Former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, dies at 88

Donald Rumsfeld, who served as defense secretary under both President Gerald Ford and President George W. Bush, has died. He was surrounded by family in Taos, New Mexico. Rumsfeld was 88.

(CNN)- Soldier, congressman, and statesman, Donald Rumsfeld has held many titles over his 6 decades of public service, but his legacy centers on his time as secretary of defense, a position he held twice.

Rumsfeld died in Taos, New Mexico Wednesday surrounded by his family.

Donald Rumsfeld holds the distinction as both the youngest person to ever serve as secretary of defense and the second oldest to serve in the position.

He was defense secretary for President Gerald Ford in the 1970s and President George W. Bush in the early 2000s.

It was his second stint in that role that would come to define what Donald Rumsfeld was most known for.

Driven from office by the Iraq war after being seen as a hero in the hours after the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.

Rumsfeld was inside the Pentagon when it was struck by a hijacked plane — killing 184 people. He rushed to help evacuate the injured until his security team begged him to go back inside…

But soon, Rumsfeld would lead the global war on terror.

In the coming years, he oversaw two conflicts: the Iraq war and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Rumsfeld was left defending an unpopular war, the war in Iraq — which was widely denounced as a quagmire with no clear strategy. Especially when violence on the streets of Iraq grew.

Rumsfeld was roundly criticized for this answer to a soldier’s question about the military’s lack of properly armored vehicles in Iraq.

Many held him responsible for the Abu Ghraib torture scandal and abuse of detainees.

And Rumsfeld would become known around the pentagon for his so-called snowflakes…memos on everything he was thinking.

Born in Chicago in 1932, Donald Rumsfeld was both a college wrestler at Princeton and a navy pilot, skills that served him well perhaps in later life in government office, grappling with and navigating through a complicated political landscape.

Rumsfeld’s legacy began to take shape after becoming president ford’s white house chief of staff — and ultimately secretary of defense.

While defense chief under Ford, Rumsfeld worked closely with Dick Cheney, forming a connection that would last a lifetime.

“Some regard him as the best secretary of defense we ever had. I would say he was one of the best,” said former Vice President Dick Cheney

But for many who were at the pentagon that terrible 9/11 day, the most important legacy,  even as the building was in flames, Rumsfeld stayed, refusing to leave for a safer location. 

Donald Rumsfeld was indeed a controversial public servant but he never retreated.