robert mcnamara has had more time to reflect.so, we will see where donald rumsfeld finally comes down. host: and he is working on his own autobiography? guest: he is, he is. it is a little surprising because for many years he showed little interest in that kind of book. in fact, he often denigrated other memoirs, particularly those that go with events in which he was involved. he felt the authors did not quite capture the events as he remembered. he wants to write -- he is concerned about writing a book that others think would be inaccurate or self-serving and might think less of him. he told me one time he had read catherine graham's autobiography and was quite scared by it. it was a very frank book and won a pulitzer prize. but its frankness scared rumsfeld. whether he can bring himself to be as honest is still an open question. host: did you get a chance to interview former vice-president dick cheney about this book? guest: i did interview him twice about donald rumsfeld. not surprisingly big jenny still defends the line he ga

. >> host: you write that he was influential secretary of defense since robert mcnamara. how do the to compare? >> guest: i talked about the comparison between the two. there are a lot of similarities. they both came into the job, the top pentagon job from business eager to try to make change in the pentagon. they both quickly made a lot of waves made a number of enemies. they were seen as overbearing and surrounded by a number of aids who were of similar mind and manner and they both of course in the pleading of the united states into very unpopular wars. there is a significant difference though between a mcnamara and rumsfeld in their mind set when they left office. by the time mcnamara left, he was beginning to have doubts and express regrets about handling of the vietnam war. not so rumsfeld. he may in time come to express some regret. he didn't with me and i pressed him on it particularly in our last interview last fall. he of course has left office number than -- unsury, he has left office older than mcnamara was when he left office. mcnamara has had more time to re