Rumsfeld Steps Down; Gates To Succeed Him
Bush: Defense Secretary To Be Replaced By Ex-CIA Chief
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Reflecting On Rumsfeld
CBS News Correspondent Bob Orr chronicles the career of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and reflects on Rumsfeld's controversial six years in office.
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Gen. Batiste On Rumsfeld
Gen. John Batiste, who commanded the First Infantry Division in Iraq, spoke with Katie Couric about Donald Rumsfeld's resignation. The defense secretary has been under fire from some military brass.
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Donald Rumsfeld Steps Down
One day after the Democrats won control of the House, President Bush announced the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Aleen Sirgany has more details.
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President Bush, center, walks out of the Oval Office of the White House with outgoing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, left, and his nominee to replace Rumsfeld, former CIA Director Robert Gates, Nov. 8, 2006, in Washington. (AP)
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Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld speaks during a briefing, October 26, 2006, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images/Mandel Ngan)
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President Bush announced Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's resignation at a White House news conference, Wednesday Nov. 8, 2006 (CBS)
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Former CIA Director Robert Gates, President Bush's choice to replace Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense. (CBS)
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Photo Essay
Donald Rumsfeld
Defense Secretary and Iraq war architect steps down after six stormy years at the Pentagon.
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Battle For Iraq
The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
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Winners And Losers
Images of some of the victors and vanquished from Election Day 2006.
The Iraq war was the central issue of Rumsfeld's nearly six-year tenure, and unhappiness with the war was a major element of voter dissatisfaction Tuesday — and the main impetus for his departure. Even some GOP lawmakers became critical of the war's management, and growing numbers of politicians were urging President Bush to replace Rumsfeld.
Mr. Bush said Robert M. Gates, 63, who has served in a variety of national security jobs under six previous presidents, would be nominated to replace Rumsfeld. Gates, currently the president of Texas A&M University, is a Bush family friend and a member of an independent group studying the way ahead in Iraq.
The White House hopes that replacing Rumsfeld with Gates can help refresh U.S. policy on the deeply unpopular war and perhaps establish a stronger rapport with the new Congress. Rumsfeld had a rocky relationship with many lawmakers.
"Secretary Rumsfeld and I agreed that sometimes it's necessary to have a fresh perspective," Mr. Bush said in the abrupt announcement during a post-election news conference.
Gates is currently a member of the Iraq study group, which is charged with charting a new course in Iraq, CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod reports.
"Because our long-term strategic interests and our national and homeland security are at risk, I did not hesitate when the president asked me to return to duty," Gates said.
In a later appearance at the White House with Rumsfeld and Gates at his side, President Bush praised both men, thanked Rumsfeld for his service and predicted that Gates would bring fresh ideas.
"The secretary of defense must be a man of vision who can see threats still over the horizon and prepare our nation to meet them. Bob Gates is the right man to meet both of these critical challenges," the president said.
In brief remarks, Rumsfeld described the Iraq conflict as a "little understood, unfamiliar war" that is "complex for people to comprehend." Upon his return to the Pentagon after appearing with Mr. Bush and Gates, Rumsfeld said it was a good time for him to leave.Bio: Rumsfeld's Long Career
Learn more about Robert Gates
"It will be a different Congress, a different environment, moving toward a presidential election and a lot of partisanship, and it struck me that this would be a good thing for everybody," Rumsfeld told reporters.
But underscoring that he would not bow to those pushing for a quick U.S. withdrawal, he also said, "I'd like our troops to come home, too, but I want them to come home with victory."
There was little outward reaction among officials at the Pentagon, beyond surprise at the abrupt announcement.
Asked whether Rumsfeld's departure signaled a new direction in a war that has claimed the lives of more than 2,800 U.S. troops and cost more than $300 billion, Mr. Bush said, "Well, there's certainly going to be new leadership at the Pentagon."
Despite saying that he wanted to work with Democrats on Iraq, at times Mr. Bush seemed as dug in as ever about compromising on his wartime policies, Axelrod reports.
"See, if the goal is success, then we can work together," Mr. Bush said. "If the goal is to get out now regardless, then that's going to be hard to work together."
Voters appeared to be telling politicians that the sooner the war ends the better. Surveys at polling places showed that about six in 10 voters disapproved of the war and only a third believed it had improved long-term security in the United States.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Bio: Rumsfeld's Long Career



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See all 274 CommentsNow, they'll just need to make sure that Richard Pearl's Pentagon pass is revoked when Rumsfield Leaves!
But he continues to lie. He lied in his press conference just now about Rumsfeld stepping down regardless of who won.
...when will he ever learn?
Keep the heads rolling.
America is due for more cleansing.
What a pathetic six years this has been - and shame on the voters who were snookered by the "evangelical revolution" bulldung.
Hope this would pave the way for the return of all GIs in Iraq.
God, how we have suffered under weight of these evil men who were pursuing THEIR OWN PERSONAL vendetta and agenda, slaughter hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children and women, and getting thousands of fine Americans killed and crippled in Iraq. This while the maniac muslims hide out in Afghanistan and Pakistan! Tsk-tsk
So true! It's kind of like winning the bid on a house and discovering that the walls are infested with termites!
Robert Gates is a terrible choice. A compartmentalist secrecy will enshroud the DoD - and Gates will revisit his Iran-Contra illegality upon us all.
Bush is a cowardly, spineless man who never takes responsibility for his own inaction. He and Cheney should both resign and let a leader take control.
Rumsfeld is just the fall-guy for a very, very incompetent commander-in-chief. Rumsfeld is a loyal and patriotic man.
Still, if it brings more confidence to our military to have him out, I'm all for it.
"Bye loser" Bush on Wednesday
He was appointed toe the World Bank and no doubt is doing lots of damage there - busy financially punishing any nation that disagrees with the remaining neocons (Bush Cheney)
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BYE rummy!! and good riddance to your sorry arse, who is NEXT?
Time to drain this SWAMP the country has been saddled with for the last 6 years.
Oh and now BUSH is all talk about how we can work together, sure, after he did nothing but slam, ridicule, cajole and attack Dems, threaten blackmail to remove the one safeguard- the caucus
or whatever the hell it's called if the Dems protested bills and used it to block them.
Now watch these neocons FALL one by one.
I am so glad that that arrogant *** is OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!!!
Heh, good waves this morning.
CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA!!!
YIPPE-kai-oh !
"And the Goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a Land not inhabited."
-Leviticus 16:22
http://www.theweeklydonut.org/index.php/2006/04/20/sticky-good-fun/
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