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Rumsfeld’s Rules: Still Valid. RIP
My regrets in life are limited. I never worry about “what might have been” had I chosen differently in my life; I can’t control that, and things turned out wonderfully.
Example: In 1974, as a graduating high school senior from Washington, Oklahoma (population 400), I had a choice of colleges. Two offered me scholarships from the start. Another, the University of Oklahoma and its Air Force ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) offered me a 3.5-year scholarship if I could attend school there for the first semester at my own expense and prove myself in its program. I’d been a successful Civil Air Patrol cadet officer and leader, so no problem. My high school graduating class had me penciled in as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But not as it’s “Most Likely to Succeed.” Such is life.
I’d have been better than Gen. Mark Milley. Just saying.
The problem was, I had no money and no parental financial support available to pay for the first semester at OU. So, off to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma I went and a small cavalcade of scholarships, graduating in 2.5 years. Lots of accomplishments and great experiences, all good, and zero regrets. But no military experience. That stings a little, but not much – I’m the dad of an Army Infantry officer, so I can live vicariously through him. I did get an orientation ride at Langley AFB aboard an F-15 as Secretary of the Senate in 1995 and flew the plane for about two seconds, so there’s that. Very cool. Nobody died.
But I always have regrets when someone dies whom I admired, but never met. Like Donald Rumsfeld, former White House Chief of Staff, two-time Secretary of Defense, and successful CEO of GD Searle Company, the company that invented and marketed those blue sugar substitute packets some of you put into your coffee, Aspartame, perhaps better known by its brand name, “Nutrasweet,” or “Equal.” Searle was bought by Monsanto in 1985. Monsanto is now part of Bayer but sold Nutrasweet to someone else. I can’t keep up.
Rumsfeld, most recently serving as President George W. Bush’s Secretary of Defense, died today at age 88. May he rest in peace. And what a life.
I was always impressed that Rumsfeld had been a college wrestler at Lehigh University, a bitter rival of the school my Army son wrestled at, Bucknell, an hour away west on I-80 in the Keystone State. Wrestlers, especially Pennsylvanians, are unique for their competitiveness, skill, and drive. I once knew a banking executive who told me that he loved to hire former wrestlers for that reason.
His former spokesman, Eric Ruff, was a former media colleague of mine at the Donrey Media Group and on Capitol Hill. I learned all I know about Rumsfeld from him. Ruff deeply admired and was close to Rumsfeld. A visit to “Rumsfeld Rules,” the subject of a book he would write, became a frequent habit during my corporate lobbying days. They remain relevant, even today. Let’s visit – and end – with a tour through these wise gems (here’s a photo of Ruff with his boss).
One of my favorite lessons was from his book on “Known and Unknowns.” It was brilliant. There are “known knowns,” things we know that we know. There are “known unknowns,” things we know that we do not know. And then there are the dreaded “unknown unknowns,” things we don’t know that we don’t know.
He rarely discussed this: Unknown knowns. Things we didn’t know that we knew. Dwell on that.
This is but one section on ‘life’ from Rumsfeld’s Rules. He also wrote about the White House, the Defense Department, Business, and other things. Visit the link to read them all, but let’s leave it here. Donald Rumsfeld was a wise and learned man, whether you agreed with him or not. And we have much to learn from him. RIP.
ON LIFE (and other things)
− “You can’t pray a lie.” (Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)
− “It takes everyone to make a happy day.” (Marcy Rumsfeld, age seven)
− “The most important things in life you cannot see — civility, justice, courage, peace.” (Unknown)
− “Persuasion is a two-edged sword — reason and emotion — plunge it deep.” (Professor Lewis Sarett, Sr.)
− “The art of listening is indispensable for the right use of the mind. It is also the most gracious, the most open and the most generous of human habits.” (Attributed to R. Barr, St. John’s College, Annapolis, MD)
− “In writing, if it takes over 30 minutes to write the first two paragraphs select another subject.” (Raymond Aron)
− “If you get the objectives right, even a lieutenant can write the strategy.” (Gen. George Marshall)
− “In unanimity, there may well be either cowardice or uncritical thinking.” (Unknown)
− “If you’re coasting, you’re going downhill.” (L.W. Pierson)
− “What’s the difference between a good naval officer and a great one? Answer: About six seconds.” (Adm. Arleigh Burke)
− “First law of holes: If you get in one, stop digging.” (Anonymous)
− “Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.” (James B. Conant)
− “When drinking the water, don’t forget those who dug the well.” (Chinese proverb)
− “The harder I work, the luckier I am.” (Stephen Leacock)
− “If it doesn’t go easy, force it.” (G. D. Rumsfeld’s assessment of his son Don’s operating principle at age 10)
− “But I am me.” (Nick Rumsfeld, age 9)
− “You learn in life there are few plateaus; you are either going up or down.” (Unknown)
− Perspective: Maurice Chevalier’s response when asked how it felt to reach 80 – “Pretty good, considering the alternative.”
− “For every human problem there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong.” (H.L. Mencken)
− Simply because a problem is shown to exist doesn’t necessarily follow that there is a solution.
− “If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact, not to be solved, but to be coped with over time.” (Shimon Perez)
− “If a problem cannot be solved, enlarge it.” (Dwight D. Eisenhower)
− “Most people spend their time on the ‘urgent’ rather than on the ‘important.’” (Robert Hutchins)
− “If you think you have things under control, you’re not going fast enough.” (Mario Andretti, racecar driver)
− “Victory is never final. Defeat is never fatal. It is courage that counts.” (Winston Churchill)
− “Intellectual Capital is the least fungible kind.” (Unknown)
− “The better part of one’s life consists of friendship.” (Abraham Lincoln)
− “When you’re skiing, if you’re not falling you’re not trying.” (Donald Rumsfeld)
− “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
− “It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once.” (David Hume)
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RIP. Like you, I have always respected and admired Rumsfield.
If memory serves, Donald Rumsfeld was selected as the 2003 Time Magazine “Person of the Year.” He declined to be interviewed, unless Time Magazine would agree to select “The American Solider” as the Time Magazine “Persons of the Year” instead of him. Time Magazine agreed with his demand. Wow.
Rest in Peace.
He caught a lot of flak for “unknown unknowns.” It made perfect sense to me.
We moved to Winnetka, IL in 2003 and could see his childhood home from our kitchen window. Alas, it was torn down in 2004 and replaced by a stupid mega mansion. He talked about my father when he spoke in 2004 about notable recipients of the Distinguished Civilian Service Award.
McNamara managed one idiot war. Russell managed two
I thought Rummy captained the wrestling team at Princeton, not Lehigh. No?
I appreciate the “unknown knowns” reference. I have always defined that as information we have but have not yet recognized as related to the problem we’re working.
Regarding Shimon Perez’s quote, someone years ago said, “Never confuse a problem with a burden.”
I always thought of it as not knowing that we don’t know; that there’s something out there that we don’t know enough about to even know that we need to be looking for answers.
Rumsfeld was the youngest AND oldest Secretary of Defense in US history. His misfortune is that he became an easy scapegoat for the failures of many others…
From the OP: And then there are the dreaded “unknown unknowns,” things we don’t know that we don’t know.
Also from the OP: Unknown knowns. Things we didn’t know that we knew.
Well, there you go.
I would not be surprised if he did, but I do not know.
I started listening to his biography this morning.
He said his biggest regret is that he did not resign after Abu Ghraib. That America needed someone to blame, and as Secretary of Defense, the best thing he could do would be to resign and take the heat for it. Pres Bush refused to grant him that.
Think of the better world we would be in, had Bush allowed him to take the fall.