Political Radar: Donald Rumsfeld Jumps the Gun

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Donald Rumsfeld Jumps the Gun

January 03, 2007 5:10 PM

ABC's Luis Martinez reports: Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld definitely jumped the gun this afternoon when he announced during his eulogy for Gerald Ford that the Navy would name a new aircraft carrier and the next generation of carriers after the former president. The announcement not only caught the family by surprise, but the Navy and Pentagon as well. Navy officials were scrambling this afternoon to react to a decision that hasn't been officially announced.

The CVN-21 program is the name given to the next generation of carriers that will replace the Nimitz class of carriers. Traditionally the name of the class follows the name of the first ship of the class, which in this case would be the USS Gerald R Ford.

Late today, the Navy confirmed what Rumsfeld had said: "The Navy will make an official announcement in an few weeks that the name of CVN 78 will be USS Gerald R. Ford. The Navy is currently working the details of the ceremony with the members of the Ford family. Out of respect for the Ford family and the recent passing of the President, no other information about the announcement is available at this time. "

Here are Rumsfeld's comments:
" I'm grateful that I was serving last year when the Navy considered naming a new aircraft carrier class the USS Gerald R. Ford, a decision to be announced sometime later this month, I'm told. And without giving away any secrets, I can report that during that visit with President Ford, I brought him a cap with "The USS Gerald R. Ford"
emblazoned across the top of it. How fitting it will be that the name Gerald R. Ford will patrol the high seas for decades to come in the defense of the nation he
loved so much."