Rummy declined honor as ‘Person of the Year’ - The Time cover that didn’t appear

The Hill (Open Secrets) ^ | 01-07-04

[veronica]

The Time cover that didn’t appear

It isn’t often that someone turns down an offer to be Time magazine’s “Person of the Year,” especially when that someone is as important as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

But that’s what Rumsfeld did when he learned that Time was planning to honor him in its year-end issue last month.

Rumsfeld told guests at a holiday party that in this year of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military deserved the honor more than he did, which is why Army Sgts. Marquette Whiteside and Ronald Buxton and Spc. Billie Grimes turned up on Time’s Dec. 29 cover.

Time Managing Editor James Kelly appears to confirm Rumseld’s self-effacing act, if only obliquely, in an editor’s note recounting that when he and several other editors “met with Rumsfeld at the Pentagon in November to talk about the war, [the Defense Secretary] made the pitch, unsolicited by us, that the Person of the Year should be the American soldier. (Or as he put it, the American volunteer.)”

Kelly also noted that Washington bureau chief Michael Duffy and senior correspondent Mark Thompson were working on a profile of Rumsfeld in preparation for the issue, but set it aside to help two fellow Time journalists who were injured in Iraq. (The profile appeared in the Person of the Year issue.)

[NonValueAdded]

What a mensch.

[LADY J]

"Gotta love Rummy!"

I do - I do!!

[kylaka]

There are a lot of Washington navel gazers who say Rumsfeld will not be around for round II ( Bush's second term). I think he will remain, but Rumsfeld is probably one of only a few who can honestly say: "Its's a tough job but somebody's got to do it", and actually mean it. He'd be much happier in the private sector (and richer too). For republicans a government job is a step down in pay grade, for most democrats its a step up.

[Search4Truth]

Humility, a rare and precious character trait these days.

[DrDeb]

"There's been rumors of him departing after the election."


Actually, I've heard from some pretty reliable sources that the President wants him back and he wants to return!!

[Semper Paratus]

President wants him back and he wants to return!!

I'll be glad to hang my hat on that!

[hoot2]

"Can you imagine any Democrat doing this? "

oh yes. all of them.
they've received their marching orders; if asked, reply:
"thank you, no. the "real man of the year" should be hillary klinton"...

[Quilla]

Thanks for the update. I do hope it's a rumor. I understand that many of the higher-ups in the Bush Administration have given up incredibly lucrative careers to serve our country. Honorable men (and women) all.

[OldFriend]

Have a lump in my throat reading this.

Thank you, Mr. Bush for choosing Mr. Rumsfeld to be our Secretary of Defense.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Rummy's "steely glare."

[OldFriend]

Without Dubya there would be no Rummy, no troops successfully liberating Iraq.....etc etc.

[OldFriend]

These rumors of Rumsfeld departing are nothing more than the rumors that Cheney was going to withdraw as veep candidate and be replaced by McCain............remember those rumors???????????????

[raptor29]

And then you compare this to the active lobbying by the Carters and the Clintons for Nobel Peace Prize attention................

Rummy is such an asset for this country. It's so great to see someone in power finally tell it straight, putting our enemies (and the main stream press, the other enemies) in their place on a regular basis.

[ken5050]

Concur..it's the same beltway mob that was floating the "rumm's OUT" rumors a few months ago, remember...in today's NY tImes..there's a front-page profile of Condi Rice..it ssays she's quitting after the first term..also pure crap..Rice, and Rummy, will stay the course...they want to see the job of winning the war on terror completed....

[Rummyfan]

Thanks for the ping. A class move from our Secretary of Defense. As to his leaving, he always says that he serves at the pleasure of the President, so who knows. I wish he could run himself in 2008!

[af_vet_1981]

Sarcasm on: Yeah, but he's just an evil Neo-con and only did this to cover the fact that he's a Mossad puppet. Sarcasm off.

Yep, that is what the traitors believe.

[Quilla]

His glare was rather steely at Princeton back in '54:

[del griffith]

Ok, wait a minute. We saw discussion on this board and watched hour after hour of Fox, MSNBC and other shows discuss that Time coundn't bear to put a conservative on the cover as Person of the Year. The dominant liberal media couldn't stand to recognize the achievements of the administration.

Now we find that they dissed with by their choice (not saying that Rumsfeld didn't do something classy.

So does everybody here and on the networks take it back on the evil dominant liberal media in this instance?

[PhiKapMom]

Was impressed with Rummy before this, but this is just fantastic and would love to shove it in the face of all of his detractors in the media. Rummy is a class act!

[RoseofTexas]

Isn't there a prosaic that says, leaders who surround themselves with men of honor and valor, will be greatly rewarded for their wisdom!