Donald Rumsfeld, former defense secretary to two US presidents, has died

Donald Rumsfeld, head of the Pentagon in the governments of Gerald Ford and of George W. Bush and architect of the wars of Iraq Yes Afghanistan, has died at the age of 88 in the state of New Mexico, his family announced on Wednesday.

“History may remember his extraordinary accomplishments during six decades of public service, but those of us who knew him best … will remember his unwavering love for his wife Joyce, his family and friends, and the integrity of a life dedicated to his country.Their relatives said in a statement.

The cause of death was multiple myeloma, a type of bone marrow cancer It affects plasma cells and usually occurs in older people, family spokesperson Keith Urbahn told the newspaper. The New York Times.

Rumsfeld led the Pentagon between 1975 and 1977, with Republican Gerald Ford as president, and again between 2001 and 2006, when Bush was in power. In this second period, oversaw the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, which sparked the longest war in U.S. history, and then Iraq in 2003.

Former President George W. Bush on Wednesday expressed sorrow over the death of Rumsfeld, whom he remembers as “a man of intelligence, integrity and almost inexhaustible energy”, who “never turns pale in front of difficult decisions “. And he added that “America is safer” thanks to Donald Rumsfeld. “We mourn an exemplary public servant, a very good man,” he said in a statement.

Rumsfeld is the only person to have been at the head of the Pentagon twice. The first time, in 1975-77, he was the youngest in history. The second time, between 2001 and 2006, he was the oldest.

In 1988, he briefly ran for the presidential nomination of the Republican Party, a failure which he himself called humiliation for a man accustomed to triumphing at the highest levels of government, including the terms of chief of staff of the White House, United States Ambassador and Congressman.

For all of Rumsfeld’s accomplishments, it is the setbacks in Iraq in the twilight of his career that will likely mark the most salient features of his legacy.

With information from AFP, AP and EFE

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