Former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has died at the age of 88

Donald Rumsfeld, a two-time U.S. defense secretary and architect of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, has died at the age of 88, his family said Wednesday.

Although he spent several decades as a congressman and cabinet secretary for multiple presidential administrations, he was the basis for President George W Bush’s decision to invade Iraq after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Rumsfeld, who defended Saddam Hussein’s attack on Iraq in 2001 with the government before re-entering as Bush’s defense secretary, became the main defender of the invasion administration. He suffered a great deal of criticism when his quick military victory against Saddam turned into a severe counterinsurgency Rumsfeld he didn’t plan enough.

“We share with deep sadness the news of the death of Donald Rumsfeld, an American and responsible husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather,” Rumsfeld’s family said.

“History may remember him for his outstanding achievements in six decades of public service, but for those who knew him best and who changed his life forever as a result, we will remember Joyce’s constant love for his wife, family and friends and the integrity he brought to life in the country,” the family added.

Bush Rumsfeld described him as “a man of intelligence, integrity and almost inexhaustible energy,” adding, “He was never pale in the face of hard decisions, and he never shied away from responsibility.

“He was a faithful leader of our armed forces, and the United States of America is safer and better at his service.”

U.S. Army veteran and graduate of Princeton University. Rumsfeld In the 1960s he served three terms as a Republican congressman in Illinois, before resigning from Congress to join Richard Nixon’s White House, where he was director of the Office of Economic Opportunity and adviser to the president. Nixon later appointed Rumsfeld as US ambassador to NATO in Brussels.

After Nixon resigned after the Watergate scandal, Rumsfeld returned to Washington and worked for Gerald Ford Nixon’s successor as head of the White House staff. His replacement was Dick Cheney, who would form a lifelong alliance with the former Republican. In 1975, Ford appointed Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense, and he served until 1977.

Rumsfeld spent several decades in the private sector, eight years as CEO of the GD Searle & Company pharmaceutical group and four years as president of Gilead Sciences, another U.S. drug manufacturer.

Rumsfeld returned to Washington in 2001 when Bush denied him the post of U.S. Secretary of Defense again.

Cheney and his wife Lynne made a statement Wednesday to Rumsfeld as “an excellent man who stood out in so many ways, not only when he provided outstanding public service for decades, but also as a private citizen.”

“In some of our nation’s most serious challenges, presidents have promised to help drive America through turbulent times,” they added. “He did so, hoping to embody who he was as a person.”