Former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dies at 88

WASHINGTON (AP):

Donald Rumsfeld, the two-time defence secretary and one-time presidential candidate whose reputation as a skilled bureaucrat and visionary of a modern US military was unravelled by the long and costly Iraq war, died Tuesday. He was 88.

In a statement Wednesday, Rumsfeld’s family said he “was surrounded by family in his beloved Taos, New Mexico”.

President George W. Bush, under whom Rumsfeld served as Pentagon chief, hailed his “steady service as a wartime secretary of defence – a duty he carried out with strength, skill, and honour”.

Regarded by former colleagues as equally smart and combative, patriotic and politically cunning, Rumsfeld had a storied career in government under four presidents and nearly a quarter century in corporate America.

‘Rummy’, as he was often called, was ambitious, witty, energetic, engaging and capable of great personal warmth. But he irritated many with his confrontational style. An accomplished wrestler in college, Rumsfeld relished verbal sparring and elevated it to an art form; a biting humour was a favourite weapon.

Still, he built a network of loyalists who admired his work ethic, intelligence and impatience with all who failed to share his sense of urgency.

Rumsfeld is the only person to serve twice as Pentagon chief. The first time, in 1975-77, he was the youngest ever. The next time, in 2001-06, he was the oldest.

He made a brief run for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination, a spectacular flop that he once described as humbling for a man used to success at the highest levels of the government, including stints as White House chief of staff, US ambassador and member of Congress.