U.S. President George W. Bush announced Wednesday that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was stepping down, and would be replaced by former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Robert Gates.

Bush made the announcement one day after Democrats won control of the House of Representatives in the legislative elections and was just one seat short of capturing control of the Senate.

Rumsfeld, 74, has been under intense pressure from both Democrats and Republicans to resign over his handling of the increasingly Iraq war, which has been in its fourth year and already claimed nearly 3,000 U.S. soldiers.

Just one week ago, Bush said he wanted Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to stay in office during the rest of his presidency.

Rumsfeld, the oldest to serve as defense secretary as well as the youngest defense chief when he was appointed by former President Gerald Ford in 1975, has been a target of criticism over the conduct of the Iraq war and the treatment of detainees in U.S. military custody.

At the White House press conference, Bush acknowledged that the administration's handling of the Iraq war played a major role in giving the Democrats control over the House.

The elections to a large extent was a national referendum on President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq, The New York Times reported, citing exit polls.

Sixty percent of voters leaving the polls said they opposed the war in Iraq, and 40 percent said their vote was a vote against Bush, the report said.

Gates, who was born in September 1943, served in the CIA and the National Security Council for 26 years. He served as CIA director during 1991 and 1993, and later as president of Texas A&M University.

Gates first joined the CIA in 1966 and served in the intelligence community for more than a quarter century, under six presidents. His nomination must be approved by the Senate.

Bush said he met with Gates on Sunday to discuss the appointment, even before the election was held. "He is a steady, solid leader who can help make the necessary adjustments in our approach to meet our current challenges," he said.

Gates also served in the bipartisan panel Iraq Study Group, headed by former secretary of state James A. Baker III, a Republican, and former Indiana congressman Lee H. Hamilton, a Democrat, which would make recommendations on the government's Iraq policy, probably in early January next year.

Source: Xinhua