Democrats gained control of the US House of Representatives and defeated at least four Republican Senators, riding a wave of voter discontent with President George W Bush and the war in Iraq.

Hours after the results came in, Bush announced that Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, the hard-driving and super-confident Pentagon boss, was resigning.

After his party’s sweeping defeat in the midterm elections, Bush said he and Rumsfeld had had “a series of thoughtful conversations” and agreed that “the time is right for new leadership at the Pentagon.” Bush said he would nominate Robert Gates, former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, and now president of Texas A & M University, to replace Rumsfeld. Bush said both he and the departing Secretary recognized the “value of a fresh perspective.”

Only days ago, Bush had voiced confidence in Rumsfeld, as he had consistently done since the start of his presidency. But Tuesday’s elections produced a furious reaction from the American public over a military campaign that has cost the lives of nearly 3,000 members of the armed forces and that many people of all political stripes have described as poorly managed.

Whether the president asked Rumsfeld to go or whether Rumsfeld took the cue from the elections, was not immediately clear. But people who know the Secretary said he might step aside on his own if he concluded that he had become a liability.

Democrats have accused Rumsfeld of ignoring the advice of some generals that imposing a peace in Iraq would be harder and bloodier than just winning the war to topple Saddam Hussein.

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