DONALD RUMSFELD, IMPLEMENTOR OF RUINOUS IRAQ WAR, DIES AT 88

Calling Donald H. Rumsfeld energetic was like calling the Pacific-wide. When others would rest, he would run. While others sat, he stood. But try as he might, at the pinnacle of his career as defense secretary he could not outmaneuver the ruinous politics of the Iraq war, Robert Burns reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Regarded by former colleagues as equally smart and combative, patriotic and politically cunning, Rumsfeld had a storied career in government under four presidents and nearly a quarter-century in corporate America.

After retiring in 2008 he headed the Rumsfeld Foundation to promote public service and to work with charities that provide services and support for military families and wounded veterans. The two-time defense secretary and one-time presidential candidate died Tuesday. He was 88.

“Rummy,” as he was often called, was ambitious, witty, engaging and capable of great personal warmth. But he irritated many with his confrontational style.

A man seemingly always in a hurry, he would let loose with a daily flurry of memos to aides — some well down the bureaucratic chain — which he dictated into an audio recorder and were typed up by an assistant. They became known as his “snowflakes.”

An accomplished wrestler in college, Rumsfeld relished verbal sparring and elevated it to an art form; biting humor was a favorite weapon. Still, he built a network of loyalists who admired his work ethic, intelligence, and impatience with all who failed to share his sense of urgency.

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