WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says he twice offered President Bush his resignation during the height of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, but the president refused to accept it.
In an interview to be aired Thursday night on CNN's "Larry King Live," Rumsfeld says: "I submitted my resignation to President Bush twice during that period and told him that ... I felt that he ought to make the decision as to whether or not I stayed on. And he made that decision and said he did want me to stay on."
Rumsfeld has been a lightening rod for complaints against the wars on terrorism and Iraq since shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
He was unpopular with his military commanders, the intelligence community and many members of Congress, who accused him of mismanagement of the Defense Department and insensitivity to American forces in the field.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/03/rumsfeld.resign/index.html