Coming quickly on the heels of a sweeping Democratic victory in the midterm vote, President Bush says Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will resign, and former CIA chief Robert Gates will take over as interim Pentagon chief pending Senate confirmation hearings.
Just last week, as he campaigned for fellow Republicans ahead of Tuesday's vote, the president vowed that Rumsfeld would remain at the Pentagon through the end of his term. But on Wednesday, Bush said he and Rumsfeld agreed that "the timing is right for new leadership" at the Pentagon.
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