Book Review: 'Rumsfeld's Rules' by Donald Rumsfeld

The first thing to understand about Rumsfeld’s Rules is that, as the introduction explains, “‘Rumsfeld’s Rules’ are not all Rumsfeld’s. Nor are they all rules.” So what is Rumsfeld’s Rules, exactly? It’s basically a collection of aphoristic life lessons, wrapped in a management/leadership manual, wrapped in a memoir, sort of. The rules in question—quotable nuggets, such as “When starting at the bottom, be willing to learn from those at the top” and “Don’t be afraid to see what you see”—have been collected by Rumsfeld over his lifetime, first in a file folder, then in an informal manual typed up at the request of Richard Nixon, then in a kind of samizdat manuscript passed around and read by “presidents, government officials, business leaders, diplomats, members of Congress, and a great many others.”

Rumsfeld has had quite a life. It’s hard to imagine a more accomplished political résumé that doesn’t include the word “president.” He won a congressional seat in Illinois at the age of 30. He was United Nations ambassador for Nixon, White House chief of staff for Gerald Ford, and Defense secretary for Ford and George W. Bush. In the private sector, he’s served as a chief executive officer and chairman.