On November 8, 2006, “the president [Bush] finally dismissed [Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld. Only days before, Bush had said he would keep the defense secretary for the rest of the term, but now the president said the two had agreed ‘after a series of thoughtful conversations’ that it was time for Rumsfeld to go. The decision unleashed bitter complaints among Republicans who said the GOP might have won the [midterm] election if Bush had been willing to announce the decision earlier.”
– Elisabeth Bumiller, Condoleezza Rice: An American Life, Pages 301-302