Rumsfeld resigns as secretary of defense - Yahoo! News

Rumsfeld resigns as secretary of defense - Yahoo! News:

Just last week Bush told reporters that he expected Rumsfeld, 74, to remain until the end of the administration's term. And although Bush said Wednesday that his decision to replace Rumsfeld was not based on politics, the announcement of a Pentagon shake-up came on the heels of Tuesday's voting, in which Democrats captured control of the House and could win control of the Senate if the remaining undecided race in Virginia goes their way.

With his often-combative defense of the war in Iraq, Rumsfeld had been the administration's face of the conflict. He became more of a target — and more politically vulnerable — as the war grew increasingly unpopular at home amid rising violence and with no end in sight.

Gates ran the CIA under the first President Bush during the first Gulf war. He retired from government in 1993.