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Book Jacket BY HIS OWN RULES
The Ambitions, Successes, and Ultimate Failures of Donald Rumsfeld
BRADLEY GRAHAM
SUMMARY   |  QUOTES   |  EXTRAS
An epic examination of the life of one of the most confounding American political figures of the past half century

Once considered among the best and brightest of his generation, Donald Rumsfeld was exceptionally prepared by successful careers in politics and business to assume the Pentagon's top job in 2001. Yet six years later, he left office as the most controversial Defense Secretary since Robert McNamara, widely criticized for his management of the Iraq war and for his difficult relationships with Congress, administration colleagues, and military officers. Was he really the arrogant, errant, overcontrolling Pentagon leader frequently portrayed —or as his supporters contend, a brilliant, hardcharging visionary caught in a whirl of polarized Washington politics, dysfunctional federal bureaucracy, and bad luck?

Bradley Graham, a longtime Washington Post reporter who closely covered Rumsfeld's challenging tenure at the Pentagon, offers an insightful biography of a complex personality. In the tradition of Karen DeYoung's Soldier and Bart Gellman's Angler, By His Own Rules is a layered and revealing portrait of a man whose impact on U.S. national security affairs will long outlive him.

Bradley Graham has spent more than twenty-five years at The Washington Post in various reporting and editing assignments focused on military and foreign affairs. The author of Hit to Kill: The New Battle Over Shielding America From Missile Attack, he lives in Washington, D.C.

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HARDCOVER
ISBN 978-1-58648-421-7
Pub date: 06/22/09
Price: $35.00/44.50 Canada
6 1/8 x 9 1/4
832 pages
Carton Quantity: 12
Biography
Selling Territory: W
Rights: First Serial, British Commonwealth, Translation, Audio, and Electronic Rights: PublicAffairs
Performance Rights: ICM

PAPERBACK
ISBN 978-1586487102
Pub date: 06/22/10
Price: $18.95/24.00 Canada
6 1/8 x 9 1/4
832 pages
16 pp. b/w photographs
Carton Quantity: 12
Biography
Selling Territory: W
Pub history: 978-1586484217

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