Washington (CNN) – One of the best known - and most controversial - public figures of recent years, who said he never used e-mail, is now a devotee of social media, and is using it as a means of re-emerging in public after several years of low-profile life.
Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, whose memoir "Known and Unknown" is about to be published, is using both Twitter and Facebook, to publicize the upcoming book and to discuss current events.
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(CNN) – Donald Rumsfeld may soon encounter the world of known tweets, known unknown tweets, and unknown unknown tweets.
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(CNN) – Don Rumsfeld's long-anticipated memoir will be released in January, and the former defense secretary isn't going to pull any punches, his publisher said Monday.
The upcoming book – "Known and Unknown" – will hit book stores January 25 and "is filled with previously undisclosed details and insights about the Bush administration, 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq," according to the book's publisher, Sentinel, a division of Penguin.
The book's title harkens to his infamous 2002 quote explaining there were "known unknowns" and "unknown unknowns" when it came to the war in Iraq – a word jumble that Rumsfeld critics found emblematic of his inartful leadership.
Washington (CNN) – Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld criticized President Obama's assertion Tuesday that the Bush administration ignored requests for more troops to battle the Taliban, declaring the president's remark made during his address on Afghanistan a "bald misstatement."
Rumsfeld said Wednesday that during his time as Bush's Secretary of Defense, he was "not aware of a single request of that nature."
"The President's assertion does a disservice to the truth and, in particular, to the thousands of men and women in uniform who have fought, served and sacrificed in Afghanistan," Rumsfeld said in a statement. "In the interest of better understanding the President's announcement last night, I suggest that the Congress review the President's assertion in the forthcoming debate and determine exactly what requests were made, who made them, and where and why in the chain of command they were denied."
But Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since October of 2007, said Wednesday that the former top commander in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, had requested more troops during the previous administration, but they were sent to Iraq instead.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld would not have approved Christian-themed covers to intelligence reports on the invasion of Iraq, calling them "counterproductive to the war effort," a spokesman said Tuesday.
The covers, some of which were published in the latest issue of GQ magazine, juxtaposed images from the 2003 invasion with verses from the Bible.
According to the magazine, Rumsfeld used the covers to curry favor with then-President George Bush, a devout evangelical.
In a written statement Tuesday, Rumsfeld spokesman Keith Urbahn said the secretary saw the reports only occasionally, and they were never shown to Bush.
"Rumsfeld was fully aware that words and actions could be harmful and counterproductive to the war effort. It's safe to say that some of these cover slides could be considered in that category," Urbahn said. "The suggestion that Rumsfeld would have composed of, approved of, or personally shown the slides to President Bush is flat wrong. It did not happen."
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Vice President Dick Cheney had some blunt - and humorous - advice for incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel at a private breakfast earlier this month, CNN has learned.
"The best thing you can do is keep your VP under control," Cheney told Emanuel, according to three sources familiar with the White House meeting that had previously not been disclosed publicly.
One of the sources, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the private meeting, said the room broke up in laughter because of Cheney's reputation for being a hard-charging vice president.
The meeting was called by current White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, who decided to bring together 13 of his predecessors in the top job from both parties to try to offer Emanuel some bipartisan advice.
Among the attendees were Cheney and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, each of whom served as chief of staff to President Gerald Ford. Other attendees included former Clinton chiefs John Podesta and Leon Panetta.
The sources familiar with the meeting told CNN that Rumsfeld advised Emanuel not to think he's indispensable, and told him that since it's a back-breaking job, he needs to identify his successor early. Rumsfeld's successor as Ford's chief of staff was Cheney.
Bush announces Rumsfeld's resignation November 8, 2006, the day after the midterm elections.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Donald Rumsfeld served as President Bush's Secretary of Defense for six years, but he told GQ magazine he doesn't miss his old boss and the two now rarely talk.
In an issue set to hit the newsstands on Sept. 25, Rumsfeld tells the magazine he still likes Bush but can't recall the last time he spoke with the president.
And asked directly if he misses the president, Rumsfeld told the Magazine, "Um, no."
But Rumsfeld offered Bush praise, and claimed that he is a victim of the media not giving him enough credit in a similar fashion that previous Republican presidents have had to endure.
"Just think, in my lifetime, the Republican presidential candidates: Dwight D. Eisenhower, considered to be a bumbler, bad syntax. Gerald Ford, the best athlete they had in decades, and they called him a stumblebum and demeaned him and made fun of him. Said he wasn't smart, which he was. He'd gone to Michigan, he'd gone to Yale Law School. I mean… And Ronald Reagan. You read his diaries now, and the man is remarkable - and yet he was dismissed as a movie actor and not very smart.”
Rumseld added, "So, I mean the fact that President Bush is demeaned is no different than Eisenhower or Ford or Reagan. And the fact that people believe that to be the case is not a surprise when they're told it day in, day out, by the, uh, eastern media."
Bush announces Rumsfeld's resignation November 8, 2006, the day after the midterm elections.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – CNN Pentagon Producer Mike Mount has obtained a copy of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation letter. (View letter [PDF])
The letter is actually dated November 6, 2006 - the day before the midterm elections - even though the resignation was not announced until November 8.
President Bush has previously acknowledged the decision for Rumseld to leave was made before the midterm elections.
"The reason why [Rumsfeld didn't resign before Tuesday] is I didn't want to inject a major decision about this war in the final days of a campaign," Bush said the day of the resignation announcement.
The word "Iraq" does not appear anywhere in the letter.
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