsfeld Quotes About People

No terror state poses a greater or more immediate threat to the security of our people and the stability of the world than the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. — Donald Rumsfeld

You can have a broad popular democracy movement and have it end being taken over by the most vicious people and the result is you don't end up with free political systems or free economic systems, you end up with a handful of radicals controlling the country. — Donald Rumsfeld

You will launch many projects, but have time to finish only a few. So think, plan, develop, launch and tap good people to be responsible. Give them authority and hold them accountable. Trying to do too much yourself creates a bottleneck. — Donald Rumsfeld

Your performance depends on your people. Select the best, train them and back them. When errors occur, give sharper guidance. If errors persist or if the fit feels wrong, help them move on. The country cannot afford amateur hour in the White House. — Donald Rumsfeld

The problem is the people who tend to be the best organized are the most radical and the most vicious. — Donald Rumsfeld

There are a lot of people who lie and get away with it, and that's just a fact. — Donald Rumsfeld

Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things. — Donald Rumsfeld

There are people who in large measure have information that we need . . . so that we can track down the weapons of mass destruction in that country. — Donald Rumsfeld

Our task, your task... is to try to connect the dots before something happens. People say, 'Well, where's the smoking gun?' Well, we don't want to see a smoking gun from a weapon of mass destruction. — Donald Rumsfeld

When there happens to be a weapon of mass destruction suspect site in an area that we occupy and if people have time, they'll look at it. — Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Rumsfeld Quotes About Decisions

Test ideas in the marketplace. You learn from hearing a range of perspectives. Consultation helps engender the support decisions need to be successfully implemented. — Donald Rumsfeld

If the staff lacks policy guidance against which to test decisions, their decisions will be random. — Donald Rumsfeld

In the execution of Presidential decisions work to be true to his views, in fact and tone. — Donald Rumsfeld

Move decisions out to the Cabinet and agencies. Strengthen them by moving responsibility, authority, and accountability their direction. — Donald Rumsfeld

Those who made the decisions with imperfect knowledge will be judged in hindsight by those with considerably more information at their disposal and time for reflection. — Donald Rumsfeld

Find ways to decentralize. Move decision making authority down and out. Encourage a more entrepreneurial approach. — Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Rumsfeld Quotes About Staff

Let your family, staff, and friends know that you're still the same person, despite all the publicity and notoriety that accompanies your position. — Donald Rumsfeld

When cutting staff at the Pentagon, don't eliminate the thin layer that assures civilian control. — Donald Rumsfeld

Work continuously to trim the White House staff from your first day to your last. All the pressures are to the contrary. — Donald Rumsfeld

Know that the immediate staff and others in the Administration will assume that your manner, tone and tempo reflect the President's. — Donald Rumsfeld

Control your time. If you're working off your in-box, you're working off the priorities of others. Be sure the staff is working on what you move to them from the President, or the President will be reacting, not leading. — Donald Rumsfeld

Most of the 50 or so invitations you receive each week come from people inviting the President's Chief of Staff, not you. If you doubt that, ask your predecessor how many he received last week. — Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Rumsfeld Quotes About Press

Congress, the press, and the bureaucracy too often focus on how much money or effort is spent, rather than whether the money or effort actually achieves the announced goal. — Donald Rumsfeld

Don't divide the world into "them" and "us." Avoid infatuation with or resentment of the press, the Congress, rivals, or opponents. Accept them as facts. They have their jobs and you have yours. — Donald Rumsfeld

The press always wants to know how many people will be killed or how much it will cost, but the answers to those questions are not knowable. — Donald Rumsfeld

With the press there is no "off the record." — Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Rumsfeld Famous Quotes And Sayings

Don't think of yourself as indispensable or infallible. As Charles De Gaulle said, the cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men. — Donald Rumsfeld

Know that the amount of criticism you receive may correlate somewhat to the amount of publicity you receive. — Donald Rumsfeld

Don't automatically obey Presidential directives if you disagree or if you suspect he hasn't considered key aspects of the issue. — Donald Rumsfeld

To gain support in U.S. Congress and from other nations requires clarity, an acceptable mission and an explicit outcome. — Donald Rumsfeld

Enjoy your time in public service. It may well be one of the most interesting and challenging times of your life. — Donald Rumsfeld

Reduce the layers of management. They put distance between the top of an organization and the customers. — Donald Rumsfeld

Keep your sense of humor. As General Joe Stillwell said, 'The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind'. — Donald Rumsfeld

Strive to make proposed solutions as self-executing as possible. As the degree of discretion increases, so too does bureaucracy, delay, and expense. — Donald Rumsfeld

Oh my goodness gracious, what you can buy off the Internet in terms of overhead photography. A trained ape can know an awful lot of what is going on in this world, just by punching on his mouse, for a relatively modest cost. — Donald Rumsfeld

When business accepts help from the government, it can be like going to bed with a hippopotamus. It's nice and warm for the moment, but then your bedmate rolls over and crushes you. — Donald Rumsfeld

First rule of politics: you can't win unless you're on the ballot. Second rule: If you run, you may lose. And, if you tie, you do not win. — Donald Rumsfeld

The Federal Government should be the last resort, not the first. Ask if a potential program is truly a federal responsibility or whether it can better be handled privately, by voluntary organizations, or by local or state governments. — Donald Rumsfeld

Plan backwards as well as forward. Set objectives and trace back to see how to achieve them. You may find that no path can get you there. Plan forward to see where your steps will take you, which may not be clear or intuitive. — Donald Rumsfeld

Presidential leadership needn't always cost money. Look for low- and no-cost options. They can be surprisingly effective. — Donald Rumsfeld

Any country on the face of the Earth with an active intelligence program knows that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. — Donald Rumsfeld

Secretary Powell and I agree on every single issue that has ever been before this administration except for those instances where Colin's still learning. — Donald Rumsfeld

The Cold War was a war, and we won it. — Donald Rumsfeld

We never believed that we'd just tumble over weapons of mass destruction in that country. — Donald Rumsfeld

We have an orientation that tends to make us think that everything is our responsibility and that we should be doing this. It is the Iraqis' country, 28 million of them. They are perfectly capable of running that country. — Donald Rumsfeld

Imagine, a September 11 with weapons of mass destruction. It's not 3,000. It's tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children. — Donald Rumsfeld

It isn't making mistakes that's critical; it's correcting them and getting on with the principal task. — Donald Rumsfeld

You might be a cunning linguist, but I am a master debater. — Donald Rumsfeld

I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today will last five days, five weeks or five months, but it won't last any longer than that. — Donald Rumsfeld

We are in the process of trying to liberate that country. And at the moment where the war ends and the coalition forces occupy the areas where those capabilities - chemical and biological weapons - are likely to be, to the extent they haven't been moved out of the country, it obviously is important to find them. — Donald Rumsfeld

Politics is human beings; it's addition rather than subtraction. — Donald Rumsfeld

They may have had time to destroy them, and I don't know the answer. — Donald Rumsfeld

We're not running out of [fixed] targets. Afghanistan is. — Donald Rumsfeld

The country cannot afford amateur hour in the White House. — Donald Rumsfeld

Amidst all the clutter, beyond all the obstacles, aside from all the static, are the goals set. Put your head down, do the best job possible, let the flak pass, and work towards those goals. — Donald Rumsfeld

Five days or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last longer. — Donald Rumsfeld

I am not going to give you a number for it because it's not my business to do intelligent work. — Donald Rumsfeld

We'll have to deal with the networks. One of the ways to do that is to drain the swamp they live in. And that means dealing not only with the terrorists, but those who harbor terrorists. This will take a long, sustained effort. It will require the support of the American people as well as our friends and allies around the world. — Donald Rumsfeld

I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was not predictable when it started. — Donald Rumsfeld

You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time. — Donald Rumsfeld

When I served as US Ambassador to NATO in the 1970s, the center of gravity in Europe was France and Germany. — Donald Rumsfeld

If you develop rules, never have more than ten. — Donald Rumsfeld

Now, settle down, settle down. Hell, I'm an old man, it's early in the morning and I'm gathering my thoughts here. — Donald Rumsfeld

Be yourself. Follow your instincts. Success depends, at least in part, on the ability to "carry it off." — Donald Rumsfeld

Preserve the President's options. He may need them. — Donald Rumsfeld

One of your tasks is to separate the "personal" from the "substantive." The two can become confused, especially if someone rubs the President wrong. — Donald Rumsfeld

In politics, every day is filled with numerous opportunities for serious error. Enjoy it. — Donald Rumsfeld

Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance. — Donald Rumsfeld

Watch the growth of middle level management. Don't automatically fill vacant jobs. Leave some positions unfilled for 6-8 months to see what happens. You will find you won't need to fill some of them. — Donald Rumsfeld

Leave the President's family business to him. You will have plenty to do without trying to manage the First Family. They are likely to do fine without your help. — Donald Rumsfeld

If in doubt, don't. If still in doubt, do what's right. — Donald Rumsfeld

Learn to say "I don't know." If used when appropriate, it will be often. — Donald Rumsfeld

Don't do or say things you would not like to see on the front page of The Washington Post. — Donald Rumsfeld

Don't say "the White House wants." Buildings can't want. — Donald Rumsfeld

Never assume the other fellow will not do something you wouldn't do. — Donald Rumsfeld

Listening to both sides does not necessarily bring about a correct judgment. — Donald Rumsfeld

And there is, I am certain, among the Iraqi people a respect for the care and the precision that went into the bombing campaign. — Donald Rumsfeld

It is easier to get into something than to get out of it. — Donald Rumsfeld

I tend over the years to have developed a certain hesitancy about believing that headlines tell the whole story. — Donald Rumsfeld

Pieces of intelligence, scraps of intelligence...you run down leads and you run down leads, and you hope that sometimes it works. — Donald Rumsfeld

Don't 'over-control' like a novice pilot. Stay loose enough from the flow that you can observe it, modify, and improve it. — Donald Rumsfeld

Don't accept the post or stay unless you have an understanding with the President that you're free to tell him what you think "with the bark off" and you have the courage to do it. — Donald Rumsfeld

I am going to leave the future of Europe to the Europeans. — Donald Rumsfeld

The reality is that terrorists can attack any time at any minute, 24 hours a day, using a variety of techniques, in any place at all. And it's not possible to defend in every place, against every technique, against every conceivable approach. It means that you can't stop every terrorist attack. Innocent men, women and children are going to be killed if terrorists are determined to do it. — Donald Rumsfeld

[on Osama bin Laden] He is either alive and well or alive and not too well or not alive. — Donald Rumsfeld

Life Lessons by Donald Rumsfeld

1. Donald Rumsfeld taught us to be resilient in the face of adversity and to never give up, no matter how difficult the situation may be.
2. He also showed us the importance of being adaptable and flexible, and to be able to adjust quickly to changing circumstances.
3. Lastly, he highlighted the importance of having a clear vision and staying focused on achieving it, no matter the obstacles in the way.