Bare-Knuckled Public Service: Donald Rumsfeld’s Political Ideology Before the War on Terror

Authors

Chris Paskewich, Centre College

Abstract

Abstract Donald Rumsfeld (1932-2021) is perhaps most well known for being Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush. However, he had a nearly fifty-year career in public and private sector work at the highest levels. Research into his political ideology, especially prior to his time under Bush, has never been undertaken. This article outlines Rumsfeld’s ideology for the first time, and shows it is a distinct strain of limited-government conservatism that I term “managerial conservatism.” Managerial conservatism aims to manage public resources well, maximize the gains from the public’s tax dollars, and make sure the federal government is only taking on the right kind of problems. Rumsfeld emerges as a lifelong small-government conservative who nevertheless has a deep belief in public service. This public servant learns to wield government bureaucracy as a weapon to cut waste or reallocate resources, as well as find ways to effectively manage enormous government agencies/departments. By tracing this ideology, some preliminary conclusions can be drawn on Rumsfeld’s role in the eventual invasion of Iraq under President Bush in 2003.

Recommended Citation

Paskewich, Chris (2026) "Bare-Knuckled Public Service: Donald Rumsfeld’s Political Ideology Before the War on Terror," Commonwealth Review of Political Science: Vol. 8: No. 1, Article 3.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.61611/2994-0044.1068
Available at: https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/crps/vol8/iss1/3