The report quoted one official as saying the appointment of Rumsfeld was "a done deal." He is considered the leading candidate partly because of his past government experience, which also includes stints as a congressman from Illinois and as an ambassador to NATO.
Rumsfeld, 68, served as defense secretary from 1975 to 1977. The Times said he earned much praise in the selection process for his success in leading a special commission of intelligence and defense specialists in 1998 that reversed a CIA estimate on emerging international missile threats, which critics charged was politically skewed.
President-elect Bush and his advisers have said deploying a national missile defense will be a key defense priority.
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