Donald Rumsfeld (R) passed away this week, and lawmakers are remembering the political figure, including the time he served as Secretary of Defense for both President Gerald Ford (R) from 1975 to 1977 and President George W. Bush (R) from 2001 to 2006. On September 11th, 2001, Rumsfeld took part in a meeting with nine House members in his third-floor office. A hijacked American Airlines jetliner crashed into the Pentagon, and Rumsfeld rushed into the crash site, carrying the wounded in stretchers before eventually returning to his duties in the building.
Florida Rep. Michael Waltz (R), who served under the Bush administration as a policy advisor, released a statement in rememberance of Rumsfeld. In the statement, Waltz expressed that “America will never forget its Secretary of Defense who ran to the burning Pentagon on September 11th to help others in need.” He added that “Donald Rumsfeld was a patriot who served his country in uniform, in the halls of Congress, as U.S. Ambassador to NATO, White House Chief of Staff, and as Secretary of Defense under two administration.” Noting that he takes “great pride in having worked as a policy advisor for Afghanistan in the Pentagon under his leadership,” Waltz shared that Rumsfeld “was dedicated to ensuring our military was ready in times of peace and keeping our country safe in times of war.”
President Bush also released a statement, calling him a “faithful steward of our armed forces.”
The President went on to express that “a period that brought unprecedented challenges to our country and to our military also brought out the best qualities in Secretary Rumsfeld,” adding that he was “a man of intelligence, integrity, and almost inexhaustible energy” who “never paled before tough decisions, and never flinched from responsibility.”
