Lessons in Life: Learning Rumsfeld's Rules

March 25, 2004 — -- Donald Rumsfeld will be the first to tell you that life's a roller coaster.

One year ago, the U.S. secretary of defense was enjoying rock star popularity. Now, a year after the Iraq war began, and after the deaths of thousands of Iraqis and more than 580 Americans, he has critics calling for his head.

Asked how Americans should view the steady stream of body bags returning from Iraq, Rumsfeld responds: "Every person who is killed or wounded is a heartbreak, certainly for me and for their families and for their loved ones."

But he points out that the American casualties had all signed up for war. "In this conflict every single person is a volunteer … Every person there put their hand up and said, 'Send me, I want to participate in the defense of our country.'"

While the world may change, Rumsfeld is a constant. He has been known throughout his 71 years as a problem solver who thrives on risk, confrontation and absolute control. He is smart, energetic, combative, at times ruthless, but he can also be charming.

ABCNEWS' John McWethy sat down with the defense secretary for a series of no-holds-barred interviews at the Pentagon and at his New Mexico ranch to talk about his policies and personality.

An interview with the defense secretary is a challenge. Rumsfeld is a man in constant motion. He rarely sits, even in his own spacious office at the Pentagon — where there is no chair at his desk. "I stand here. I use the phone," he told ABCNEWS. "I like to. Have for decades. It works."

He wears a pedometer on his belt — to count every step he takes. He tries to walk 10,000 paces a day, about five miles.