James R. Schlesinger

James Rodney Schlesinger (* February 15, 1929 in New York City; † March 27, 2014 in Baltimore, Maryland ) was an American politician. Under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford from 1973 to 1975 he was Secretary of Defense. Ford's successor, Jimmy Carter appointed him the first Secretary of Energy of the United States.

Scientific career

Schlesinger, who grew up in a middle class Jewish family, and later became a Lutheran, attended the Horace Mann School and Harvard University. He graduated in 1950 with a BA in 1952 with the MA and 1956 with the Ph.D. in from economics. Between 1955 and 1963, he taught economics at the University of Virginia. In 1963 he joined the Rand Corporation, where he worked as director of strategic studies until 1969.

Public offices

Nixon Administration

1969 Schlesinger was deputy director of the Bureau of the Budget and dealt mainly with defense issues there. In 1971, President Nixon appointed him chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). In the one and a half years in this function Schlesinger did extensive reorganization and increased the efficiency of AEC significantly.

Director of the CIA

On 2 February 1973 he was appointed director of the CIA after the previous director Richard Helms was released in connection with the Watergate scandal. In this office he held six months he led consistently through restructuring and thereby made ​​in the CIA and opponents.

U.S. Secretary of Defense

Shortly before his resignation, Nixon appointed Schlesinger on 2 July 1973 at the age of 44 years as Secretary of Defense ( Secretary of Defense) in his cabinet. This office he retained under Nixon's successor Gerald Ford From 1973 to 1975. His successor was Donald Rumsfeld. During his tenure as Secretary of Defense in addition to the final phase of the Vietnam War were also the Yom Kippur War, the Cyprus crisis and the oil crisis. Schlesinger threatened in early 1974 with the use of force against the OPEC countries, if they damaged the U.S. economy.

Secretary of Energy

After leaving the Pentagon Schlesinger worked as a freelance writer and speaker. After the presidential election in 1976, he was (although a member of the Republican Party ) in October 1977 appointed the first Secretary of Energy under President Jimmy Carter (Democratic Party). This ministry was formed anew from the current 50 different authorities. He held that office until July 1979.

Other activities

Later he worked as a Senior Adviser at Kuhn, Loeb & Co. and Lehman Brothers in New York City. He also worked for the Mitre Corporation. In June 2002, he was appointed by U.S. President George W. Bush to the Homeland Security Advisory Council.

Works

  • "The Political Economy of National Security " 1960

He is also the author of a series of articles on the topic of global warming, in which he took the position of a climate skeptic. Last Schlesinger had spoken strongly for the recognition of peak oil theory and the view that the world has now reached the production peak for oil.

History of the Jews in the United States Office of Management and Budget Central Intelligence Agency The Washington Post Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter Walter Bedell Smith William Colby Stansfield Turner William J. Casey William H. Webster R. James Woolsey, Jr. John E. McLaughlin Porter Goss Michael Morell John O. Brennan David E. Lilienthal Louis A. Johnson George Marshall Robert A. Lovett Charles Erwin Wilson Neil H. McElroy Thomas S. Gates, Jr. Robert McNamara Elliot Richardson Harold Brown (Secretary of Defense) Frank Carlucci Dick Cheney William Cohen Charles Duncan, Jr. James B. Edwards Donald P. Hodel John S. Herrington James D. Watkins Bill Richardson Samuel Bodman Steven Chu Ernest Moniz Integrated Authority File
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