44 Facts About James Schlesinger

1.

James Rodney Schlesinger was an American economist and public servant who was best known for serving as Secretary of Defense from 1973 to 1975 under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

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2.

James Schlesinger became America's first Secretary of Energy under Jimmy Carter in 1977, serving until 1979.

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3.

James Rodney Schlesinger was born in New York City, the son of Jewish parents, Rhea Lillian and Julius Schlesinger.

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4.

James Schlesinger's mother was a Lithuanian emigrant from what was then part of the Russian Empire and his father's family was from Austria.

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5.

In 1969, Schlesinger joined the Nixon administration as assistant director of the Bureau of the Budget, devoting most of his time to Defense matters.

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6.

James Schlesinger was CIA Director from February 2,1973, to July 2,1973,.

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7.

James Schlesinger had a CCTV camera installed near his official portrait at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Va.

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8.

The United States, James Schlesinger said, needed the ability, in the event of a nuclear attack, to respond so as to "limit the chances of uncontrolled escalation" and "hit meaningful targets" without causing widespread collateral damage.

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9.

James Schlesinger explicitly disavowed any intention to acquire a destabilizing first-strike capability against the USSR.

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10.

James Schlesinger devoted much attention to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, citing the need to strengthen its conventional capabilities.

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11.

James Schlesinger rejected the old assumption that NATO did not need a direct counter to Warsaw Pact conventional forces because it could rely on tactical and strategic nuclear weapons, noting that the approximate nuclear parity between the United States and the Soviets in the 1970s made this stand inappropriate.

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12.

James Schlesinger rejected the argument that NATO could not afford a conventional counterweight to Warsaw Pact forces.

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13.

James Schlesinger urged qualitative improvements in NATO forces, including equipment standardization, and an increase in defense spending by NATO governments of up to five percent of their gross national product.

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14.

James Schlesinger had an abiding interest in strategic theory, but he had to deal with a succession of immediate crises that tested his administrative and political skills.

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15.

James Schlesinger felt the Turks had overstepped the bounds of legitimate NATO interests in Cyprus and suggested that the United States might have to reexamine its military aid program to Turkey.

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16.

Some senators criticized James Schlesinger and questioned him sharply during his confirmation hearings in June 1973 after he stated that he would recommend resumption of US bombing in North Vietnam and Laos if North Vietnam launched a major offensive against South Vietnam.

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17.

James Schlesinger announced early in the morning of 29 April 1975 the evacuation from Saigon by helicopter of the last US diplomatic, military and civilian personnel.

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18.

Unsurprisingly, given his determination to build up US strategic and conventional forces, James Schlesinger devoted much time and effort to the Defense budget.

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19.

James Schlesinger's legacy included the development of the close-air support aircraft the A-10 and the lightweight F-16 fighter.

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20.

Kissinger strongly supported the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks process, while James Schlesinger wanted assurances that arms control agreements would not put the United States in a strategic position inferior to the Soviet Union.

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21.

James Schlesinger left office on 19 November 1975, explaining his departure in terms of his budgetary differences with the White House.

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22.

James Schlesinger told Ford the first strike was carried out, but Ford later learned that James Schlesinger, who disagreed with the order, had none of them carried out.

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23.

James Schlesinger disagreed with doing so and did not send the aircraft.

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24.

James Schlesinger got along well with the military leadership because he proposed to give them more resources, consulted with them regularly, and shared many of their views.

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25.

Secretary James Schlesinger oversaw the integration of the energy powers of more than 50 agencies, such as the Federal Energy Administration and the Federal Power Commission.

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26.

On July 7,1977 James Schlesinger read and attached a note to a memo about the catastrophic effects of climate change entitled "Release of Fossil CO2 and the Possibility of a Catastrophic Climate Change", his note read:.

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27.

James Schlesinger was employed as a senior adviser to Lehman Brothers, Kuhn, Loeb Inc, of New York City.

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28.

James Schlesinger advised Congressman and presidential candidate Richard Gephardt in 1988.

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29.

James Schlesinger served as a consultant to the United States Department of Defense, and was a member of the Defense Policy Board.

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30.

James Schlesinger was an honorary chairman of The OSS Society.

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31.

In 2007, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin appointed James Schlesinger to be the Chairman of the National Space-based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Advisory Board.

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32.

James Schlesinger was chairman of the Board of Trustees of The MITRE Corporation, having served on it from 1985 until his death in 2014; on the advisory board of The National Interest; a Director of BNFL, Inc, Peabody Energy, Sandia Corporation, Seven Seas Petroleum Company, chairman of the executive committee of The Nixon Center.

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33.

James Schlesinger was on the advisory board of GeoSynFuels, LLC Schlesinger penned a number of opinion pieces on global warming, expressing a strongly skeptical position.

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34.

James Schlesinger raised awareness of the peak oil issue and supports facing it.

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35.

James Schlesinger warned of political inaction as a major hindrance, like those in Pompeii before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

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36.

In 1954, Schlesinger married Rachel Line Mellinger ; they had eight children: Cora, Charles, Ann, William, Emily, Thomas, Clara and James.

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37.

Rachel James Schlesinger was an accomplished violinist and board member of the Arlington Symphony.

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38.

James Schlesinger died from cancer before seeing the center's completion.

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39.

Clients of the James Schlesinger Center include the Alexandria Symphony, the United States Marine Band, "The President's Own", and the US Marine Chamber Orchestra, the United States Army Band, "Pershing's Own", and the US Army Strings, the United States Navy Band, the New Dominion Chorale, the American Balalaika Symphony, Festivals of Music, various ethnic groups and many others.

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40.

James Schlesinger worked consistently with distinction long after his government and academic experiences, serving on numerous governmental advisory boards until only weeks before his death at the age of 85.

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41.

James Schlesinger was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery in Springfield, Ohio.

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42.

James Schlesinger is referred to in the book Peril by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa concerning actions taken by Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Trump and Biden.

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43.

James Schlesinger was at the top of the chain of command, just below the President.

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44.

James Schlesinger kept the President's constitutional command [sic] authority firmly in civilian hands.

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