Donald Rumsfeld Quotes

Of all times in time of war the press should be free.

The American people can always be trusted with the information.

Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy.

Without freedom of the press, there can be no representative government.

The American people need to know that there are folks here fighting as hard as they can for individual liberty, economic freedom, appropriate national security and the fundamental moral values that have made our nation the greatest nation in the history of mankind.

The American people can be - and deserve to be - assured that actions taken in their defense are consistent with their values and their laws.

Can a democratic nation fight a War on Terror and at the same time bend over backward so as not to offend a few visitors' rights?

The American people need to know the truth. The American people need to see the truth. In a democracy, letting the people know the truth is the essence of what it means to be free.

Nothing ... ought to more guarded against in a free state than making the military power ... a body too distinct from the people.

A free press can of course be good or bad, but most certainly, without freedom it will never be anything but bad.

You’re doing the people’s business and they have a right to know.

It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to hang in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest to our hearts – for democracy.

War and democracy have never been happy bedfellows…. War has always threatened democracy.

I'm very confident in the voice and the power of the American people.

We have to protect the rights of the American people.

Our mission is simple, but profound - to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution. That mission hasn't changed, and it won't change, not as long as I have anything to say about it.

The Ambassador and the General were briefing me on the....the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice.

The people shall not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak, or to publish their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, as one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable.

I recognize that in some cases it's more important to have freedom and justice than to have peace.

Freedom of the press is to the machinery of the state what the safety valve is to the steam engine.

A free press is not a privilege but an organic necessity in a great society. ... A great society is simply a big and complicated urban society.

The experience of a century and a half has demonstrated that our system of free government functions best when the maximum degree of information is made available to our people. In fact, free and candid discussion of vexing problems is the bedrock of democracy and it may be our surest safeguard for peace.

Of all earthly blessings, I place Liberty in the first rank, and of course, consider the obligation to defend and preserve it, as the most sacred of all our civil and social duties... It is not in the power of any single, or few individuals to preserve liberty. It can only be effected by the people themselves; by their intelligence, virtue, courage, and patriotism.

Democracy depends on citizens being informed, and since our media, especially television (which is the most important source of news for most Americans) reports mostly what the people in power do, and repeats what the people in power say, the public is badly informed, and it means we cannot really say we have a functioning democracy.

We will not permit the triumph of violence in the affairs of men; free people will set the course of history.