"Q: Thank you, Mr. President.
Last week you told us that Secretary Rumsfeld would be staying on. Why is the timing right now for this? And how much does it have to do with the election results?
BUSH: Right.
No, you and Hunt and Keil came in the Oval Office and you asked - Hunt asked me the question one week before the campaign, and basically it was: You going to do something about Rumsfeld and the vice president? And my answer was, you know, they're going to stay on.
And the reason why is I didn't want to inject a major decision about this war in the final days of a campaign.
And so the only way to answer that question and to get you onto another question was to give you that answer.
The truth of the matter is, as well - I mean, that's one reason I gave the answer. But the other reason why is I hadn't had a chance to visit with Bob Gates yet, and I hadn't had my final conversation with Don Rumsfeld yet, at that point.
I have been talking with Don Rumsfeld over a period of time about fresh perspective. He likes to call it fresh eyes. He, himself, understands that Iraq is not working well enough, fast enough.
And he and I are constantly assessing, and I'm assessing, as well, all the time, by myself, about: Do we have the right people in the right place with the right strategy? As you know, we're constantly changing tactics. And that requires constant assessment.
And so he and I both agreed in our meeting yesterday that it was appropriate that I accept his resignation. And so, the decision was made - actually, I thought we were going to do fine yesterday. Shows what I know. But I thought we were going to be fine in the election.
My point to you is that, win or lose, Bob Gates was going to become the nominee."
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