Overview

Like Donald Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown pulls no punches. With the same directness that defined his career in public service, Rumsfeld's memoir is filled with previously undisclosed details and insights about the Bush administration, 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also features Rumsfeld's unique and often surprising observations on eight decades of history- his experiences growing up during the Depression and World War II, his time as a Naval aviator; his service in Congress starting at age 30; his cabinet level positions in the Nixon and Ford White Houses; his assignments in the Reagan administration; and his years as a successful business executive in the private sector. Rumsfeld addresses the challenges and controversies of his illustrious career, from the unseating of the entrenched House Republican leader in 1965, to helping the Ford administration steer the country away from Watergate and Vietnam, to bruising battles over transforming the military for the 21st century, to the war in Iraq, to confronting abuse at Abu Ghraib and allegations of torture at Guantanamo Bay. Along the way, he offers his plainspoken, first-hand views and often humorous and surprising anecdotes about some of the world's best known figures, from Margaret Thatcher to Saddam Hussein, from Henry Kissinger to Colin Powell, from Elvis Presley to Dick Cheney, and each American president from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush. Rumsfeld relies not only on his memory but also on previously unreleased and recently declassified documents. Thousands of pages of documents not yet seen by the public will be made available on an accompanying website. Known and Unknown delivers both a fascinating narrative for today's readers and an unprecedented resource for tomorrow's historians. Proceeds from the sales of Known and Unknown will go to the veterans charities supported by the Rumsfeld Foundation.

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9781595230676

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Reviews

Many people either admire or loathe Mr. Rumsfeld, but both camps can credit him with having produced, across print and digital, the first political memoir of the Information age. <br> -Gordon Crovitz, The Wall Street Journal, April 4, 2011 <br> I'm rereading portions of Known and Unknown. I've read it through the first time, and now I'm using it like a reference book for history. <br> -Greta van Susteren, Fox News, March 23, 2011 <br> Don Rumsfeld creates an entertaining masterpiece...In short, this work cannot be recommended too highly. It is a unique portrait of a half-century of American Government from the inside out. <br> -Stephen Laib, The Intellectual Conservative, March 8, 2011 <br> An insider's view. <br> -Walter Pincus, The Washington Post, March 1, 2011 <br> Those who believe in what I would call the accepted Iraq narrative...will either have to produce commensurate written texts that substantiate these assertions or prove that Rumsfeld's amp

I would heartily recommend it. I don't think anybody could go buy a book written by anybody who has been more intimately involved, closer to power, for as many years, has been through as much, has known all of the power players as you have. It is amazing.

Author Information

Donald Rumsfeld was the 13th and 21st U.S. Secretary of Defense. He currently chairs the Rumsfeld Foundation, which supports leadership and public service at home and the growth of free political and free economic systems abroad. The Rumsfeld Foundation funds microfinance development projects, fellowships for graduate students interested in public service, the development of young leaders from Central Asia and the Caucasus, and charitable causes that benefit the men and women of the U.S. armed forces and their families.

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