The Pedant

Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense

July 9, 1932 Born in Chicago, IL.

1954 Earns a B.A. in Politics from Princeton.

1954-1957 Serves in the United States Navy as a naval aviator.

1962 Elected to the House of Representatives for four terms.

1973 Named U.S. Ambassador to NATO.

1974 Appointed Gerald Ford's Chief of Staff.

1975-1977 Serves as Secretary of Defense under Gerald Ford.

1977-1985 Leaves public office and becomes Chairman and CEO of G.D. Searle & Co., a worldwide pharmaceutical firm. His government connections help to get Searle FDA approval for the artificial sweetener aspartame, a known carcinogen.

1983-1984 As Reagan's Special Envoy to the Middle East, he becomes the chief conduit for crucial American military intelligence, hardware and strategic advice to Saddam Hussein.

1984 Meets with Iraqi Foreign Minister, Tariq Aziz, telling him that the United States squarely supports Saddam's regime. He also characterizes America's recent condemnation of their use of chemical weapons as made "strictly in principle."

1990-1993 Holds the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Instrument Corporation, a leader in broadband transmission, distribution, and access control technologies for cable, satellite and terrestrial broadcasting applications, while simultaneously serving on the FCC's High Definition Television Advisory Committee.

1997 Becomes a leading participant in the Project for the New American Century, a right-wing think tank advocating "preemptive strikes" against Iraq and other "potential aggressor states." Other members include Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz and Jeb Bush.

Jan 20, 2001 Is appointed Secretary of Defense by George W. Bush. September 2001 Urges an invasion of Iraq as a response to 9/11 even though the administration's own terrorism experts claim that Iraq has nothing to do with it.

Feb 12, 2002 Rumsfeld speaking at press briefing: "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. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones."

Spring 2002 U.S. invades Afghanistan using the Rumsfeld strategy: heavy bombing and few ground troops. With not enough troops to secure Afghanistan's border with Pakistan, most of Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden escape.

Sep 26, 2002 At a press conference in Warsaw, in response to the question: "Are there linkages between Al Qaeda and Iraq, and where are they?" Rumsfeld replies: "I have no desire to go beyond saying the answer is yes."

Jan 20, 2003 Declares: "Saddam Hussein has large, unaccounted for stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons -- including VX, sarin, cyclosarin and mustard gas; anthrax, botulism, and possibly smallpox -- and he has an active program to acquire and develop nuclear weapons."

Jan 23, 2003 He disparages the importance of German and French objection to the planned Iraqi invasion by referring to those countries as "old Europe," causing an international uproar.

Feb 20, 2003 On The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, he predicts that American forces will be welcomed as liberators by the Iraqi people.

Mar 20, 2003 On This Week with George Stephanopoulos, he states: "We know where they (weapons of mass destruction) are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."

Sep 10, 2003 In a speech to the National Press Club, he rescinds his statement to Stephanopoulos: "I said, 'We know they're in that area.' I should have said, 'I believe they're in that area.' Our intelligence tells us they're in that area, and that was our best judgment."

May 2004 Comes under criticism when photographs of abusive treatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison are shown on national television. Many leaders in Congress call for his resignation. Rumsfeld declares: "The people who engaged in abuses will be brought to justice. The world will see how a free and democratic society functions."

July 2004 The Pentagon issues a report on Iraqi prison abuses admitting 94 instances of abuse including 20 homicides. The report places the blame, however, on a few soldiers and exonerates all high ranking officials.