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Known and Unknown
Like Donald Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown pulls no punches.
With the same directness that defined his career in public service, Rumsfeld's memoir is filled with previously undisclosed details and insights about the Bush administration, 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also features Rumsfeld's unique and often surprising observations on eight decades of history: his experiences growing up during the Depression and World War II, his time as a Naval aviator; his service in Congress starting at age 30; his cabinet level positions in the Nixon and Ford White Houses; his assignments in the Reagan administration; and his years as a successful business executive in the private sector.
Rumsfeld addresses the challenges and controversies of his illustrious career, from the unseating of the entrenched House Republican leader in 1965, to helping the Ford administration steer the country away from Watergate and Vietnam, to bruising battles over transforming the military for the 21st century, to the war in Iraq, to confronting abuse at Abu Ghraib and allegations of torture at Guantanamo Bay.
Along the way, he offers his plainspoken, first-hand views and often humorous and surprising anecdotes about some of the world's best known figures, from Margaret Thatcher to Saddam Hussein, from Henry Kissinger to Colin Powell, from Elvis Presley to Dick Cheney, and each American president from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush.
Rumsfeld relies not only on his memory but also on previously unreleased and recently declassified documents. Thousands of pages of documents not yet seen by the public will be made available on an accompanying website.
Known and Unknown delivers both a fascinating narrative for today's readers and an unprecedented resource for tomorrow's historians.
With the same directness that defined his career in public service, Rumsfeld's memoir is filled with previously undisclosed details and insights about the Bush administration, 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also features Rumsfeld's unique and often surprising observations on eight decades of history: his experiences growing up during the Depression and World War II, his time as a Naval aviator; his service in Congress starting at age 30; his cabinet level positions in the Nixon and Ford White Houses; his assignments in the Reagan administration; and his years as a successful business executive in the private sector.
Rumsfeld addresses the challenges and controversies of his illustrious career, from the unseating of the entrenched House Republican leader in 1965, to helping the Ford administration steer the country away from Watergate and Vietnam, to bruising battles over transforming the military for the 21st century, to the war in Iraq, to confronting abuse at Abu Ghraib and allegations of torture at Guantanamo Bay.
Along the way, he offers his plainspoken, first-hand views and often humorous and surprising anecdotes about some of the world's best known figures, from Margaret Thatcher to Saddam Hussein, from Henry Kissinger to Colin Powell, from Elvis Presley to Dick Cheney, and each American president from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush.
Rumsfeld relies not only on his memory but also on previously unreleased and recently declassified documents. Thousands of pages of documents not yet seen by the public will be made available on an accompanying website.
Known and Unknown delivers both a fascinating narrative for today's readers and an unprecedented resource for tomorrow's historians.
815 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2011
188 people are currently reading
2111 people want to read
About the author
Donald Rumsfeld
15 books51 followersDonald Henry Rumsfeld is a United States businessman, retired Navy Fighter Pilot, diplomat, and politician who served as the 13th Secretary of Defense under President Gerald Ford from 1975 to 1977 and as the 21st Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006. He is both the youngest (43 years old) and the oldest (74 years old) person to have served as Secretary of Defense as well as the only person to have served in the position for two non-consecutive terms. Overall, he was the second longest serving defense secretary behind Robert McNamara. Rumsfeld was White House Chief of Staff during part of the Ford Administration and also served in various positions in the Nixon Administration. He served four terms in the United States House of Representatives, and served as the United States Permanent Representative to NATO. He was an aviator in the United States Navy between 1954 and 1957 before transferring to the Naval Reserve. In public life, he has served as an official in numerous federal commissions and councils.
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August 5, 2024
My apologies up front for the long review about a fairly old book that isn't exactly capturing the public's imagination these days. I've long had a fascination with Donald Rumsfeld and have read his book a few times.
The title comes from his famous articulation of a three-tiered framework of human knowledge. First, there are "known knowns," he explained. These are the things "we know we know." Second, there are "known unknowns," the things we know that “we do not know." And, third, there are "unknown unknowns," the things "we don't know we don't know."
This is an insightful framework for categorizing human knowledge—which is often imperfect and incomplete. And in the opening of the book he does an admirable job explaining it.
Yet Rumsfeld's most important endeavor—the Iraq War—was a profound violation of the principle that people should recognize the limits of their knowledge. While pushing for war against Iraq, Rumsfeld was far too confident that Iraq actually had weapons of mass destruction. He thought it was a known known—a certainty—when it was really a known unknown: While we knew that Saddam Hussein had sought WMD, we didn't know—when the US invaded Iraq—whether or not he actually had them.
We now know he didn't.
Compounding this error, Rumsfeld was far too confident that the war in Iraq would be successful. He was convinced that after defeating Saddam's army the United States could turn Iraq into a vibrant and functioning democracy.
We now know we couldn't.
Despite Rumsfeld's overconfident assertion that "I don't do quagmires," Iraq is still not the vibrant democracy he and others in the Bush administration predicted it would become.
The low point of the book is when he refuses to accept this and take responsibility for his role in this now-decades-long saga. According to Rumsfeld, the problems were other people's fault and, without much explanation, he asserts the war was still the right decision.
But Rumsfeld's contradictions don't stop there. On the one hand, he was brilliant, hard-working, and farsighted. All of this shines through on the pages. His work transitioning the military away from a Cold War posture and towards addressing modern asymmetrical threats involving terrorism and new technologies was necessary and important.
On the other hand, Rumsfeld was far too stubborn to build the wide coalitions of allies—domestic and foreign—he needed to achieve many of his objectives. And his gratuitous antagonism towards journalists was an unforced error in a democratic society where perceptions often matter more than reality. Again, he does not reflect on this or take responsibility for these failures in the book.
Rumsfeld's great strengths were thus often marginalized by his significant weaknesses.
By the end of his life, Rumsfeld was a known known in American politics—his career in government began in 1962 when he was elected to Congress (at age 30) and ended in 2006 when he left the Pentagon. Yet he will be defined by one lasting open question (that the book doesn’t answer): How could someone so attuned to the limits of human knowledge be so overconfident in his pre-war assessments of Iraq?
The title comes from his famous articulation of a three-tiered framework of human knowledge. First, there are "known knowns," he explained. These are the things "we know we know." Second, there are "known unknowns," the things we know that “we do not know." And, third, there are "unknown unknowns," the things "we don't know we don't know."
This is an insightful framework for categorizing human knowledge—which is often imperfect and incomplete. And in the opening of the book he does an admirable job explaining it.
Yet Rumsfeld's most important endeavor—the Iraq War—was a profound violation of the principle that people should recognize the limits of their knowledge. While pushing for war against Iraq, Rumsfeld was far too confident that Iraq actually had weapons of mass destruction. He thought it was a known known—a certainty—when it was really a known unknown: While we knew that Saddam Hussein had sought WMD, we didn't know—when the US invaded Iraq—whether or not he actually had them.
We now know he didn't.
Compounding this error, Rumsfeld was far too confident that the war in Iraq would be successful. He was convinced that after defeating Saddam's army the United States could turn Iraq into a vibrant and functioning democracy.
We now know we couldn't.
Despite Rumsfeld's overconfident assertion that "I don't do quagmires," Iraq is still not the vibrant democracy he and others in the Bush administration predicted it would become.
The low point of the book is when he refuses to accept this and take responsibility for his role in this now-decades-long saga. According to Rumsfeld, the problems were other people's fault and, without much explanation, he asserts the war was still the right decision.
But Rumsfeld's contradictions don't stop there. On the one hand, he was brilliant, hard-working, and farsighted. All of this shines through on the pages. His work transitioning the military away from a Cold War posture and towards addressing modern asymmetrical threats involving terrorism and new technologies was necessary and important.
On the other hand, Rumsfeld was far too stubborn to build the wide coalitions of allies—domestic and foreign—he needed to achieve many of his objectives. And his gratuitous antagonism towards journalists was an unforced error in a democratic society where perceptions often matter more than reality. Again, he does not reflect on this or take responsibility for these failures in the book.
Rumsfeld's great strengths were thus often marginalized by his significant weaknesses.
By the end of his life, Rumsfeld was a known known in American politics—his career in government began in 1962 when he was elected to Congress (at age 30) and ended in 2006 when he left the Pentagon. Yet he will be defined by one lasting open question (that the book doesn’t answer): How could someone so attuned to the limits of human knowledge be so overconfident in his pre-war assessments of Iraq?
June 7, 2011
OH YES I DID. Unabridged version and all.
I'm a sucker for a good memoir. It doesn't matter if you agree with Donald Rumsfeld or approve of everything he's ever done: he's an engagingly lucid writer who has lived through (and influenced) some seriously major historic events. Reading this book was like having a good sit-down with your aged grandfather, except this particular aged grandfather has held an impressive smattering of government positions over the years including serving as Secretary of Defense for two different US Presidents.
That said, once I hit the post-9/11 chapters on Iraq, this book became a bit of a "long, hard slog," if you will. The narrative became mired in details and minutiae and I've already heard so much about that period of time through other books. So I checked out right around there and tuned back in once Hurricane Katrina came around.
Other reviews have complained that Known and Unknown is nothing more than a string of mea culpa avoidance behaviors, to which I say, dude, this is a memoir and he can write it how he wants it. I have to say, there were some cases where the record needed a little setting straight and a memoir is the perfect place for that. To take a minor example, you may recall that the title of this book was taken from a famous Rumsfeld quote:
"Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know."
Read it again, folks. It makes perfect sense and is actually quite insightful no matter what you think of the man. As is this book.
I'm a sucker for a good memoir. It doesn't matter if you agree with Donald Rumsfeld or approve of everything he's ever done: he's an engagingly lucid writer who has lived through (and influenced) some seriously major historic events. Reading this book was like having a good sit-down with your aged grandfather, except this particular aged grandfather has held an impressive smattering of government positions over the years including serving as Secretary of Defense for two different US Presidents.
That said, once I hit the post-9/11 chapters on Iraq, this book became a bit of a "long, hard slog," if you will. The narrative became mired in details and minutiae and I've already heard so much about that period of time through other books. So I checked out right around there and tuned back in once Hurricane Katrina came around.
Other reviews have complained that Known and Unknown is nothing more than a string of mea culpa avoidance behaviors, to which I say, dude, this is a memoir and he can write it how he wants it. I have to say, there were some cases where the record needed a little setting straight and a memoir is the perfect place for that. To take a minor example, you may recall that the title of this book was taken from a famous Rumsfeld quote:
"Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know."
Read it again, folks. It makes perfect sense and is actually quite insightful no matter what you think of the man. As is this book.
August 6, 2020
Don Rumsfeld began his career in politics at the age of twenty-nine. He served several terms in Congress where he was noticed by Nixon and tapped for a series of posts, culminating in his appointment as U.S. Ambassador to NATO. He returned to Washington following Watergate to work on Gerald Ford's transition team. Ford named him Chief of Staff, a role he held briefly before being appointed Secretary of Defense. Sometimes the roulette wheel of Washington politics manages to drop a man into the slot he was born for. Such was the case of Mr. Rumsfeld. So well did the talents, the drive, the outlook, and the personality fit within the housing of the mechanism that is America's Defense Department, it was a surprise to very few to find him appointed to the position once again at the outset of the presidency of George W. Bush...despite the fact that Bush Sr. didn't like him very much. Rumsfeld's bona fides simply couldn't be disputed.
It is hard, indeed, to tell where the job ends and the man begins. We shouldn't feel too bad about this, though, because he seems to have had a bit of a problem with that himself...
As the events of the day (September 11) - a day that seemed like the longest in my life - drew to a close, I returned to the Pentagon from the White House. The sky was dark but klieg lights illuminated the crash site for the rescue workers who continued to fight the flames and to search for any remaining victims in the wreckage. I called some of my team together in my office to take stock of events. Torie Clarke, the assistant secretary of defense for public affairs and the Pentagon's spokeswoman, had a blunt manner that I appreciated. "Have you called Mrs. R.?" she asked me.
By then it was approaching 11:00 p.m., more than twelve hours since the morning's attack. "No, I haven't," I answered.
Clarke bore in. "You mean you haven't talked to Joyce?"
When the Pentagon was hit, Joyce was at the Defense Intelligence Agency at Bolling Air Force Base for a briefing with the defense attaches and their spouses from around the world. I had been so engaged that day that I hadn't even thought of calling her. After almost forty-seven years of marriage, one takes some things - perhaps too many things - for granted. I had been told Joyce was taken from the meeting and that she had been informed that the Pentagon had been hit.
Clarke looked at me with the stare of a woman who was also a wife. "You son of a bitch," she blurted out.
She had a point.
Considering his dedication to the job, it is perhaps understandable to find he documented his tenure from beginning to end in a manner one could only describe as exhaustive. Rumsfeld kept everything - notes, memos, correspondence, reports, studies, articles, agreements, timelines - and they serve him well in this context. While I have not finished my reading on the major players involved in the aftermath of September 11, and the critical decisions made at that time, I can say that I have yet to find a more concise (and credible) accounting of the Washington response vis-a-vis Afghanistan and Iraq than the one provided here.
It's hard these days to locate an informed opinion on America's involvement in the Middle East. Should you come across one, I'd be willing to bet this book played a part in constructing it.
It is hard, indeed, to tell where the job ends and the man begins. We shouldn't feel too bad about this, though, because he seems to have had a bit of a problem with that himself...
As the events of the day (September 11) - a day that seemed like the longest in my life - drew to a close, I returned to the Pentagon from the White House. The sky was dark but klieg lights illuminated the crash site for the rescue workers who continued to fight the flames and to search for any remaining victims in the wreckage. I called some of my team together in my office to take stock of events. Torie Clarke, the assistant secretary of defense for public affairs and the Pentagon's spokeswoman, had a blunt manner that I appreciated. "Have you called Mrs. R.?" she asked me.
By then it was approaching 11:00 p.m., more than twelve hours since the morning's attack. "No, I haven't," I answered.
Clarke bore in. "You mean you haven't talked to Joyce?"
When the Pentagon was hit, Joyce was at the Defense Intelligence Agency at Bolling Air Force Base for a briefing with the defense attaches and their spouses from around the world. I had been so engaged that day that I hadn't even thought of calling her. After almost forty-seven years of marriage, one takes some things - perhaps too many things - for granted. I had been told Joyce was taken from the meeting and that she had been informed that the Pentagon had been hit.
Clarke looked at me with the stare of a woman who was also a wife. "You son of a bitch," she blurted out.
She had a point.
Considering his dedication to the job, it is perhaps understandable to find he documented his tenure from beginning to end in a manner one could only describe as exhaustive. Rumsfeld kept everything - notes, memos, correspondence, reports, studies, articles, agreements, timelines - and they serve him well in this context. While I have not finished my reading on the major players involved in the aftermath of September 11, and the critical decisions made at that time, I can say that I have yet to find a more concise (and credible) accounting of the Washington response vis-a-vis Afghanistan and Iraq than the one provided here.
It's hard these days to locate an informed opinion on America's involvement in the Middle East. Should you come across one, I'd be willing to bet this book played a part in constructing it.
January 11, 2015
I was pleased to have the time to delve into the mind of the man at the helm of the Department of Defence post-September 11, 2001. Rumsfeld does a great job of showing that his life was more than playing the Defence role for Bush, carving a name out himself over five decades. Rumsfeld details his life, from a childhood on the outskirts of Chicago through to his navy service and eventually introduction to the political sphere. In detailed chapters, Rumsfeld explores how his ties to the Illinois GOP machine allowed him to earn an upset victory that saw him in Congress by the time he was thirty and how that political acumen grew as his hobnobbed with those in positions of power, on both sides of the aisle. Rumsfeld's inclusion in the Nixon inner circle played a decisive role in his politic future, but his true launch into the political stratosphere came in the Ford Administration, both within the West Wing and eventually as Secretary of Defence. Though short lived, Rumsfeld made the most of his time in the two years between the Nixon gaffe and (in Rumsfeld's mind) America's gaffe in choosing Carter. Rumsfeld faded into the background for a while, as the Democrats cleaned house and Reagan used Rumsfeld sparingly in the 80s, followed by a continued distancing by Bush 41.
The second half of the memoir, or close to it, shifts its focus onto the man whose name peppered the headlines post-September 11, 2001. In George W. Bush's Cabinet, Rumsfeld was able to forge Defence policy from his office in the Pentagon and sought to work with Bush to craft the ultimate response. Rumsfeld lays out his arguments in favour of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He also pulls out the soapbox as it relates to ignoring the Geneva Conventions and detention of prisoners during the aforementioned wars, making it clear (in his eyes, though jaded for many others) that the Bush Administration followed the letter of the law as it related to the wars and its prisoners, as well as outcomes best for the world and not just as a means of retaliation. Tossing what he calls DoJ approval and trying to parallel his actions with those of FDR, Rumsfeld attempts to shield himself and Bush 43 from scorn for their treatment of other human beings, however heinous the acts might be. Rumsfeld uses the final few parts of the book to explore non-war related causes the Bush Administration took, as if to show how they were able to handle both war and world leader paths effectively. These latter chapters were much less detailed and surely served as patches to help offset the soapbox tepid defence for suspension of human rights.
The memoir, in my mind, sought not only to defend Rumsfeld's decisions in Afghanistan and Iraq, but to show that he was much more than SecDef during that trying period. For a person of my age, I have come to see that many of the political figures with whom I am familiar had lives, even important political ones, before I knew them. Rumsfeld's ties to the likes of Nixon, Ford, Cheney, and even Reagan fleshed out a career full of political importance during a point of history when much was going on that shaped current America. One downside to the written content of the memoir would be that Rumsfeld glosses over his non-political employment, a drop in the bucket of the entire story. While surely not as exciting, it would help portray the memoir's true sense of a life history rather than a politics-only approach. Additionally, the war-centric sections of the book were thorough and quite detailed, telling much of the inner thoughts of Rumsfeld and others in the Administration, which was lacking in the first part of of the book. It was as though time served under Nixon and Ford was less intense and worth only a passing description.
Kudos, Mr. Rumsfeld for your dedication in putting this memoir together. While I can see that you toe the Administration line on a lot, I was at least able to get some thorough understanding on where you felt you were coming from, even if riding on a ship with an inept captain.
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
The second half of the memoir, or close to it, shifts its focus onto the man whose name peppered the headlines post-September 11, 2001. In George W. Bush's Cabinet, Rumsfeld was able to forge Defence policy from his office in the Pentagon and sought to work with Bush to craft the ultimate response. Rumsfeld lays out his arguments in favour of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He also pulls out the soapbox as it relates to ignoring the Geneva Conventions and detention of prisoners during the aforementioned wars, making it clear (in his eyes, though jaded for many others) that the Bush Administration followed the letter of the law as it related to the wars and its prisoners, as well as outcomes best for the world and not just as a means of retaliation. Tossing what he calls DoJ approval and trying to parallel his actions with those of FDR, Rumsfeld attempts to shield himself and Bush 43 from scorn for their treatment of other human beings, however heinous the acts might be. Rumsfeld uses the final few parts of the book to explore non-war related causes the Bush Administration took, as if to show how they were able to handle both war and world leader paths effectively. These latter chapters were much less detailed and surely served as patches to help offset the soapbox tepid defence for suspension of human rights.
The memoir, in my mind, sought not only to defend Rumsfeld's decisions in Afghanistan and Iraq, but to show that he was much more than SecDef during that trying period. For a person of my age, I have come to see that many of the political figures with whom I am familiar had lives, even important political ones, before I knew them. Rumsfeld's ties to the likes of Nixon, Ford, Cheney, and even Reagan fleshed out a career full of political importance during a point of history when much was going on that shaped current America. One downside to the written content of the memoir would be that Rumsfeld glosses over his non-political employment, a drop in the bucket of the entire story. While surely not as exciting, it would help portray the memoir's true sense of a life history rather than a politics-only approach. Additionally, the war-centric sections of the book were thorough and quite detailed, telling much of the inner thoughts of Rumsfeld and others in the Administration, which was lacking in the first part of of the book. It was as though time served under Nixon and Ford was less intense and worth only a passing description.
Kudos, Mr. Rumsfeld for your dedication in putting this memoir together. While I can see that you toe the Administration line on a lot, I was at least able to get some thorough understanding on where you felt you were coming from, even if riding on a ship with an inept captain.
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
May 8, 2011
I had no intention of reading this book, to be honest. In general, I tend to avoid memoirs because of the inevitable tendency of the authors of them to whitewash their own roles in events. But I saw it at the library and I loved the title, which reminded me of Rumsfeld's classic remarks on "known unknowns" and "unknown unknowns." The title reminded me that Rummy was a great critical thinker. The book is a worthwhile reflection on a career in public service that covered 4 decades: the 1960s, the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 2000s.
I think the key memoirs to read in conjunction with this would be a memoir written by Condi Rice, who comes across terribly on these pages. Rumsfeld accuses her of obscuring the president's decision-making process while she was serving as the head of the NSC (by too eagerly seeking to reconcile views rather than having them placed side by side for decisions), and further accuses her of obstruction and unhelpfulness when she was heading State.
Rumsfeld offers his harshest criticisms for leakers at the State Department (Richard Armitage is criticized heartily), along with journalists who fall prey to simplistic narratives. I sympathize with frustration with both infighting leakers and idiot journalists, so I found myself nodding in agreement quite often.
Rumsfeld also portrays himself as a true realist, in the sense of his emphasis on the limits of American power and the limits of human knowledge. I don't know how much of this side of him came through while he served under President Bush, but he is clearly emphasizing it now, and this book seems to have a lot of wisdom in it.
Rumsfeld is also critical of himself at times and freely admits a few situations in which he made miscalculations or misjudgments. But the true success of this book is in its companion website, http://www.rumsfeld.com. Rummy cited a ton of documents in this book, and he offers the primary source documents available as hyperlinks on the website. These include a large number of formerly-classified documents. Their convenient availability is a treasure trove for historians, and any teacher of modern American history could use the archive as part of a demonstration of how to use and evaluate primary sources. Rumsfeld's use of the internet to enhance the book is a wonderful public service.
In short, I am still not much of a memoir fan. But Rumsfeld takes the format and does about as well as you can with it. I always liked Rumsfeld's gruff press conferences while he was heading DOD, but, like everyone else, I soured on his tenure as Iraq fell apart. Having read the book, I find myself admiring the man far more than I did, and I suspect that he could have gone down as a legendary public servant (and POTUS, perhaps?) with just slightly different circumstances. It is hard to know the truth about anything, particularly the happenings of a recent presidential administration. Rumsfeld has said his piece, though, and this is a worthy addition to the historical record. Recommended.
I think the key memoirs to read in conjunction with this would be a memoir written by Condi Rice, who comes across terribly on these pages. Rumsfeld accuses her of obscuring the president's decision-making process while she was serving as the head of the NSC (by too eagerly seeking to reconcile views rather than having them placed side by side for decisions), and further accuses her of obstruction and unhelpfulness when she was heading State.
Rumsfeld offers his harshest criticisms for leakers at the State Department (Richard Armitage is criticized heartily), along with journalists who fall prey to simplistic narratives. I sympathize with frustration with both infighting leakers and idiot journalists, so I found myself nodding in agreement quite often.
Rumsfeld also portrays himself as a true realist, in the sense of his emphasis on the limits of American power and the limits of human knowledge. I don't know how much of this side of him came through while he served under President Bush, but he is clearly emphasizing it now, and this book seems to have a lot of wisdom in it.
Rumsfeld is also critical of himself at times and freely admits a few situations in which he made miscalculations or misjudgments. But the true success of this book is in its companion website, http://www.rumsfeld.com. Rummy cited a ton of documents in this book, and he offers the primary source documents available as hyperlinks on the website. These include a large number of formerly-classified documents. Their convenient availability is a treasure trove for historians, and any teacher of modern American history could use the archive as part of a demonstration of how to use and evaluate primary sources. Rumsfeld's use of the internet to enhance the book is a wonderful public service.
In short, I am still not much of a memoir fan. But Rumsfeld takes the format and does about as well as you can with it. I always liked Rumsfeld's gruff press conferences while he was heading DOD, but, like everyone else, I soured on his tenure as Iraq fell apart. Having read the book, I find myself admiring the man far more than I did, and I suspect that he could have gone down as a legendary public servant (and POTUS, perhaps?) with just slightly different circumstances. It is hard to know the truth about anything, particularly the happenings of a recent presidential administration. Rumsfeld has said his piece, though, and this is a worthy addition to the historical record. Recommended.
May 19, 2012
quite good. It is easy to see a rating on this book as a rating on the USA's military policy in Afghanistan and Iraq since 9/11. My rating is strictly based on this memoir alone, and not the policies described within. I found the endnotes and supplementary material on the website to be the difference between 4-stars and 5-stars.
I've been in Taiwan since 1999 and although I happened to be in the USA on 9/11/2001, much of my understanding of aftermath of that attack has come from reading transcripts of press conferences from afar instead of CNN, Fox News, newspapers, or other mass media that many Americans got their news from.
Rumsfeld was a fascinating figure to me. I often found that I would read his comments at a press conference and feel like he was making clear and compelling points about various topics. Then, I would catch a headline or some story that was in the news cycle and it was clear that the media tended to lift one sentence out of an hour long session with Rumsfeld and use that sentence to make news. I often felt like the tone of the media reports were in contradiction to a plain reading of the transcripts.
I also thought that it was strange when his "known and unknown" comments received such scorn. It seemed to me that it would be difficult to summarize such a profound philosophy in fewer words and with any more clarity. Although Rumsfeld admits to many mistakes in this memoir, I'm glad that he didn't admit that the "known and unknown" comments were among those mistakes.
Personally, I found the information from Rumsfeld's life before he became SecDef for George W Bush to be most educational since I have closely followed the events since 9/11 and knew little of Rumsfeld before then.
Rumsfeld is hard on some of his peers in this memoir. Their memoirs may be hard on Rumsfeld. It is difficult to know what really happened sometimes, but I feel like Rumsfeld's book sheds a great deal of light on a very important time in America's history. It may be difficult for some readers to put their political feelings (whatever they may be) aside when starting this book, but those who can do so will likely find that reading this memoir is a profitable use of time.
I've been in Taiwan since 1999 and although I happened to be in the USA on 9/11/2001, much of my understanding of aftermath of that attack has come from reading transcripts of press conferences from afar instead of CNN, Fox News, newspapers, or other mass media that many Americans got their news from.
Rumsfeld was a fascinating figure to me. I often found that I would read his comments at a press conference and feel like he was making clear and compelling points about various topics. Then, I would catch a headline or some story that was in the news cycle and it was clear that the media tended to lift one sentence out of an hour long session with Rumsfeld and use that sentence to make news. I often felt like the tone of the media reports were in contradiction to a plain reading of the transcripts.
I also thought that it was strange when his "known and unknown" comments received such scorn. It seemed to me that it would be difficult to summarize such a profound philosophy in fewer words and with any more clarity. Although Rumsfeld admits to many mistakes in this memoir, I'm glad that he didn't admit that the "known and unknown" comments were among those mistakes.
Personally, I found the information from Rumsfeld's life before he became SecDef for George W Bush to be most educational since I have closely followed the events since 9/11 and knew little of Rumsfeld before then.
Rumsfeld is hard on some of his peers in this memoir. Their memoirs may be hard on Rumsfeld. It is difficult to know what really happened sometimes, but I feel like Rumsfeld's book sheds a great deal of light on a very important time in America's history. It may be difficult for some readers to put their political feelings (whatever they may be) aside when starting this book, but those who can do so will likely find that reading this memoir is a profitable use of time.
April 13, 2014
I got into this book mainly to find out more the man that gave us the poetry of the 'known knowns and unknown unknowns'. I always had the feeling that Rumsfeld was much deeper person and that the media often didn't appreciate his witticisms and portrayed him poorly.
Rumsfeld, like McNamara, is an extremely thoughtful person that is able analyze an issue at its roots, challenge the assumptions, as well as perceive the possible eventualities. However, he isn't smug about it, and acknowledges what he doesn't know.
When it comes to a specific issue, Rumsfeld has an ability to articulate his thoughts well. As he himself said, "committing a point of view to paper sharpens my thinking", and often did so in his self styled 'snowflakes'.
However, this does not hold true for the narration of the book as a whole. There are huge portions of the book that felt like I was lost in a 'quagmire' (to use a word Rumsfeld himself wasn't particularly fond of hearing), and I felt myself being lost in the same government bureaucracy Rumsfeld himself claims to hate. The worst offender of this was the chapters that dealt with the disputes between the DoD and State Department, where it felt like it just went on and on.
There's a few interesting tidbits spaced out here, but there isn't a whole lot to learn. Unless you're interested in intimate details about the bureaucracy of the US government, it's not particularly interesting. I was disappointed that someone who could capture so much in so little words in his poetry failed to do so in his book.
Rumsfeld, like McNamara, is an extremely thoughtful person that is able analyze an issue at its roots, challenge the assumptions, as well as perceive the possible eventualities. However, he isn't smug about it, and acknowledges what he doesn't know.
When it comes to a specific issue, Rumsfeld has an ability to articulate his thoughts well. As he himself said, "committing a point of view to paper sharpens my thinking", and often did so in his self styled 'snowflakes'.
However, this does not hold true for the narration of the book as a whole. There are huge portions of the book that felt like I was lost in a 'quagmire' (to use a word Rumsfeld himself wasn't particularly fond of hearing), and I felt myself being lost in the same government bureaucracy Rumsfeld himself claims to hate. The worst offender of this was the chapters that dealt with the disputes between the DoD and State Department, where it felt like it just went on and on.
There's a few interesting tidbits spaced out here, but there isn't a whole lot to learn. Unless you're interested in intimate details about the bureaucracy of the US government, it's not particularly interesting. I was disappointed that someone who could capture so much in so little words in his poetry failed to do so in his book.
October 4, 2013
"Known and Unknown" by Donald Rumsfeld is good and if someone was not following along during the Iraq War or Afghanistan War then this book is required reading.
It is a memoir of the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his view of things. At times it's a little tedious as he quotes directly from his various memos... almost as if he is trying to cover his... well.. his bases, and if he were younger, I would object, but he is both the oldest Secretary of Defense and simultaneously the youngest having held the post twice. His accomplishments are vast and thus his quoting of himself is justified. No single person could possibly remember everything and since he was at major pivot points in US history he has a responsibility to get it right.
A hundred years from now historians will be reading this book. He is the expert. Even if you don't agree with everything he thinks, it is critical and required to understand his thinking. He is not just anyone. He is one of the majors.
What I learned new was his early years as a child and his military service as a pilot. Also I didn't know he was on the committee during the early years of the Space Program just as it was becoming important.
I really enjoyed the audio narrative because Rumsfeld reads the book himself. He has an excellent voice even now. He can hold your attention. Fabulous.
Read via audiobook
I'd probably read it again, mostly for a refresher on events of that time.
It is a memoir of the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his view of things. At times it's a little tedious as he quotes directly from his various memos... almost as if he is trying to cover his... well.. his bases, and if he were younger, I would object, but he is both the oldest Secretary of Defense and simultaneously the youngest having held the post twice. His accomplishments are vast and thus his quoting of himself is justified. No single person could possibly remember everything and since he was at major pivot points in US history he has a responsibility to get it right.
A hundred years from now historians will be reading this book. He is the expert. Even if you don't agree with everything he thinks, it is critical and required to understand his thinking. He is not just anyone. He is one of the majors.
What I learned new was his early years as a child and his military service as a pilot. Also I didn't know he was on the committee during the early years of the Space Program just as it was becoming important.
I really enjoyed the audio narrative because Rumsfeld reads the book himself. He has an excellent voice even now. He can hold your attention. Fabulous.
Read via audiobook
I'd probably read it again, mostly for a refresher on events of that time.
June 13, 2011
This memoir written by Donald Rumsfeld, our country's secretary of defense during the Geo. W. Bush years, is well worth reading through to the very last page of a very long book. Mr. Rumsfeld's service to his country covers decades ... he is a truly dedicated public servant as opposed to a polished politician. Having a son in the ARMY who served in Iraq from 2006-2007, I fully appreciate Mr. Rumsfeld's dedication to fully supporting and equipping our men and women in uniform during the months and years following 9/11... He was the right man for the right job at the right time in our country's history ... he is a man of integrity, toughness, and creative thinking. His analysis of the run-up to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the amazing preparation that went into the execution of both wars is fascinating. He is extremely honest about the weaknesses and mistakes made during both, but also sets the record straight about many misconceptions that were promoted mainly by the media. I pray that we continue to have men like Mr. Rumsfeld to lead our country in the years to come.
August 12, 2011
If you like revisionist history, you will enjoy this book. While it was difficult to swallow some of his retelling, the book provided intering insights into how his mind works and helps explain why we are where we are today.
December 24, 2013
I found this book both insightful and interesting. Mr. Rumsfeld, and team, clearly did ample research to recall a great deal of detail about specific moments of his career. Because of his long tenure in national politics, Rumsfeld provides a decidedly insider prospective on much of modern American history.
I was also pleased to find that while I disagree with much of Rumsfeld's politics, I was able to enjoy this book. The author really seems to be trying to give an honest airing of the past, without foisting his leanings on the reader. I will say that there are a few times when a certain bull headishness peaks through. When people agree with Rumsfeld, it seems to be because they all saw reason and chose wisely, but when they disagree, it's because of political motivations, shortsightedness or arrogance. I came away from the book with an image of Rumsfeld as human, faulted but well-meaning. Certainly, the books lacks the historical revisionism of those published by other members of the administration.
On the whole, one always wonders what's happening in the hallowed halls of government, and events like Vietnam, 9-11 or the Iraq War make us turn an even more critically eye to the places of power. In this book, Rumsfeld pulls back the curtain on groups of hard working men and women who have always struggled to do what they think is best for the country, even when groups end up working at diametric odds. He makes no apologies and, hopefully, tells no lies. These people are human and their decisions are based on what they know at the time. Sometimes that information is wrong. Sometimes they exist in an echo chamber and can't hear dissenting opinions. Sometimes they're just unlucky. In the end, it's important to remember that, even in our polarized political environment, our leaders are only human.
I was also pleased to find that while I disagree with much of Rumsfeld's politics, I was able to enjoy this book. The author really seems to be trying to give an honest airing of the past, without foisting his leanings on the reader. I will say that there are a few times when a certain bull headishness peaks through. When people agree with Rumsfeld, it seems to be because they all saw reason and chose wisely, but when they disagree, it's because of political motivations, shortsightedness or arrogance. I came away from the book with an image of Rumsfeld as human, faulted but well-meaning. Certainly, the books lacks the historical revisionism of those published by other members of the administration.
On the whole, one always wonders what's happening in the hallowed halls of government, and events like Vietnam, 9-11 or the Iraq War make us turn an even more critically eye to the places of power. In this book, Rumsfeld pulls back the curtain on groups of hard working men and women who have always struggled to do what they think is best for the country, even when groups end up working at diametric odds. He makes no apologies and, hopefully, tells no lies. These people are human and their decisions are based on what they know at the time. Sometimes that information is wrong. Sometimes they exist in an echo chamber and can't hear dissenting opinions. Sometimes they're just unlucky. In the end, it's important to remember that, even in our polarized political environment, our leaders are only human.
March 2, 2011
Known and Unknown is a wonderful book on many levels. But first, as for the critics who I have seen claiming he admits no error, they are either lying, have not read the book, or were too blinded by their ideology to comprehend what they were reading. What surprised me about the book was how interesting it was, particularly the early years and the insight Rumsfeld gives to well known figures in their early years, and to events that are now but distant memories. I was also particularly interested in the changes in government from then to now, and how the Defense department has changed since the first time Rumsfeld was Secretary of Defense. Concerning more recent times, Rumsfeld effectively demolishes the myth propounded by critics about the Defense Department and its conduct of the war. Rumsfeld lays out his view from the Pentagon, and the rationale behind his actions, and contrary to his critics, some critical evaluations based on hindsight. The books real strength is that this is not just how Rumsfeld remembers it now, but is based on many of the documents and memo of the time, quoted in the book and available at his web site. It is not an overall review of the war on terror, as that would require an in-depth analysis of not only the defense department, but also the White House, the State Department, CIA, etc. and not to surprisingly Rumsfeld sticks to his viewpoint as Secretary of Defense. But while it is just one piece of the puzzle, it is a very well done and interesting piece.
August 18, 2011
There isn't a shred of wisdom or circumspection in the book. Not a shred. There isn't even a shred of analysis. I was thrilled to know that he loved the Lone Ranger on the radio and was afraid it wouldn't continue after Pearl Harbor. I was also thrilled to know he became an Elvis fan and had a serious conversation about the military.
As a witness to history and one of its foremost contemporary decision-makers, he recounts his experiences with a certain glee. But one might hope his decisions were the result of a keen intelligence and considered analysis. This memoir explains a lot.
For some reason, this passage at the beginning of the book stands out to me: "A few members of the faculty of the political science department were far to the left. I was struck by the way one professor in particular seemed to disdain the private sector was rife with corruption and unethical behavior. The business world was an abstraction to him. He seemed to have little concept of what hardworking ethical people like my father did every day." Somehow, this is thrown in there but it used as a proxy to dismiss the left during his life. Or dropped into a passage about John Erlichman; "Certainty without power can be interesting, even amusing. Certainty with power can be dangerous." HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
As I said, not a shred of wisdom or circumspection.
As a witness to history and one of its foremost contemporary decision-makers, he recounts his experiences with a certain glee. But one might hope his decisions were the result of a keen intelligence and considered analysis. This memoir explains a lot.
For some reason, this passage at the beginning of the book stands out to me: "A few members of the faculty of the political science department were far to the left. I was struck by the way one professor in particular seemed to disdain the private sector was rife with corruption and unethical behavior. The business world was an abstraction to him. He seemed to have little concept of what hardworking ethical people like my father did every day." Somehow, this is thrown in there but it used as a proxy to dismiss the left during his life. Or dropped into a passage about John Erlichman; "Certainty without power can be interesting, even amusing. Certainty with power can be dangerous." HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
As I said, not a shred of wisdom or circumspection.
February 27, 2012
A big book memoir about Donald Rumsfeld and apparantly every aspect of USA domestic and foreign policy going back to before the Kennedy era until the lastes Bush Administration. He held numerous, critical posts during this time, and he discusses and explores them in detail. On the surface, its like a whose who of American politics. He appears to reveal much, and possibly a good portion of what he writes is accurate. He is also self deprecating at times, and inserts highly interesting stories and anecdotes. His personal life is full of troubles, especially with his 3 children. I saw Rumsfeld interviewed recently, discussing much of the material in this book. He is a committed patriot, in his terms. Yet, the book seems very self serving. It omits more than it leaves in - and its a very big book. It's a compulsive book if one is interested in true American politics, not the farce going on now in the Republican primaries related to the 2012 election. Rumsfeld considered running for president - he hardly mentions any of "the issues" now coming out of the major Republican candidates. His world was based on the realities and his responsibies as Secretary of Defense. Read at your own risk. Did I say it was a "big" book?
May 6, 2011
A magisterial look back on a life in public service that began in the early Sixties. Say what you will about Rumsfeld (and you never want to be the sort of person about whom people say "say what you will about..."), but the guy exercised power at a high level for most of his adult life with an agility and integrity that few could match. And he's still innovating at age 78. His use of a companion website to publish the memos he refers to in the book is something any DC insider should employ in publishing their memoirs.
Read
September 21, 2012 Review
"I would heartily recommend it. I don't think anybody could go buy a book written by anybody who has been more intimately involved, closer to power, for as many years, has been through as much, has known all of the power players as you have. It is amazing."
-Rush Limbaugh (interview transcript)/2/8/2001
"Readers might be appreciative to find themselves in possession of a serious memoir, more in keeping with the older Washington tradition of Dean Acheson or Henry Kissinger. As might the historians."
-Kimberly Strassel/_Wall Street Journal_/2/8/2011
"The battle is joined. After a long silence, Donald Rumsfeld opened both barrels Tuesday, releasing his memoir, Known and Unknown . Early leaks of the book's defiant take on his life, times, and conduct of the Iraq War drew howls from some of the targets of his score-settling...But Rumsfeld battles on, taking his unapologetic account to the public."
-John Barry/_Newsweek-The Daily Beast_/2/8/2011
"The book places the reader in Rumsfeld's chair and is a serious stab at telling the history of a consequential period in America through the eyes of one of its most consequential players. It will be an important addition to the history of our time."
-Peter Baker (_New York Times_ White House correspondent)/Foreign Policy/2/9/2011
Rumsfeld "describes the highs and lows of a long and dramatic career and discloses some behind the scenes details that may shock you."
-Sean Hannity (interview transcript)/2/9/2011
"_Known and Unknown_ is a meaty, well-written book that will be a primary source for historians...this power memoir deserves to be read with the care that went into writing it."
-Christopher Buckley/_Businessweek_/2/10/2011
"'Dismissive' is a word often used to describe Rumsfeld, but 'dismissive' perfectly describes his critics, who are unwilling or unable to re-examine their own assumptions in the light of new or overlooked information and fresh perspective provided by Rumsfeld, in his exceedingly well-documented work. With its hundreds of annotations and supplementary documents, Known and Unknown is a significant contribution to the historical record. It is, as Rumsfeld once noted about similar memoirs, 'only from one perspective,' but it's a unique and valuable perspective, a serious work that deserves consideration by any serious student of recent history."
-Jamie McIntyre (former CNN Pentagon correspondent)/Line of Departure/2/10/2011
"It is a terrific book...Let me tell you something, it is absolutely fascinating. He's very blunt in talking about people and issues and so forth, you'll really enjoy it, in my humble opinion."
-Mark Levin (interview transcript)/2/10/2011
"If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much." - Rumsfeld's Rules
Few Americans have spent more time near the center of power than Donald Rumsfeld. Now he has written an unflinching memoir of his half-century career, sharing previously undisclosed details that will fascinate readers and force historians to rethink many controversies.
Starting from a middle-class childhood in Illinois, Rumsfeld had a rapid rise that won him early acclaim. He shows us what it was like growing up during the Great Depression and World War II, going to Princeton on scholarships, serving as a naval aviator, then getting his first political job on Capitol Hill during the Eisenhower administration. He recalls how he won a seat in the House of Representatives at age thirty and what he experienced as a Republican in Congress during the Kennedy and Johnson years.
We also follow him back to the executive branch as he took on key cabinet positions in the Nixon and Ford administrations, including his service as the youngest-ever secretary of defense, just after the trauma of Vietnam. And we learn about the challenges he later faced as a CEO in the private sector, and during his special assignments for President Reagan, including a face-to-face meeting with Saddam Hussein in 1983.
All of that would have been enough material for a fascinating book. But as 2001 began, Rumsfeld's greatest challenges lay ahead of him. At age sixty-eight he returned to the Pentagon as President Bush's secretary of defense, with a mandate to transform the military for a new century. Just nine months later he would confront the worst acts of terrorism in American history, followed by unexpected wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. And he would be on the firing line for many controversies, from the revelations of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison to allegations of torture at Guantánamo Bay.
Known and Unknown reveals what happened behind the scenes during the critical moments of the Bush years, as the President's inner circle debated how best to defend our country. It is based not only on Rumsfeld's memory but also on hundreds of previously unreleased documents from throughout his career. It also features his blunt, firsthand opinions about some of the world's best-known figures, from Margaret Thatcher to Elvis Presley, from Henry Kissinger to Colin Powell, and about each American president from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush.
In a famous press briefing, Rumsfeld once remarked that "there are also unknown unknowns . . . things we do not know we don't know." His book makes us realize just how much we didn't know.
Donald Rumsfeld is donating his proceeds from the sales of Known and Unknown to the military charities supported by the Rumsfeld Foundation.
April 3, 2011
Rumsfeld's memoir begins with his personal background as a Chicagoan, Princeton wrestler, and Navy pilot, and businessman. But the bulk of the book, and the bulk of the books interest, involves his political life. I felt it was generally an honest book, not an extreme partisian diatribe. My impression was that he tried to give an honest assessment of his political beliefs and management style. However, most of us recognize that the way we see ourselves is not necessarily the way others see us. He admits to being "tough" as a boss, and to be challenging those who work for him. His feeling, especially as the Secretary of Defense, is that the military men who report to him are strong and confident, and would not and should not intimidated by his style. But the frequently quoted opinions of the generals who worked for him give a different view. (Read Gordon and Trainor's "Cobra II" for an account of the pre-war planning from a military point of view). People interested in advancing their careers do have a tendency of complying with the desires of the boss, and there have been many reports of generals who served under him as seeing the benefit of having their recommendations parallel the direction of the boss.
He did address many of the Bush era criticisms leveled against him and President Bush very directly, and gave a logical explanations and clarifications. At other times, I thought his explanations might have been incomplete, or evasive. An example that comes to mind was waterboarding at Guantanamo. Rumsfeld states that no waterboarding was done at Guantanamo by people under his command, and he issued orders for humane treatment of prisoners. One could get the impression that perhaps waterboarding wasn't done by the U.S. but what he was saying that it wasn't done by HIS department without getting into too much detail about what the CIA may have done.
Another area I was interested in reading more about was the Pentagon's planning and implementation for post-war Iraq. I think he downplayed the role of the Defense Department, especially through the influence of Paul Wolfowitz and Doug Feith, in the intelligence errors and push for the Iraq War. It seems that one of his staffers, Doug Feith, had primary responsibility for post-war planning, but there isn't much discussion of the post-war failures, other than references to problems with the State Department. It was pretty clear from other books, especially the first part of Corn & Isikoff's "Hubris", and Chandrasikaran's "Imperial Life in the Emerald City", that post war planning was a source of distrust and power struggles between Defense and State, and as a result the proper planning and staffing never was properlly implemented. Rumsfeld does acknowledge some of that tension between the two Departments without accepting nor assigning blame. It left me with the feeling that by not addressing some of those post-war issues, that he was distancing himself and the Defense Department for any problems, which is pretty much what the State Department had done. But most sources do say that the Defense Department had the primary role in this regard, so any faults probably lie within his Department.
All in all, I think he gave a good account of his role in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. There were problems, but as he said, "stuff happens", and there are no perfect plans in wars. The book is not about blame, and what little blame is assigned was not with him, Bush, or Cheney, but tended to be more with the Intelligence, staffers, State Department, L. Paul Bremmer, or left to the reader to determine.
This shouldn't be the only book one reads about Iraq to get a clear picture, but it is one to inclulde if you're interested in the total picture.
He did address many of the Bush era criticisms leveled against him and President Bush very directly, and gave a logical explanations and clarifications. At other times, I thought his explanations might have been incomplete, or evasive. An example that comes to mind was waterboarding at Guantanamo. Rumsfeld states that no waterboarding was done at Guantanamo by people under his command, and he issued orders for humane treatment of prisoners. One could get the impression that perhaps waterboarding wasn't done by the U.S. but what he was saying that it wasn't done by HIS department without getting into too much detail about what the CIA may have done.
Another area I was interested in reading more about was the Pentagon's planning and implementation for post-war Iraq. I think he downplayed the role of the Defense Department, especially through the influence of Paul Wolfowitz and Doug Feith, in the intelligence errors and push for the Iraq War. It seems that one of his staffers, Doug Feith, had primary responsibility for post-war planning, but there isn't much discussion of the post-war failures, other than references to problems with the State Department. It was pretty clear from other books, especially the first part of Corn & Isikoff's "Hubris", and Chandrasikaran's "Imperial Life in the Emerald City", that post war planning was a source of distrust and power struggles between Defense and State, and as a result the proper planning and staffing never was properlly implemented. Rumsfeld does acknowledge some of that tension between the two Departments without accepting nor assigning blame. It left me with the feeling that by not addressing some of those post-war issues, that he was distancing himself and the Defense Department for any problems, which is pretty much what the State Department had done. But most sources do say that the Defense Department had the primary role in this regard, so any faults probably lie within his Department.
All in all, I think he gave a good account of his role in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. There were problems, but as he said, "stuff happens", and there are no perfect plans in wars. The book is not about blame, and what little blame is assigned was not with him, Bush, or Cheney, but tended to be more with the Intelligence, staffers, State Department, L. Paul Bremmer, or left to the reader to determine.
This shouldn't be the only book one reads about Iraq to get a clear picture, but it is one to inclulde if you're interested in the total picture.
September 1, 2015
I picked up this book after watching the documentary "Unknown Known." I thought his performance during the interview was honest and straightforward. The media, failing or refusing to understand the complexities of war and politics have left many with an inaccurate perception of the war, Rumsfeld and the Bush Administration. I think in this book, Rumsfeld provides an interesting insight into the challenges facing high-level officials in American government generally, and the American response to challenges after 9/11 specifically.
I found Rumsfeld's early years in Congress and the Nixon/Ford Administrations to be the most interesting part of the book because it dealt with party politics, Nixon, detente, and Vietnam. All subjects I'm interested in and which are far enough in the past for us to get a broad view of events, but within the lifetimes of contemporaries who can tell us their experiences and perspectives.
Rumsfeld gives a very clear and well-referenced picture of America’s wars and challenges more recent in time. I recall, during the Bush years, liking Rumsfeld because of how straightforward he was with the media. And, as a student of military history, I was fascinated by and supported his efforts at reorganization of the American military.
Mr. Rumsfeld does much to clear the air about his time in the Bush administration, his decisions, his work with others, and the exaggerated media controversies. He admits his mistakes, but sets the record straight on the plans to invade Iraq, Intel on WMD, De-Ba'athification, elections in Iraq, and the Surge. Rumsfeld puts forward his case with documentation so it is hard for others to put blame on him for certain mistakes or failures in policy. I would point out Bremer and Powell seem particularly more responsible for many of the problems in Iraq. Rummy may not come out and say it, he seems to have enough class to just ask the question: if they’re correct about something, then why did they do or not do something else?
It is my impression (from many sources, not just Rumsfeld’s book) that the State Dept. bureaucracy was a prime cause in many of the problems in Iraq: dissolution of the Army, delay in self-governance, reconstruction, and cooperation. Bremer’s (a career diplomat) failures are apparent to most people who pay any attention to our history in Iraq. Powell seems to have been seduced by the bureaucrats, who were hostile to the Administration and its goals in Iraq. Powell and his deputies were responsible for leaks, which harmed domestic support of policy, Rummy’s 10/16/03 leaked memo. They also prevented implementation of good policy from taking effect in the NSC, some of which proved effective later on, like the surge. I believe the diplomats, who place more faith in meetings and conferences, in endless discussion rather than effective action, hold a great deal of responsibility for the troubles in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This is an important book for those of us who want to get a clear picture of America post 9/11. Rumsfeld’s writing is engaging and well documented, with further references on his website, http://rumsfeld.com. This book further serves as a guide for leadership in both public and private sectors. This has been a very interesting and well-written book about a man whose lifetime has been dedicated to serving our country well and who we have much to learn from.
I found Rumsfeld's early years in Congress and the Nixon/Ford Administrations to be the most interesting part of the book because it dealt with party politics, Nixon, detente, and Vietnam. All subjects I'm interested in and which are far enough in the past for us to get a broad view of events, but within the lifetimes of contemporaries who can tell us their experiences and perspectives.
Rumsfeld gives a very clear and well-referenced picture of America’s wars and challenges more recent in time. I recall, during the Bush years, liking Rumsfeld because of how straightforward he was with the media. And, as a student of military history, I was fascinated by and supported his efforts at reorganization of the American military.
Mr. Rumsfeld does much to clear the air about his time in the Bush administration, his decisions, his work with others, and the exaggerated media controversies. He admits his mistakes, but sets the record straight on the plans to invade Iraq, Intel on WMD, De-Ba'athification, elections in Iraq, and the Surge. Rumsfeld puts forward his case with documentation so it is hard for others to put blame on him for certain mistakes or failures in policy. I would point out Bremer and Powell seem particularly more responsible for many of the problems in Iraq. Rummy may not come out and say it, he seems to have enough class to just ask the question: if they’re correct about something, then why did they do or not do something else?
It is my impression (from many sources, not just Rumsfeld’s book) that the State Dept. bureaucracy was a prime cause in many of the problems in Iraq: dissolution of the Army, delay in self-governance, reconstruction, and cooperation. Bremer’s (a career diplomat) failures are apparent to most people who pay any attention to our history in Iraq. Powell seems to have been seduced by the bureaucrats, who were hostile to the Administration and its goals in Iraq. Powell and his deputies were responsible for leaks, which harmed domestic support of policy, Rummy’s 10/16/03 leaked memo. They also prevented implementation of good policy from taking effect in the NSC, some of which proved effective later on, like the surge. I believe the diplomats, who place more faith in meetings and conferences, in endless discussion rather than effective action, hold a great deal of responsibility for the troubles in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This is an important book for those of us who want to get a clear picture of America post 9/11. Rumsfeld’s writing is engaging and well documented, with further references on his website, http://rumsfeld.com. This book further serves as a guide for leadership in both public and private sectors. This has been a very interesting and well-written book about a man whose lifetime has been dedicated to serving our country well and who we have much to learn from.
January 25, 2014
Rumsfeld was always smarter than his critics. Smart enough to know getting into a food fight with them probably wouldn't get him anything he wanted or thought was valuable. It's in that spirit that he writes his memoirs. Smart, thoughtful, willing to make his case but realizing he can't win a fair fight against those who are playing by a separate set of rules. As a result, he's merely reporting things as a matter of fact, always giving the due that he might be wrong.
Rumsfeld's career was totally fascinating, I had no idea of how many things he accomplished or how early he started. I had no idea, for example that he was:
1. Became a Congressman at 29, with no money and few connections, in a district that traditionally had prized both wealth and connections.
2. One of his first acts was to vote for Gerald Ford in a leadership position, unseating an old Republican bull.
3. That he was at the center of the debate over Civil Rights in Congress (voted for it).
4. He challenged LBJ's strategies in Vietnam to his face in a meeting with other waffling Congressman.
5. He was chosen by Nixon to head up the Department of Economic Opportunity precisely because he voted against it and disagreed with it. Nixon reasoned if anybody could made it accomplish something useful, it would be someone who was suspicious of its mission and would hold it accountable.
6. The French Ambassador to NATO was his closest friend during his time as his American counterpart.
6. He wound up as White House Chief of Staff and then Sec Def under Ford, precisely because he was the only one who was A. Trusted by Ford (since his days in the House), and B. Unaffected by Watergate, since he'd been in Europe as Ambassador to NATO.
7. The company he ran after his first stint as Sec Def created Splenda, and it almost got regulated out of existence.
8. He had a poor relationship with George HW Bush, having endorsed Dole in 1988 and otherwise been at odds with him at various times in the Nixon/Ford Administration, which is one of the reasons George W. Bush wanted him. He knew no one could plausibly say he was one of his Dad's old cronies.
9. His adult son Nick was struggling with alcohol and drug abuse in the early 00's, which made his early years very difficult emotionally (his son recovered, and has lived for a decade drug free and is happily married).
9. He, and the Defense Department in general, were the ones arguing for a faster transition of sovereignty to the Iraqis, not the other way around. I'd honestly assumed the latter. The details of his discussion on this issue was fascinating.
10. He tried to resign after Abu Greib, but Bush refused it.
11. The "Small footprint" Rumsfeld supposedly favored is essentially wrong. His views are complicated, I'll let him do them justice, but suffice to say the idea that he wanted fewer troops in Iraq from the get go is essentially a media creation.
Anyhow, these are just a few of the many fascinating personal, professional, political and historical things you'll learn in this book. And as you'd expect, Rumsfeld gives it to you calmly, rationally, and with the bark off.
Beyond that, I don't know what to say about it. It's one of the better political memoirs I've read.
Rumsfeld's career was totally fascinating, I had no idea of how many things he accomplished or how early he started. I had no idea, for example that he was:
1. Became a Congressman at 29, with no money and few connections, in a district that traditionally had prized both wealth and connections.
2. One of his first acts was to vote for Gerald Ford in a leadership position, unseating an old Republican bull.
3. That he was at the center of the debate over Civil Rights in Congress (voted for it).
4. He challenged LBJ's strategies in Vietnam to his face in a meeting with other waffling Congressman.
5. He was chosen by Nixon to head up the Department of Economic Opportunity precisely because he voted against it and disagreed with it. Nixon reasoned if anybody could made it accomplish something useful, it would be someone who was suspicious of its mission and would hold it accountable.
6. The French Ambassador to NATO was his closest friend during his time as his American counterpart.
6. He wound up as White House Chief of Staff and then Sec Def under Ford, precisely because he was the only one who was A. Trusted by Ford (since his days in the House), and B. Unaffected by Watergate, since he'd been in Europe as Ambassador to NATO.
7. The company he ran after his first stint as Sec Def created Splenda, and it almost got regulated out of existence.
8. He had a poor relationship with George HW Bush, having endorsed Dole in 1988 and otherwise been at odds with him at various times in the Nixon/Ford Administration, which is one of the reasons George W. Bush wanted him. He knew no one could plausibly say he was one of his Dad's old cronies.
9. His adult son Nick was struggling with alcohol and drug abuse in the early 00's, which made his early years very difficult emotionally (his son recovered, and has lived for a decade drug free and is happily married).
9. He, and the Defense Department in general, were the ones arguing for a faster transition of sovereignty to the Iraqis, not the other way around. I'd honestly assumed the latter. The details of his discussion on this issue was fascinating.
10. He tried to resign after Abu Greib, but Bush refused it.
11. The "Small footprint" Rumsfeld supposedly favored is essentially wrong. His views are complicated, I'll let him do them justice, but suffice to say the idea that he wanted fewer troops in Iraq from the get go is essentially a media creation.
Anyhow, these are just a few of the many fascinating personal, professional, political and historical things you'll learn in this book. And as you'd expect, Rumsfeld gives it to you calmly, rationally, and with the bark off.
Beyond that, I don't know what to say about it. It's one of the better political memoirs I've read.
July 31, 2022
This biography is a book of two halves. The first half deals with Donald Rumsfeld's life up to the moment he was made Secretary of Defense by George W. Bush. The second half deals, in extreme detail on occasion, with the 6 years or so he filled the position as Secretary of Defense for Bush.
The book is somewhat strange. I think that a lot of adults on either side of the Atlantic have opinions about Rumsfeld. Were you to ask them, they'd probably describe him as some sort of Machiavellian Wizard of Oz, who was pulling Bush's strings behind the scenes, along with the likes of Dick Cheney. I think that people who read book will change that view. Was he a conservative defense hawk who what to the right of his party? Probably, but he probably wasn't as right wing as you might think. Was he able to see a more nuanced position on the issues of the day than you might think? Definitely. It's because of this, that I say you'll probably grow to like Rumsfeld more during the first half of the book.
This having been said, having established himself as nuanced politician with a lot of common sense, he goes on to wreck this image.
On some cop shows, detectives sometimes joke that a particular baddie is using the "Shaggy Defense" (courtesy of the Shaggy song "It wasn't me"). That's the approach Rumsfeld takes in the second half of the book. He accepts a teeny-weeny piece of criticism for himself (which is a lot more than Dick Cheney accepts in his biography), but passes most on to Paul Bremmer, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, and certain segments of the army (like those officers who suggested the most junior general to lead the coalition in Iraq). It's that area of the book that I found irritating. If Rumsfeld is to be believed, a guy who had been the CEO of 3 huge companies couldn't get on top of his subordinates in the Pentagon? I mean really, please.
In short, it's not a bad book, it's just slightly infuriating. You'll want to throw the book across the room sometimes, when his "buck passing" gets too strong. It's for that reason that I originally gave this book 3 stars. Having read Dick Cheney's book, however, I've altered my score to 4 stars. This book is that much better. Don't get me wrong, it'll irritate you, it's just one of the better books written about the "War in Iraq" period of our recent history.
Incidentally, I call it a "sort of biography" because the book mentions his early life, and his role in private enterprise, I'd argue that the book felt as if it mostly focused on his "political life" as a congressman, White House aide, envoy and Secretary of Defense.
The book is somewhat strange. I think that a lot of adults on either side of the Atlantic have opinions about Rumsfeld. Were you to ask them, they'd probably describe him as some sort of Machiavellian Wizard of Oz, who was pulling Bush's strings behind the scenes, along with the likes of Dick Cheney. I think that people who read book will change that view. Was he a conservative defense hawk who what to the right of his party? Probably, but he probably wasn't as right wing as you might think. Was he able to see a more nuanced position on the issues of the day than you might think? Definitely. It's because of this, that I say you'll probably grow to like Rumsfeld more during the first half of the book.
This having been said, having established himself as nuanced politician with a lot of common sense, he goes on to wreck this image.
On some cop shows, detectives sometimes joke that a particular baddie is using the "Shaggy Defense" (courtesy of the Shaggy song "It wasn't me"). That's the approach Rumsfeld takes in the second half of the book. He accepts a teeny-weeny piece of criticism for himself (which is a lot more than Dick Cheney accepts in his biography), but passes most on to Paul Bremmer, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, and certain segments of the army (like those officers who suggested the most junior general to lead the coalition in Iraq). It's that area of the book that I found irritating. If Rumsfeld is to be believed, a guy who had been the CEO of 3 huge companies couldn't get on top of his subordinates in the Pentagon? I mean really, please.
In short, it's not a bad book, it's just slightly infuriating. You'll want to throw the book across the room sometimes, when his "buck passing" gets too strong. It's for that reason that I originally gave this book 3 stars. Having read Dick Cheney's book, however, I've altered my score to 4 stars. This book is that much better. Don't get me wrong, it'll irritate you, it's just one of the better books written about the "War in Iraq" period of our recent history.
Incidentally, I call it a "sort of biography" because the book mentions his early life, and his role in private enterprise, I'd argue that the book felt as if it mostly focused on his "political life" as a congressman, White House aide, envoy and Secretary of Defense.
August 10, 2011
I first became of Donald Rumsfeld as more than just a name in the paper in the spring of 2003. I was a press conference with him and one of the reporters asked a stupid question, so stupid that I remember thinking at the time, "That was ridiculous." And then, Rumsfeld did something I have always wanted to see a politician do, but have never actually witnessed: he called the reporter out. He said something along the lines of "That's a ridiculous question," answered it briefly anyway, and then moved on. And I thought, "I love it!"
This was a good, interesting book, but it was too long. I wanted to be done at least 200 pages before I was. This tips the scales at just over 800 pages, and that was too much. He moves chronologically, but obviously weighs his more recent history more heavily than his prior experiences. While that seems like a good idea, it meant that when I reached the Bush administration, I expected to be getting near the end, but I was only about 1/3 of the way through. As interesting as his insights and commentary were, by the end I was skimming pages just looking for the finish line.
Obviously with any biography, especially of a recent figure, most people are going to go in with preconceptions of whether they like a person or don't. I found Rumsfeld much less of an idealogue than he'd been painted, and I appreciated his candor--he didn't hesitate to call people out, but he also was very honest about the mistakes and missteps he'd made. And even when he was criticizing someone, he was always careful to disagree with their performance or their policy, rather than attacking them personally. In the increasingly mean-spirited world of politics, I appreciated that. I think that while his supporters will like it, I also think that people on the fence who approach his story with an open mind might be persuaded. Haters, of course, gonna hate.
This was a good, interesting book, but it was too long. I wanted to be done at least 200 pages before I was. This tips the scales at just over 800 pages, and that was too much. He moves chronologically, but obviously weighs his more recent history more heavily than his prior experiences. While that seems like a good idea, it meant that when I reached the Bush administration, I expected to be getting near the end, but I was only about 1/3 of the way through. As interesting as his insights and commentary were, by the end I was skimming pages just looking for the finish line.
Obviously with any biography, especially of a recent figure, most people are going to go in with preconceptions of whether they like a person or don't. I found Rumsfeld much less of an idealogue than he'd been painted, and I appreciated his candor--he didn't hesitate to call people out, but he also was very honest about the mistakes and missteps he'd made. And even when he was criticizing someone, he was always careful to disagree with their performance or their policy, rather than attacking them personally. In the increasingly mean-spirited world of politics, I appreciated that. I think that while his supporters will like it, I also think that people on the fence who approach his story with an open mind might be persuaded. Haters, of course, gonna hate.
April 6, 2019
It’s not easy to determine whether Rumsfeld is a good guy or a bad guy based on his memoir. I tend to believe the best in people, but Rumsfeld offers plenty of proof why he wasn’t always the best guy to have in the room. I’ve never read an autobiography where the author says that he meant to say A, but instead people heard him say B, but that’s not what he meant, and people don’t believe he meant A. Strangely, this happens to Rumsfeld with regularity, and given that he’s covering the high and low points in his career, this was a big problem for him. He mentions more than a dozen of these anecdotes here. I’m left with the feeling that Rumsfeld operated at too high a speed to always get things right, or to think things through, or to always pay attention. This aspect of his personality is kind of scary given his jobs. Rumsfeld shares his thoughts on many of the people he worked with in government, and it ends up he didn’t like quite a few. He was equal opportunity here, sharing negative stories about folks from both parties. Here, he trashes Jimmy Carter, General Powell, and Condoleezza Rice, generally for poor decision-making or people management skills. Rumsfeld also shared anecdotes about his decision making, and this seemed quite strong, and a reason he was able to hold high responsibility jobs in government and private industry for decades. Overall, Rumsfeld comes across as a decent manager, but with flaws. His anecdotes from his work in private industry, his early elections and time in Congress, and his work with the Ford and Bush administrations (heaviest on the Bush war years) are quite interesting and telling about the times he impacted.
January 27, 2013
Rumsfeld is a politician of the old school. He’s extremely intelligent and quick on his feet. I think the main problem he ran into during his service is that he was too honest. He didn’t sugar coat much of anything for anyone. If you asked him a question, he gave you an answer. You may not have understood the answer (known unknowns) but he knew what he meant. This book is good because he doesn’t set out to bury people, but he tells it the way it happened. Over 25% of the book is source materials like memos, memo for the records, transcripts, etc. He also interviewed people who were part of these situations with him for their own recollection of events. I’m sure there is some spin here because you can never be totally unbiased about your own actions, but at the same time he says “These things were hard. We knew they were going to be hard. We told people to expect that.” I’m sure there are aspects of the war that could have been done better. I think during any highly complex process like a war the case can be made after the fact for process improvements. I just get the impression that he knew this was his last assignment in government and he tried to do his best to reach the President’s goals and at the end of the day, that’s what political appointees are supposed to be doing.
April 12, 2011
This is a significant biography (832 pages!) of a significant character in modern U.S. history, surprisingly so! At age 30, he was elected to congress (in 1962), served four terms, and was called into the Nixon administration as an assistant to the president (among other offices), was Secretary of Defense under President Ford (the youngest ever) and of course Secretary of Defense (the oldest ever) under President George W. Bush. I have of course skipped much in between the two SoD jobs, but the point is that this man's life constitutes a political history of most of my lifetime! It was largely for that reason that I so enjoyed reading it, seeing from the inside much of history that I had seen from the outside. I found his history fascinating and honest. It only began to bog down for me toward the end with the rehearsal of the Afghanistan and Iraqi conflicts with which we are all much more intimately familiar. He chronicles many things that might have been done better, as well as many things that were in fact done much better than the popular press has given credit for. All-in-all, a great read!
December 19, 2017
Rumsfeld is someone who served most of his adult life in politics. From his early days of being a congressman to his two terms as Secretary of Defense. Rumsfeld is the narrator for this book, and if in his free time he wanted to narrator professionally he has a very pleasant reading voice for dry non-fiction.
This book covers his years under the George W. Bush administration. He talks about 9-11, Afghanistan, and the war on Iraq.All throughout the book he has an air of mistakes were made but not by me. He tells how he had proposed a different idea and how they used someone else's idea. He does point out however that viewing things through hindsight makes you a little more judgemental because you have more facts that you had during the event.
This book really wasn't a political book, or really even a full-on military book. This is more of just a memoir of Rumsfeld's time under Bush.
This book covers his years under the George W. Bush administration. He talks about 9-11, Afghanistan, and the war on Iraq.All throughout the book he has an air of mistakes were made but not by me. He tells how he had proposed a different idea and how they used someone else's idea. He does point out however that viewing things through hindsight makes you a little more judgemental because you have more facts that you had during the event.
This book really wasn't a political book, or really even a full-on military book. This is more of just a memoir of Rumsfeld's time under Bush.
March 3, 2012
This was a really interesting read. Rumsfeld has a LONG, rich history in government service. Definitely check this out. His defense of the Iraq war is reasonable, and he provides some interesting details on the 2001 portion of the war in Afghanistan. An excellent companion to this is Douglas Feith's War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism. Feith was Rumsfeld's undersecretary of defense for policy, and played a major role in shaping many of the ideas and policies that Rumsfeld is credited or criticized for.
December 1, 2017
One of the more controversial SECDEFs in recent memory, Rumsfeld's memoir is (un)surprisingly short on score-settling. What comes across is a consummate manager/executive with a definite vision for the agencies he led but one who isn't focused on self-promotion or "if only they'd listened to me". There are definite turf-battles with Colin Powell's (and later Condi Rice's) Dept of State, neither of whom come across well (Powell being fairly duplicitous and Rice too focused on consensus instead of clarity). Overall, the criticisms Rumsfeld levies against other members of Bush's cabinet are fairly muted and and one senses the disagreements were far more animated than they appear on the page.
December 1, 2016
I give the book's first half 4 stars, but the second half? Only three. The book chronicles a life lived in service to America and the things seen, decisions made. The first half is just the right blend of personal and political, much of history happening around him, while his service put him near the center.
However, the second half was much too detailed about reasoning behind decisions. It was not a surprise, but still too much defense was played. I'd have like to see less of the detail and more of the overview. If the last half was cut in half, and therefore only a third of the final product, it might have been perfect.
Worth reading, for the first half. You may want to skim portions of the second.
However, the second half was much too detailed about reasoning behind decisions. It was not a surprise, but still too much defense was played. I'd have like to see less of the detail and more of the overview. If the last half was cut in half, and therefore only a third of the final product, it might have been perfect.
Worth reading, for the first half. You may want to skim portions of the second.
February 26, 2011
I really enjoy reading books by the people who were actually there and Rumsfeld was actually there for much of our recent history. I appreciate his recollections and insights, though I felt like he constantly trying to shift blame for the mistakes made in Afghanistan and Iraq. During the Nixon and Ford years, I did not see this as much, but in these latter conflicts Rumsfeld seemed to have no blame. For every issue, there was always someone else (Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice in particular) that failed to listen to Rumsfeld's advice and that is why things did not go right. That said, I appreciate his perspective and his many years of service to this country.
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August 22, 2011THERE ARE ESSENTIALLY THREE REASONS to write a memoir: for money, for literary value, and for vindication. Neither of the first two applies to Donald Rumsfeld. Having made a bundle as CEO of G.D. Searle (the maker of NutraSweet), he has no apparent need for more; in any case the proceeds from his memoir are to be donated to charities helping American service personnel. Nor is there any artistry apparent in the writing: like most politicians’ books, this one is clunky and inelegant. If Rumsfeld has any pride of authorship, he hides it well. Read more...
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