It was a long time coming, but when Donald Rumsfeld--the butt of endless Daily Show segments--sat down with Jon Stewart, the result was a mostly cordial interview. After, of course, the host introduced his guest with this statement: "Obviously, elephant in the room, tension. I think I know why you're here and let me just deflate the tension right off the bat. Apology accepted." Rumsfeld, for his part, took all the gentle ribbing in stride. And when Stewart proceed to pull quotes from Rumsfeld's new memoir and pose them to the former Secretary of Defense, he generally received straightforward answers (that's the upside to interviewing a former cabinet member).

"I feel like we're just sitting on a porch now sipping lemonade," Stewart quipped midway through the interview's first segment. Watch below:

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Erik Hayden