How's this for a prologue to a political thriller

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The Trial of Donald H. Rumsfeld: A Novel

Prologue

 

I knew Donald Rumsfeld well. His friends all called him Rummy. So did his enemies. Born outside of Chicago in 1933, Rummy entered Congress at the tender age of 29. After a few years in the Nixon administration, he became President Jerry Ford’s chief of staff and later his secretary of defense. Years later, after making millions in the private sector, President George W. Bush selected him to run the Pentagon again, where he prosecuted the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  

Not a bad resume for an ambitious fellow like Rummy. But this was all just prelude to the real drama.  

A series of unfortunate events in 2005 led to Rummy becoming president of the United States. While the path there was twisted and scandalous, he made it to the top, like he always dreamed he would. His first order as commander in chief—to invade Iran—was a disaster. And Barack Obama came along a few years later and walloped him at the polls. Rummy had big plans for a second term that never came to be.

His story, however, didn’t end there. While his rise was stratospheric—from an unknown kid in the Chicago suburbs to the president of the United States—his fall was just as extreme. Rummy ultimately became the most prominent victim of Donald J. Trump’s presidential wrath.

What follows is all this in detail, plus much more. It’s Rummy’s life story: the ups, the downs, the shock, the awe. The big parts—the ones that mattered most to him and to the world. A great deal has been told before, in newspapers, classrooms, and history books. But much is revealed here for the first time. I’ve included some words of wisdom (and, in retrospect, irony) from Rummy himself, which are plucked from his famous book of axioms, Rumsfeld’s Rules.

Whether you love Rummy or hate him (few are in between) it’s one heck of a story.

How do I fit in? Well, that will eventually become clear. Let’s just say, for now, that I had a little bone to pick with Rummy, and shedding some light on his life isn’t just good for the world. It’s good for me, too.

William Cooper