Kennerly: The Lighter Side of Rummy

January 11, 2006 6:35 PM

"On the day Memoirs of a Geisha premiers in London, a flashback to January 1974 when Donald Rumsfeld, then President Gerald Ford's Chief of Staff, entertained a geisha during an official visit to Kyoto." More candid shots of the occasion courtesy of Pulitzer Prize winning photographer David Hume Kennerly.
posted by milquetoast (26 comments total)

flashback to January 1974 when Donald Rumsfeld, then President Gerald Ford's Chief of Staff

Someone want to check their history books?
posted by hangashore at 6:49 PM on January 11, 2006

Wow, in some of those pictures he actually looks happy, instead of the crotchety old shut-up-and-get-off-my-lawn-you-goddamned-kids bastard he is today. Wonder what happened?
posted by fandango_matt at 6:49 PM on January 11, 2006

He almost looks as happy as he did in the shot with Saddam in the 80s.
posted by birdherder at 6:51 PM on January 11, 2006

Well, he wasn't in charge of a giant blackhole of manpower and money back then. That drags you down a little.
posted by graventy at 6:51 PM on January 11, 2006

It's really weird how old people you see today are recognizeable as young people from long ago.
posted by delmoi at 7:02 PM on January 11, 2006

Hangashore - Yeah, "First Post" gets it wrong -- the linked Kennerly page indicates that the photo was snapped in November '74. Strange, I could've sworn I threw a [sic] into this post.
posted by milquetoast at 7:07 PM on January 11, 2006

That other picture was taken in 1974; here he is with his trademark scowl, circa 1976. I bet somewhere in those two years he bought new eyeglasses, and his girlfriend dumped him shortly thereafter.
posted by fandango_matt at 7:07 PM on January 11, 2006

Disclaimer: my comment above in no way constitutes a snark at milquetoast; apologies for any confusion. At least the source page get the date right (21 Nov 74), though it's got Rummy as Defense Secretary (which he didn't become until almost exactly a year later).

On preview - yeah, didn't mean to sound like I was jumping down your throat on this one, milquetoast.
posted by hangashore at 7:09 PM on January 11, 2006

Okay - someone with M@d Photoshop skillz want to get Rummy and Kissinger pucker-to-pucker?

Fun post, milquetoast.
posted by hangashore at 7:15 PM on January 11, 2006

Ah, the 70s. When a man could fashionably part his hair that far to the side...even with no need for combover!

(Sighs dreamily)
posted by DawnSimulator at 7:33 PM on January 11, 2006

That's a great photo. Thanks for sharing.
posted by occhiblu at 7:36 PM on January 11, 2006

Text from the 2nd link:

November 21, 1974. Kyoto, Japan. -- Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger (a rare moment when he took off his glasses) and geisha play a Japanese game during President Gerald Ford's visit to Kyoto, Japan.

At the power plant, Homer is in the bathroom, humming.

Homer: Hey! There's something you don't see in a toilet every day.

It's a pair of horn-rimmed glasses.

Homer: Anyone lose their glasses? [no one answers] Last chance! [still no one answers] Woo-hoo! [Homer fishes the glasses out of the toilet. He puts them on]

Elsewhere in the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant… Mr. Burns says farewell to a distinguished guest.

Burns: Thank you so much for visiting our plant, Dr. Kissinger.

Dr. Kissinger: It was fun.

Smithers: We'll let you know if your glasses turn up.

Dr. Kissinger: Er, yes, well, I'm sure I left them in the car. [sotto voce] No one must know I dropped them in the toilet; not I, the man who drafted the Paris Peace Accord.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 7:42 PM on January 11, 2006

Did you notice that the individual David Hume Kennerly photo pages say "NO U.S. TABLOID SALES. NO TIME OR U.S. NEWS." I assume it means the magazine U.S. News & World Report, in which case I wonder why those two magazines are singled out. It's okay to sell to, say, Newsweek?
posted by nobody at 8:12 PM on January 11, 2006

How many times did you cum when you found that?
posted by HTuttle at 9:15 PM on January 11, 2006

When I found the Kissinger "rare moment when he took off his glasses" comment was a perfect segue to a very funny The Simpsons moment?

Multiple.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 9:52 PM on January 11, 2006

How many times did you cum when you found that?
posted by HTuttle at 9:15 PM PST on January 11

Ahhh, Metafilter, the erstwhile home of logical, respectful debate.
posted by duende at 11:32 PM on January 11, 2006

Rumsfeld entertained a geisha? How kinky! I thought the geishas did the entertaining.
posted by Goofyy at 12:02 AM on January 12, 2006

HTuttle - I'm afraid I don't understand your comment. Would you care to elaborate?
posted by milquetoast at 2:55 AM on January 12, 2006

Okay - someone with M@d Photoshop skillz want to get Rummy and Kissinger pucker-to-pucker?
posted by hangashore at 4:15 AM CET on January 12 [!]

Ahem hangashore?



I really should be working....
posted by bering at 4:22 AM on January 12, 2006

bering for the win!
posted by hangashore at 5:03 AM on January 12, 2006

I saw Rumsfeld the other day going into a Clyde's by the MCI center in DC. Oh how I wished that he suited up and took the ice with the Capitols, and then that he got hipchecked into the fucking boards until he couldn't fucking stand. But no, I went into the hockey game and he went into Clyde's.
posted by OmieWise at 6:39 AM on January 12, 2006

Kennerly for many years after leaving the White House shot for Newsweek, thus the embargo.

My fave pic is the one from the Ford library rededication, where Bush Sr., Ford and Carter (in tuxedos) are lined up behind their wives and Bush is putting "rabbit ears" on Barbara. Always liked him.
posted by darren at 6:49 AM on January 12, 2006

Damn, there were some real lookers in the Ford administration! Hawt!
posted by Tullius at 7:21 AM on January 12, 2006

Well, he wasn't in charge of a giant blackhole of manpower and money back then.

He was only the White House Chief during the fall of Vietnam. He doesn't look so happy there.

Damn, there were some real lookers in the Ford administration! Hawt!

'70s fashions were unkind to everyone. See also Hillary Rodham.

I liked this photo of President Nixon playing piano at the opening of the Grand Ole Opry.
posted by kirkaracha at 7:46 AM on January 12, 2006

"entertained a geisha during an official visit to Kyoto"
So he's in geisha training then, good for him.
posted by uni verse at 8:02 AM on January 12, 2006

Candid - CANDID photography? Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more?
posted by Smedleyman at 1:19 PM on January 12, 2006