Donald Rumsfeld, who was the TV face of the George W. Bush Administration’s War in Iraq, has died just days shy of his 89th birthday, according to a statement from his family.
“It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of Donald Rumsfeld, an American statesman and devoted husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. At 88, he was surrounded by family in his beloved Taos, New Mexico,” the family said in a statement released Wednesday.
“History may remember him for his extraordinary accomplishments over six decades of public service, but for those who knew him best and whose lives were forever changed as a result, we will remember his unwavering love for his wife Joyce, his family and friends and the integrity he brought to a life dedicated to country.”
A statement from the family of Donald Rumsfeld: pic.twitter.com/AlKYxVvqgF
— Donald Rumsfeld (@RumsfeldOffice) June 30, 2021
Rumsfeld was considered a key architect of the second Iraq War and famously sparred with the media and others over his claim that Iraq had an active weapons of mass destruction program. No stockpiles were ever found. He later resigned when the war became unpopular.
He featured prominently in Errol Morris’s 2013 documentary The Known Unknown, the title a phrase Rumsfeld popularized in press conferences.
He was portrayed by Steve Carrell in Adam McKay’s 2018 movie Vice and by Scott Glenn in Oliver Stone’s W.
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 in the post. Rumsfeld was also elected to the U.S. Congress from Illinois, director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, counsellor to President Nixon, the United States Permanent Representative to NATO and White House Chief of Staff.
