Donald Rumsfeld - Early Life

Early Life

Donald Henry Rumsfeld was born on July 9, 1932, in Evanston, Illinois, to George Donald Rumsfeld and Jeannette (née Husted). His father came from a German American family that had emigrated in the 1870s, but young Donald was sometimes ribbed about looking like a "tough Swiss". Growing up in Winnetka, Illinois, Rumsfeld became an Eagle Scout in 1949 and is the recipient of both the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America and its Silver Buffalo Award in 2006. From 1943-1945, Rumsfeld lived in Coronado, California while his father was stationed on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific in World War II. He was a camp counselor at the Northeast Illinois Council's Camp Ma-Ka-Ja-Wan in the late 1940s and a ranger at Philmont Scout Ranch in 1949.

Rumsfeld attended Baker Demonstration School, a private middle school, and later graduated from New Trier High School. He attended Princeton University on academic and NROTC partial scholarships (A.B., 1954). During his time at Princeton, he was an accomplished amateur wrestler, becoming captain of the wrestling team, and captain of the Lightweight Football team playing defensive back. His Princeton University senior thesis was titled "The Steel Seizure Case of 1952 and Its Effects on Presidential Powers." While at Princeton he roomed with another future Secretary of Defense, Frank Carlucci.

Rumsfeld married his high school sweetheart Joyce H. Pierson on December 27, 1954. They have three children and six grandchildren. He attempted to get his law degree in 1956, and attended Georgetown University Law Center, but did not graduate.

Rumsfeld served in the United States Navy during peacetime, from 1954 to 1957, as a naval aviator and flight instructor. His initial training was in the North American SNJ Texan basic trainer after which he transitioned to flying the Grumman F9F Panther fighter. In 1957, he transferred to the Naval Reserve and continued his naval service in flying and administrative assignments as a drilling reservist. On 1 July 1958, he was assigned to Anti-submarine Squadron 662 at Naval Air Station Anacostia, District of Columbia, as a selective reservist. Rumsfeld was designated aircraft commander of Anti-submarine Squadron 731 on 1 October 1960, at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile, Michigan, where he flew the S2F Tracker. He transferred to the Individual Ready Reserve when he became Secretary of Defense in 1975 and retired with the rank of captain in 1989.