The Daily Background

Bob Woodward on Rumsfeld’s attempts to resign after the Abu Ghraib scandal, from State of Denial:

… Monday, May 10th, Bush went to the Pentagon and met with Rumsfeld, who offered to resign. Just before noon, Bush appeared in public with Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, and General Meyers. Turning to Rumsfeld, he said “You’re doing a superb job. You are a strong Secretary of Defense, and our nation owes you a debt of gratitude.”

“I submitted my resignation in writing twice,” Rumsfeld recalled in an interview. “The President handed the first one back and he said ‘no.’ And the second one, he handed back and I handed it back to him and I said ‘You ought to keep this,’ and he said ‘no.’ You know he did not want me to go. And he says this publicly.”

Very timely.

Filed under: Rumsfeld Related, Z-TDB Blog