Churchill Solitaire: Why Donald Rumsfeld made an iPhone app
The former defense secretary says he learned of a special version of Solitaire played by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II. Now, you can play it on an iPhone.
Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at a press conference in February 1976. Mr. Rumsfeld -- who gained infamy as an architect of the Bush administration's strategy in the early days of the Iraq War -- has developed a Solitaire app modeled on a version of the game played by Winston Churchill.
R. Norman Matheny/海角大神
, indeed. A new app based on a version of Solitaire played by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill heavily invokes his spirit 鈥� it鈥檚 promoted as 鈥渢he most diabolical version of Solitaire ever devised,鈥� and is promoted with the tagline 鈥渘ever give in鈥� from a speech he gave in 1941.
But the app鈥檚 driving force is a more controversial figure: former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, often described as a key architect of the Bush Administration鈥檚 strategy in Iraq.
In a , Mr. Rumsfeld straightforwardly lays out how he came to learn the game from Belgian diplomat Andr茅 de Staercke, describing his foray into app developing as, 鈥淚鈥檝e done business, politics, and war. Now I鈥檓 trying my hand at mobile gaming.鈥�
Mr. De Staercke, who Rumsfeld met in the 1970s while serving as US Ambassador to NATO, learned the 鈥渦niquely challenging game,鈥� which uses 10 rows of cards instead of the usual seven, spread across two decks, from Churchill, who played it during the London Blitz beginning in 1940.
鈥淎s they plotted to turn back the Fascist tide, De Staercke came to know Churchill under incomprehensible stress: the Luftwaffe鈥檚 nightly bombing raids of London, an America reluctant to be dragged into another world war, and an entire world that looked to be on fire,鈥� Rumsfeld writes. 鈥淚 can remember de Staercke sitting across from me on a plane somewhere over Europe playing the curious game, dizzying columns of miniature cards arrayed on the table between us. I asked him what he was playing and he proceeded to tell me the origin of the game he called Churchill Solitaire after the man we both very much admired."
The app 鈥� which is initially free, then costs $1 per 25 levels 鈥� is laced with references to Churchill, including allowing a player to begin playing as a classmate of Churchill鈥檚 at the British military academy Sandhurst, and dramatic music. 鈥淪o in practice, this is really more 鈥楥hurchill鈥檚 Buddy Solitaire,鈥� " notes a of the app.
Rumsfeld is famously inscrutable 鈥� the documentarian Errol Morris that after hours of interviews for a 2014 documentary, 鈥渉e remains a mystery to me鈥攅xcept for the possibility that there might not be a mystery.鈥� During a 2011 radio interview, he from the comedian Louis C.K. asking if he was 鈥渁 lizard from outer space who eats human flesh,鈥� with an unprompted story about a man buying him dinner in New York.
His Medium post is filled with touches of gentle humor and references to Churchill鈥檚 legacy. 鈥淚鈥檝e signed off on something they call 鈥楿X,鈥� 鈥� he writes, referring to the common shorthand for "user experience."聽Rumsfeld notes that he wanted to enter the tech world out of an enjoyment of the game and a desire to preserve it. Profits from the game, developed by Snapdragon Studios with input from Rumsfeld in partnership with Churchill鈥檚 family, will go to charity.
鈥淐hurchill Solitaire is not a game for everyone. It takes patience and perseverance, cunning and concentration, and strategy and sacrifice,鈥� he writes at one point. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 say if this is the last app I鈥檒l ever be involved in 鈥� after all, I鈥檓 only 83, 鈥� he adds. 鈥淏ut it is safe to say that Mark Zuckerberg has nothing to worry about.鈥�
Comments on the post were unsparing. 鈥淓agerly anticipating your gamification of waterboarding,鈥� writes user Lisa McIntire, while another comment asks, 鈥淗ow about a conscience. Could you develop one of those?鈥�