What he did then: Secretary of Defense (first term)

What he does now: Secretary of Defense (second term)

Reported involvement: As head of the Pentagon, Rumsfeld was responsible for developing and implementing the policies for detention and interrogation at places like Guantanamo. More than any one else, he pushed the "new war" paradigm, which supports coercing terrorism detainees in order to extract intelligence from them. Rumsfeld personally reviewed the legal memoranda on interrogation practices and questioned lawyers about specific practices that he either found too lenient or too aggressive; he ultimately approved a list of 24 tactics for use at Guantanamo. According to the briefing releasing the Fay-Jones report, Rumsfeld also authorized the detention of "ghost detainees" after being asked to do so by former CIA director George Tenet.

Photograph of Donald Rumsfeld courtesy AFP.