Donald H. Rumsfeld Plans to Start Foundation

Donald H. Rumsfeld, the former defense secretary, will create a foundation that he says will aim to “encourage reasoned and civil debate” about global issues and promote public service as a career, reports The Washington Post.

The Rumsfeld Foundation will endow student fellowships to encourage young people to study public policy after college, and will also make loans to micro-enterprises in developing countries and support Central Asian republics, the newspaper reports. Created with money from Mr. Rumsfeld’s family foundation, the new fund will formally open in the coming months, and will not solicit donations from others. Mr. Rumsfeld says he does not plan to keep either the new foundation or his family foundation open in perpetuity.

Mr. Rumsfeld criticized the political discussion in Washington for its “tendency to try to criminalize public service.”

“It seems that the default position for opponents of anyone is to call them liars and betrayers,” he told the newspaper.

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