With his dry wit and deliberate demeanor, Bush defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld became a television personality through his daily press briefings following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, Rumsfeld gets an adoring biopic from an adoring writer. In breathless, reverential prose, conservative essayist Decter (Liberal Parents, Radical Children
; etc.) offers a personal, thoroughly uncritical profile of the defense secretary, whom she has known and admired for years. From modest Chicago roots, Rumsfeld went on to Princeton University, achieved success in business, served three terms in Congress and, at age 43, became the youngest secretary of defense in the nation's history and a close adviser to President Gerald Ford. More than two decades later, Rumsfeld is reprising his role as defense secretary under President George W. Bush, and while, true-to-form, ruffling feathers at the Pentagon, has been suddenly thrust to prominence under extraordinary circumstances. Clearly, Rumsfeld, one of the first and foremost proponents of using technology to remake the U.S. military, owns a career worth examining. Decter's doting paean, however, so exceedingly praises its subject that it is nearly impossible to take seriously. The book's tone is set in an almost surreal prelude where an elegant, anonymous New York socialite confesses to Decter that she has Rumsfeld's picture hanging in her dressing room. From there, Decter attacks Rumseld's critics with sycophantic zeal and attempts to build events in the secretary's life and career into the stuff of legend. Even fans of Rumsfeld's will find that this overwrought hagiography trivializes the secretary's impressive, if at times controversial, career. (Oct. 14)
