By Tom Mahnken
Journalists have produced many
caricatures of Donald Rumsfeld, but no portraits. Until now, that is. Bradley
Graham's By His Own Rules
(PublicAffairs) offers a nuanced portrayal of the former defense secretary that
is likely to serve as the definitive work for years to come. Those who dislike Rumsfeld will find plenty
to stoke their anger; those who admire him much that is praiseworthy. Those few with an open mind will learn a
great deal about the man, his gifts and his flaws.
The
product of years of thorough research, Graham's book is journalism at its best.
The anonymous "former senior defense official" makes a few appearances in the
book's eight hundred pages, but as a rule he cites his sources by name, and
everything contained in quotation marks is a direct quote. He presents the story, but ultimately gives
the reader the opportunity to make his own judgments.
By His Own Rules busts many of the
stereotypes of Rumsfeld. My top three:
- Rumsfeld the Micromanager. Well, sometimes. By His
Own Rules paints a complex picture of Rumsfeld as the head of the Defense
Department. His probing, sometimes
abrasive style have been chronicled elsewhere. The book shows Rumsfeld playing an active, sometimes hyperactive, role
in examining and revising processes, including those that had traditionally
been the purview of the military leadership, including senior officer
assignments and the deployment of forces.
But Graham also shows that on substance, Rumsfeld often deferred to
military leaders. On sensitive matters
such as contingency planning, he tended to work directly with combatant
commanders and exclude his own staff. Too often he deferred to military leaders when he should have questioned
them and scolded them when he should have held them accountable.
- Rumsfeld the
Decisive. More often, Rumsfeld the
ponderer. As Graham puts it, "Rumsfeld was at its best - and seemingly most
comfortable - when he was questioning things.
Decisions came harder." Although
Rumsfeld made the transformation of the U.S. armed forces a top priority, he
proved reluctant to cancel any major weapon systems. In the end, he only cancelled two: the Crusader artillery system and the Comanche helicopter. Rumsfeld's aides had to push hard to get him
to cancel the Crusader, a heavy,
expensive legacy of the Cold War that was the poster child for everything
Rumsfeld opposed. And it was the Army
that put the Comanche on the chopping
block. Similarly, Graham reports that it
was Rumsfeld's deputy, Gordon England, who pushed for a rapid response in the
wake of Hurricaine Katrina, while Rumsfeld temporized.
- Rumsfeld the
Neocon. No, Rumsfeld the traditional
conservative. As Graham shows, Rumsfeld
was, as Gerald Ford's Chief of Staff and Defense Secretary, and as George W.
Bush's Defense Secretary, a conservative of the traditional variety. Rumsfeld was, for example, dubious of the
proposition that the spread of democracy was a praiseworthy or feasible goal.
Graham's book also
sheds light on a number of Rumsfeld's unheralded successes. For example, he led
an effort to realign the U.S. armed forces' basing structure across the globe
away from a structure optimized for the Cold War past in order to position the
United States better to respond to current and future threats. And Rumsfeld, confronted with a war planning
process that was cumbersome and unresponsive to strategic direction, championed
the Adaptive Planning Initiative, which has led to plans that are developed
more rapidly, feature more options, and benefit from greater guidance from
senior leaders.
History will
render its verdict on Donald Rumsfeld's second tenure in the Pentagon, but By His Own Rules contains mountains of
evidence for both the prosecution and the defense.
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