The Bush administration was shaken yesterday by revelations from a new book by Bob Woodward, the veteran investigative reporter, which said the former White House chief of staff Andrew Card had twice tried to force the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld, defence secretary, over his handling of the Iraq war.

The book, State of Denial, by the Washington Post reporter who uncovered the Watergate scandal, paints a picture of an administration riven by personal rivalries, with Mr Rumsfeld at one point refusing to take calls from Condoleezza Rice, then national security adviser, and claims that even Laura Bush, President George W. Bush's wife, had misgivings about the attitude of the defence secretary.