Former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld has died aged 88 just a few days before his 89th birthday.

He died at his home, surrounded by his family. 

According to the family spokesman Keith Urbahn, Rumsfeld died of multiple myeloma.

Rumsfeld served as the US secretary of defence under both President Gerald R. Ford and George W. Bush.

During his tenure in office, he presided over America’s Cold War strategies back in the 1970s.

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Rumsfeld also presided over the strategies in the new world of terrorism, especially in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

He was regarded as the most powerful defence secretary since Robert McNamara famous for the Vietnam War.

Rumsfeld became the youngest person to hold that office at 43 and also the oldest to hold the office at 74