By His Own Rules : The Ambitions, Successes, and Ultimate Failures of Donald Rumsfeld (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From The Washington Post

From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by Nathaniel Fick "The blizzard is over!" Donald Rumsfeld declared in the last of some 20,000 memos -- or "snowflakes" -- that had become a hallmark of his contentious tenure as secretary of defense. During the summer of 2003, a squall of snowflakes and counter-snowflakes blew through the offices of Rumsfeld and Gen. John Abizaid, the newly appointed head of U.S. Central Command, about the definitions of "insurgent" and "guerrilla warfare." Rumsfeld, over Abizaid's objections, resisted acknowledging the enemy in Iraq as an organized force because doing so would have suggested that the U.S. presence there was likely to be long and costly. But his denial merely delayed the inevitable, and, as in a real snowstorm, the cleanup began only after the last flake fell. Rumsfeld is not a simple man. But the two biggest questions about his tenure at the Pentagon -- why the United States invaded Iraq, and why it so bungled the aftermath of the Hussein regime's fall -- are often answered with only the simplest of explanations: ideology and hubris. In this meticulously researched and compelling book, veteran Washington Post reporter Bradley Graham acknowledges these contributors to the national security travails of the Bush years, but he highlights another as well: the secretary of defense's unwavering commitment to military transformation, his vision of a leaner, more lethal Department of Defense. The early phases of the war in Afghanistan apparently vindicated this concept, while the prospect of war in Iraq promised a wider proving ground for it -- but the nasty counterinsurgency campaign that followed threatened to undermine it. Having served briefly as Gerald Ford's secretary of defense (which makes him both the youngest and oldest man ever to fill the role), Rumsfeld re-entered the Pentagon in 2001 expecting not to lead troops in war, but to fight the bureaucracy to transform the way the United States waged war. In a speech to Defense Department employees on the day before al-Qaeda crashed an airliner into the Pentagon, he declared: "The topic today is an adversary that poses a threat, a serious threat, to the security of the United States of America. . . . It stifles free thought and crushes new ideas. It disrupts the defense of the United States and places the lives of men and women in uniform at risk. . . . It's the Pentagon bureaucracy." Twenty-four hours later the building was in flames. Rumsfeld initially appeared to relish his new role as secretary of war. As often as once a day, he conducted televised news briefings with virtuoso skill, weaving blunt talk with folksy charm. When asked one Sunday whether the United States was close to catching Osama bin Laden, he answered with a characteristic rhetorical question: "If you're chasing a chicken around the barnyard, are you close, or are you not close until you get him?" President George W. Bush nicknamed him "Rumstud." Graham shows that Rumsfeld's commitment to his transformation agenda never waned despite the operational burdens of two major wars. In his 2002 annual report to the president and Congress, Rumsfeld argued: "Some believe that, with the U.S. in the midst of a difficult and dangerous war on terrorism, now is not the time to transform our Armed Forces. The opposite is true. Now is precisely the time to make changes." The broader point here about process innovation rings true, as echoed in Rahm Emanuel's now-famous adage: "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." Like Robert McNamara, his Kennedy-era predecessor at the Pentagon, Rumsfeld is often portrayed as some sort of corporate Prometheus, bringing the light of the private sector to a lumbering bureaucracy. But while some of McNamara's systems analysis innovations -- such as the planning, programming and budgeting system -- are still in use nearly half a century later, many of Rumsfeld's changes have already been slowed (the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Germany) or halted (ambitious satellite systems), even as the defense budget has continued to soar. Andrew Card, Bush's first White House chief of staff, summarizes Rumsfeld's tenure this way: "It's my belief that he had an expectation of what his job would be as secretary of defense, and it probably centered around transformation. . . . And then a war got in the way. Transformation had been a labor of love for him. The war became a labor of responsibility." Rumsfeld acknowledged in announcing his resignation that "I have benefited greatly from criticism, and at no time have I suffered a lack thereof." He surely suspected what the broad contours of this book would be, and yet he sat for multiple interviews with Graham, as did Vice President Dick Cheney, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone, close associate Larry Di Rita and Rumsfeld's wife, Joyce. The result is a careful, human portrait that avoids the predictable cheap shots while eviscerating Rumsfeld's style, many of his decisions and their effects. Whether denying the existence of an insurgency in Iraq, waging bitter bureaucratic battles with Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice or shunning non-military instruments of national power, Rumsfeld contributed to a culture that made the wars on his watch both longer and bloodier than they had to be -- a cardinal sin for troop leaders from corporal to commander in chief. Rumsfeld's successor, Robert Gates, has swiftly distanced himself from his predecessor. Their stylistic differences -- in dealing with allies, the uniformed services, Congress and the State Department -- are well known, but Gates's personnel decisions reveal the most significant change: In six tumultuous years marked by more bark than bite, Rumsfeld fired only one top official, Army Secretary Tom White; over only 21/2 years, Gates has removed or declined to retain six. Gates has restored both civility and accountability to a Pentagon that has been truly transformed by his presence. One interpretation is that real transformation -- like fighting insurgents -- is less about building weapons systems and more about changing minds. Where Rumsfeld sent snowflakes, Gates sends pink slips, and that could make all the difference.
Copyright 2009, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

Review

Thomas E. Ricks, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and author of The Gamble: General Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-08, and Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2003-05.
"Donald Rumsfeld is one of the most interesting and troubling figures of the Bush era, and Bradley Graham is the perfect writer to explore his reign at the Pentagon. Graham, a veteran military reporter, is scrupulously fair in weighing Rumsfeld's strengths and weaknesses. This is likely to be the definitive book on Rumsfeld, one that historians will turn to a century from now."

Tom Mahnken, Foreign Policy.com
“Journalists have produced many caricatures of Donald Rumsfeld, but no portraits. Until now, that is. Bradley Graham's By His Own Rules (PublicAffairs) offers a nuanced portrayal of the former defense secretary that is likely to serve as the definitive work for years to come.”

Christopher Caldwell, New York Times Book Review
“authoritative and judicious.”

Politico
“Donald Rumsfeld has been excoriated by both Democrats and Republicans for his handling of the Iraq war. This biography reveals a more nuanced picture than the conventional wisdom would suggest.”

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 832 pages
• Publisher: PublicAffairs (June 22, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586484214
• ISBN-13: 978-1586484217
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #121,435 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb!, July 12, 2009

By	Charles Zwilling "CZ" (NORTH BERGEN, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a remarkable book about a not so remarkable man. Fox News people should read the book to get a true picture of fair and balanced.

I dislike Mr Rumsfeld intensely and this book did not change my mind, but it is thorough, fair, excellently written and well researched. Rumsfeld is certainly given credit where it is due and properly called to task for his foibles and blunders.

Rumsfeld comes off in the book (and in most accounts I have read) as a Jekyll and Hyde figure, impossible to get a firm grip on. He was ambitious, arrogant, seemingly smart but loyal to power and himself (butt kisser)..and certainly not someone to turn your back on. A master of selective engagement and cutting and running. First and foremost a "Me first" guy, which in the Iraq cost countless thousands of lives and America's reputation.

True to form, Rumsfeld would not discuss Iraq with the author (although he was interviewed on various occasions for the book.

Love or hate him, this book is remarkably well written and in Don's word "Calls a spade a spade".. Just wish Rumsfeld had been dealt out the political game by Nixon way back when. A lot of brave young men would be alive today.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Everything You Didn't Want to Know About Rummy and Then Some, September 12, 2009

By	J. Michael (Lonely on Staten Island) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Author overwhelms reader with too much details and little context. No description of Rumsfeld's relationships with Bush, Powell, Rice, military chiefs etc. Every bit of detail author could obtain on Rumsfeld from interviews, unpublished memos, and newspaper articles are provided but with no supporting context given. Typical of a newspaper writer attempting to write a historical biography.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Man of Mystery, August 26, 2009

By	Retired Reader (New Mexico) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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Donald Rumsfeld is a complicated and enigmatic man whose six year tenure as Secretary of Defense (SecDef) under President George W Bush was enormously controversial. This book is a rather bold attempt to provide a 'definitive' biography of a man who has remained a mystery even to his closest associates. Graham has chosen to craft his biography around an extensive compilation of direct quotes from the utterances and writings of Rumsfeld or those who were closely associated with him. He has organized this book in a straight chronology of Rumsfeld's own words, or those of his associates, organized by subjects within each time period. Yet in the end he has utterly failed to really define and explain the man who for six years was one of the most powerful men within the U.S. National Security Establishment. Perhaps the problem is that in a misplaced effort at objectivity, Graham has studiously avoided any real analysis of Rumsfeld's statements even to the extent not providing any in depth context. Apparently for the same reason Graham avoids any analysis of persons or experiences that have influenced Rumsfeld's intellectual development. Finally Graham made no effort to investigate Rumsfeld's long and close relationship with Vice President Cheney or indeed explore his relationship with any of the other senior officials who served with him in the George W. Bush administration. As a result, the reader is left with an 800 plus page book of the sayings of Secretary Rumsfeld that fails to give any real feel for this remarkable and controversial man.