The Associated Press story about Donald Rumsfeld resigning says that former CIA Director Robert Gates will take his place.

Gates was CIA director from 1991 to 1993. After retiring he and his wife, Becky, moved near Mount Vernon. In 2001 he was revealed as the anonymous donor who had been paying for supplies at Big Lake Elementary School.

Gates is now president of Texas A & M University. I'm not sure if he still maintains a home at Big Lake.

Gates is a member of the Iraq Study Group, a panel led by former Secretary of State James Baker. It was formed by Congress as a way to start looking for alternative strategies in Iraq.

President Bush had offered Gates the new job of director of national intelligence. Gates turned it down, though, and John Negroponte was given the post.

Former Republican U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton said he thought Gates was an excellent choice to replace Rumsfeld. But, he said, "it's about two years over due."

Gorton said that if Republicans fared different yesterday Rumsfeld might still have a job.

"If the election had gone dramatically different I'm not at all sure it would have happened."

Gorton, who served in the Senate while Gates headed the CIA, said he expects him to "take a bottom's up review of the entire situation in Iraq." He thinks Gates will be confirmed, though Gorton added, "The confirmation hearing will be used to allow a very large number of senators to vent over the issue."

UPDATE: Seattlest is dreaming of big things for Rumsfeld.