Donald Rumsfeld Quotes
Learn to say, “I don’t know.”
It is amazing that so few politicians and political appointees when asked questions by constituents, subordinates, or the press can bring themselves to say “I don’t know” when they are ignorant about the issue or have not yet made up their minds. It is as if ignorance was a weakness. When the politicians have to face so many complex issues, the reality is that they do not know about most of them, yet they are loathe to admit ignorance in particular situations.
Donald Rumsfeld, United States Secretary of Defense, Rumsfeld’s Rules, 2013
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This proverb was one that was selected by Leo Tolstoy in his 1908 Calendar of Wisdom. It is one of the most rare statements that politicians ever utter.
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is a retired American politician. Rumsfeld served as Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under Gerald Ford, and again from January 2001 to December 2006 under George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the second-oldest person to have served as Secretary of Defense. Additionally, Rumsfeld was a three-term U.S. Congressman from Illinois (1963–69), director of the Office of Economic Opportunity (1969–70), counsellor to the president (1969–73), the United States Permanent Representative to NATO (1973–74), and White House Chief of Staff (1974–75). Between his terms as Secretary of Defense, he served as the CEO and chairman of several companies.
