Top 227 Quotes & Sayings by Donald Rumsfeld
Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American politician Donald Rumsfeld.
Last updated on September 17, 2024.
In our system leadership is by consent, not command. To lead a President must persuade. Personal contacts and experiences help shape his thinking. They can be critical to his persuasiveness and thus to his leadership.
Don't be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it.
Your performance depends on your people. Select the best, train them and back them. When errors occur, give sharper guidance. If errors persist or if the fit feels wrong, help them move on. The country cannot afford amateur hour in the White House.
Learn to say 'I don't know.' If used when appropriate, it will be often.
Arguments of convenience lack integrity and inevitably trip you up.
Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.
Don't automatically obey Presidential directives if you disagree or if you suspect he hasn't considered key aspects of the issue.
First rule of politics: you can't win unless you're on the ballot. Second rule: If you run, you may lose. And, if you tie, you do not win.
Visit with your predecessors from previous Administrations. They know the ropes and can help you see around some corners. Try to make original mistakes, rather than needlessly repeating theirs.
The Federal Government should be the last resort, not the first. Ask if a potential program is truly a federal responsibility or whether it can better be handled privately, by voluntary organizations, or by local or state governments.
Prune - prune businesses, products, activities, people. Do it annually.
It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.
Remember where you came from.
If the staff lacks policy guidance against which to test decisions, their decisions will be random.
In the execution of Presidential decisions work to be true to his views, in fact and tone.
There are a lot of people who lie and get away with it, and that's just a fact.
Don't say 'the White House wants.' Buildings can't want.
Don't speak ill of your predecessors or successors. You didn't walk in their shoes.
Leave the President's family business to him. You will have plenty to do without trying to manage the First Family. They are likely to do fine without your help.
Don't think of yourself as indispensable or infallible. As Charles De Gaulle said, the cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.
Presidential leadership needn't always cost money. Look for low- and no-cost options. They can be surprisingly effective.
Public servants are paid to serve the American people. Do it well.
Plan backwards as well as forward. Set objectives and trace back to see how to achieve them. You may find that no path can get you there. Plan forward to see where your steps will take you, which may not be clear or intuitive.
Think ahead. Don't let day-to-day operations drive out planning.
Enjoy your time in public service. It may well be one of the most interesting and challenging times of your life.
If in doubt, don't. If still in doubt, do what's right.
Reduce the number of lawyers. They are like beavers - they get in the middle of the stream and dam it up.
You're thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don't. I think that's old Europe.
Oh my goodness gracious, what you can buy off the Internet in terms of overhead photography. A trained ape can know an awful lot of what is going on in this world, just by punching on his mouse, for a relatively modest cost.
One of your tasks is to separate the 'personal' from the 'substantive.' The two can become confused, especially if someone rubs the President wrong.
Be yourself. Follow your instincts. Success depends, at least in part, on the ability to 'carry it off.'
Amidst all the clutter, beyond all the obstacles, aside from all the static, are the goals set. Put your head down, do the best job possible, let the flak pass, and work towards those goals.
Look for what's missing. Many advisors can tell a President how to improve what's proposed or what's gone amiss. Few are able to see what isn't there.
You will launch many projects, but have time to finish only a few. So think, plan, develop, launch and tap good people to be responsible. Give them authority and hold them accountable. Trying to do too much yourself creates a bottleneck.
Simply because you do not have evidence that something exists does not mean that you have evidence that it doesn't exist.
Politics is human beings; it's addition rather than subtraction.
I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today will last five days, five weeks or five months, but it won't last any longer than that.
If you try to please everybody, somebody's not going to like it.
Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned; it was - by a taxpayer.
Members of the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate are not there by accident. Each managed to get there for some reason. Learn what it was and you will know something important about them, about our country and about the American people.
Don't blame the boss. He has enough problems.
When you raise issues with the President, try to come away with both that decision and also a precedent. Pose issues so as to evoke broader policy guidance. This can help to answer a range of similar issues likely to arise later.
Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance.
If it were a fact, it wouldn't be called intelligence.
If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much.
Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war.
If in doubt, move decisions up to the President.
If you foul up, tell the President and correct it fast. Delay only compounds mistakes.
When cutting staff at the Pentagon, don't eliminate the thin layer that assures civilian control.
Our task, your task... is to try to connect the dots before something happens. People say, 'Well, where's the smoking gun?' Well, we don't want to see a smoking gun from a weapon of mass destruction.
When asked for your views, by the press or others, remember that what they really want to know is the President's views.
I don't do quagmires.
Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.
It isn't making mistakes that's critical; it's correcting them and getting on with the principal task.
Reduce the layers of management. They put distance between the top of an organization and the customers.
There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know.
Don't divide the world into 'them' and 'us.' Avoid infatuation with or resentment of the press, the Congress, rivals, or opponents. Accept them as facts. They have their jobs and you have yours.
Preserve the President's options. He may need them.
Know that the amount of criticism you receive may correlate somewhat to the amount of publicity you receive.
The price of being close to the President is delivering bad news. You fail him if you don't tell him the truth. Others won't do it.
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