Why was Donald Rumsfeld such a notable public figure? Few American statesmen had the prominence and influence of Rumsfeld, who died on June 29.

I first got to know him after I joined his team in the George W. Bush administration. What immediately struck me was the vastness of his perspective. There was nothing narrow, limited, cramped, parochial or closeminded about him. He saw the whole world as a chessboard. He was down to earth and practical, and his interests were specifically American, but he cared about ideas and his perspective was global and long-term. He was by nature a strategist.

July 9, 2021, would have been Donald Rumsfeld’s 89th birthday, had he not passed away last week at the age of 88. Always keenly aware of history and his role in it, when he approached 80 a decade ago, he was fond of reminding those of us then privileged to work with him on his memoirs that he had lived through about one-third of American history. As a historian (“An art historian — of all things!” as Rumsfeld would say), I found it particularly instructive to examine six key events he personally interacted with between 1941 and 2001. This era contained one of the most remarkable series of experiences in our nation’s history. It also traced the trajectory of Rumsfeld’s own life, from a small child observing history to a senior statesman shaping its outcome. Having served as Rumsfeld’s archivist and director of research for his memoir, Known and Unknown, I had the opportunity to 

Donald Rumsfeld was an anchor and a rudder.  

In the service of four Republican Presidents – Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and George W. Bush – Donald Rumsfeld was seen as a controversial figure to certain Americans because of his unapologetic, unyielding, and committed dedication to what each of these administrations defined as the America’s strategic agenda. However, even his most vociferous critics – and he had a few, as admitted – never failed to recognize his commitment to the national interest of the United States of America. He was an anchor.  

If you know nothing else about former Secretary of Defense Donald Henry Rumsfeld, who died last Wednesday at age 88, you should know this.

At 9:37 a.m. on September 11, 2001, al-Qaida terrorists crashed United Airlines Flight 77 into the west side of the Pentagon. One of the first rescuers on the scene was the 69-year-old secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld. As rescue teams, firefighters, and police arrived, Rumsfeld’s protective detail finally pulled him away to begin to manage the war that had just killed 3,000 Americans on our own soil.

In some ways, it is appropriate that former Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld would pass away the week of the Fourth of July. His entire life had been devoted to patriotism and serving the United States of America. 

Donald H. Rumsfeld, the secretary of defense for Presidents Gerald R. Ford and George W. Bush, was the most qualified Secretary of Defense ever, said Gordon England, former head of General Dynamics Fort Worth and then of Lockheed Fort Worth who worked for Rumsfeld three times in Washington. Rumsfeld died July 6, 2021, at his home in Taos, N.M. He was 88.

With the passing of Donald H. Rumsfeld, our country has lost a great leader who helped liberate 50 million people from tyranny, deliver justice to the terrorists who attacked us on Sept. 11, 2001, and transform our military for the threats of a new century. And I lost a great boss and a dear friend who transformed my life in countless ways.

We live in cruel times. The immediacy of communication lends itself to serial thoughtlessness and puts the historical illiteracy of the punditocracy on full display. Witness how it marked the passing of Donald Rumsfeld.

I knew two Donald Rumsfelds — the only person to serve two nonconsecutive terms as Secretary of Defense — who we lost on Tuesday. There was Don Rumsfeld who came across as the “tough guy” to the news media, and often to his staff and the military. He could discomfit a military briefer, interrupting him or her after viewing but one slide of a lengthy presentation and tearing it to shreds, leaving the presenter shaking. At staff meetings, he could cut down any one of his senior officials who seemed unprepared, or who merely came across as pompous, with critiques such as “a trained ape could do better than that.” He never let one forget that he was a college wrestler: He once threatened to break my kneecaps after I told him a particularly bad joke.

The nation lost a true giant on Wednesday, June 30. Two-time Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, who served Presidents Gerald Ford and George W. Bush, died in his beloved home in Taos, New Mexico. He will always be remembered by those of us who worked with him simply as The Boss.

Rumsfeld was a controversial figure, mostly because throughout his long and storied career he never suffered fools well, always spoke his mind, and cared far more about serving the nation well than what people thought about him. In Washington, D.C., that makes you loyal friends and not a few enemies.