Donald Henry Rumsfeld was born on the 9th July 1932, in Chicago, Illinois USA, and is a Republican politician as well as a businessman, probably best known for being the 13th Secretary of Defence (from 1975 to 1977) under President Ford, and then the 21st Secretary of Defence (between 2001 and 2006) under President George W. Bush.
Have you ever wondered how much wealth this powerful man has accumulated so far? How rich Donald Rumsfeld is? According to sources, it is estimated that the total amount of Donald Rumsfeld’s net worth, as of mid-2016, is $15 million. It has been acquired throughout his political career, active since 1957, during which he has served in several important positions in the American Government, and business ventures.
Donald Rumsfeld Net Worth $15 Million
Donald Rumsfeld was born to Jeannette Kearlsley and George Donald Rumsfeld, into a family of German and American ancestry. As a youngster, Donald joined the Boy Scouts of America, and in 1949 was honored with its highest rank, an Eagle Scout. He attended Baker Demonstration School, and later New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. Rumsfeld continued his education by enrolling at Princeton University from which he graduated in 1954 with an abbreviation degree in political science. Although he attended Case Western Reserve University School of Law and Georgetown University Law Center, he did not graduate from either.
Prior to engaging in politics, Donald Rumsfeld served in the US Navy between 1954 and 1957 as an airman. He began his political career in 1957, when he served as an administrative assistant to Ohio’s 11th district representative, Congressman David S. Dennison, during the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1959, Donald transferred to Michigan where he was a staff assistant to Congressman Robert P. Griffin. Between 1960 and 1962, Donald Rumsfeld was engaged with A. G. Becker & Co., an investment banking firm. All these involvements provided the basis for Donald Rumsfeld’s net worth.
Donald Rumsfeld’s political rise really started in 1962, when as a 30 year-old he was elected to the US House of Representatives for the 13th congressional district of Illinois. He was re-elected to this position in 1964, 1966 and 1968, but after his fourth term he resigned to serve in a variety of executive branch positions in the administration of President Richard Nixon. These accomplishments helped Donald Rumsfeld to establish himself on the political scene, and certainly increased his overall net worth.
In 1973, Donald Rumsfeld was appointed the US Ambassador to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in Brussels, Belgium before he was called back to the states in 1974, when Richard Nixon resigned his presidency. Donald was appointed White House Chief of Staff for the new President, Gerald Ford, but just a year later he named the 13th US Secretary of Defense in which post he remained until 1977. Doubtlessly, these engagements made a huge, positive impact on Donald Rumsfeld’s net worth.
In the course of the next two decades, between 1977 and 2000, Donald Rumsfeld made some efforts towards his business career, including as a lecturer at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School, CEO of G. D. Searle & Company, CEO of the General Instrument Corporation, as well as chairman of Gilead Sciences, Inc. These ventures resulted in a very profitable addition to Donald Rumsfeld’s net worth in total.
In 2001, Donald Rumsfeld returned to politics, when he was again named as Secretary of Defense, this time under President George W. Bush, in which position he was a key man in planning the response to the 9/11 attacks, as well as for launching the war against Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2006, Donald Rumsfeld retired from politics, and subsequently spent some time writing and publishing two of his three books, largely based on his political and business achievements; “Strategic imperatives in East Asia” (1988), “Known and Unknown: A Memoir” (2011) and “Rumsfeld’s Rules” (2013), which added somewhat to his net worth.
Donald is also the holder of countless honors and awards, of which the most notable are the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Dwight D. Eisenhower Medal and Ronald Reagan Freedom Award.
When it comes to his personal life, Donald Rumsfeld has been married to Joyce Pierson since 1954, with whom he has three children, expanding to six grandchildren and even one great-grandchild.
