Confucius tells us that leaders bear personal responsibility for the public policy effects of their actions.  When things are going well, a gentleman, jun zi, can humbly accept some portion of the praise.  But when things are going bad, responsible leaders should accept the blame and resign.  This is the central message of Analects 8.13 and 11.24:

"When all beneath Heaven abides in Way, make yourself known; and when Way is lost, stay hidden.  When the Way rules in your country, there’s shame in poverty and obscurity; and when the Way is lost in your country, there’s shame in wealth and renown."

"What I call a great minister is one who employs the Way in serving his sovereign.  If he cannot do that, he resigns."

 "Way" for Confucius is an organic social order that arises from each person finding and fulfilling his or her optimum human role.  The implicit assumption is that order will "naturally" follow if everyone finds the right social role and plays it; thus, there is a fatalistic element here – there is something fundamentally beyond the control of any individual leader in attaining the ideal order of "Way."  But leaders can do something.  They can work carefully and humanely to encourage, without too much force, and cultivate proper behavior, so that followers will be able to learn what they must do.

     That is what is meant by "employs the Way" in the excerpt from 11.24 above.  A good minister does not force himself on a situation, but must carefully understand the potentiality of creating peaceful order.  If he fails to do that, he should resign.

     Rumsfeld, as the most recent revelations have amply demonstrated, has failed utterly and completely in his stubborn insistence on ruling over US foreign policy.   He has flatly rejected the idea that he should resign.

     And that simply illustrates how far he is from being a true gentleman.