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James R. Schlesinger
Sign in to saveAlso known as James Schlesinger, James Rodney Schlesinger
United States Secretary of Defense; United States Secretary of Energy; economist, academic and educator (1929-2014)
Key facts
- President
- Jimmy Carter
- Preceded by
- John F. O'Leary ( Federal Energy Administration ), Robert W. Fri ( Energy Research and Development Administration )
- Succeeded by
- Charles Duncan Jr.
- Deputy
- Vernon A. Walters
- Born
- James Rodney Schlesinger , ( 1929-02-15 ) February 15, 1929, New York City , New York , U.S.
- Died
- March 27, 2014 (2014-03-27) (aged 85), Baltimore , Maryland , U.S.
- Party
- Republican
- Spouse
- Rachel Line Mellinger ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1954 ; died 1995 )
- Education
- Harvard University ( BA , MA , PhD )
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Family name
- Schlesinger
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- New York City
- Place of death
- Baltimore
- Occupation
- university teacher
- Position held
- Director of Central Intelligence
- Employer
- University of Virginia
- Political party
- Republican Party (United States)
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Religion
- Lutheranism
- Image
- SecretarySchlesinger.jpg
- Number of children
- 8
Show 6 more facts
- date of death
- 2014-03-27
- Commons category
- James R. Schlesinger
- date of birth
- 1929-02-15
- cause of death
- pneumonia
- writing language
- English language
- manner of death
- natural causes
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~27 min read
Encyclopedic overview
James Rodney Schlesinger (February 15, 1929 – March 27, 2014) was an American economist and statesman who was best known for serving as Secretary of Defense from 1973 to 1975 under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Prior to becoming Secretary of Defense, he served as Chair of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) from 1971 to 1973, and as CIA Director for a few months in 1973. He became America's first Secretary of Energy under Jimmy Carter in 1977, serving until 1979.
While Secretary of Defense, he opposed amnesty for draft resistors and pressed for development of more sophisticated nuclear weapon systems. Additionally, his support for the A-10 and the lightweight fighter program (later the F-16) helped ensure that they were carried to completion.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “James R. Schlesinger” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.