Donald Rumsfeld's Presidential Campaign

I have to admit I wasn't following politics very closely in 1987, but I saw Donald Rumsfeld comment on his presidential campaign recently and I had to look it up. From the Chicago Tribune, this was refreshing (the business attitude, not the regulations):

After more than a year and a half of quiet and unofficial campaigning, Chicagoan Donald Rumsfeld announced Thursday that he will not seek the 1988 Republican nomination for president.

Rumsfeld, who acknowledged he had been a "dark horse" candidate in the GOP scramble for the nomination, attributed his surprise decision to the difficulties of coping with the rules on campaign financing.

...

Rumsfeld said he discussed the problem with, among others, Sen. John Glenn (D., Ohio) who is still stuck with a $2.7 million debt from his 1984 presidential campaign and is being sued both by former campaign staffers and the Federal Election Commission.

Rumsfeld said Glenn, a former Marine and astronaut, told him that "he went through two wars and the space program and never lost any sleep" but that he now lies awake nights agonizing about the debt. Rumsfeld said he and his wife have each sent Glenn $1,000 for his debt retirement fund.

"Deficit spending plagues this country," Rumsfeld said in the memo announcing his decision. "Having just spent 10 years in the world of business, meeting payrolls and being accountable to shareholders, I am unwilling to proceed on a deficit basis."