U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld resigned Wednesday after widespread Democratic victories in Tuesday's midterm elections.
Rumsfeld assumed control of the Pentagon in 2001 and quickly established himself as an aggressive defense secretary. He was influential in guiding the United States to war in both Afghanistan and Iraq, promoting the use of a small, mobile Army to fight Islamic insurgents in the Middle East.
Perhaps most famous for telling a group of American soldiers, ""You go to war with the army you have,"" Rumsfeld faced calls for his resignation in 2006 as Iraq devolved into chaos and the Taliban retook large portions of Afghanistan.
As a special envoy to the Middle East during the Reagan Administration, Rumsfeld met and shook hands with Saddam Hussein in 1983, offering U.S. support of Iraq in its war with Iran.
Robert Gates, current president of Texas A&M University and a former director of the CIA, is expected to replace Rumsfeld. Gates, 63, is a long-time Republican and ally of the Bush Administration.
