34 Facts About Les Aspin

In Congress, Aspin had a reputation as an intellectual who took a middle-of-the-road position on controversial issues.

Les Aspin supported the Reagan administration regarding the MX missile and aid to the Nicaraguan Contras, but he opposed the B-2 bomber and the Strategic Defense Initiative.

Les Aspin faced complex social issues, such as the roles of homosexuals in uniform, and of women in combat, as well as major decisions regarding the use of military force in Somalia, Bosnia, and Haiti.

Les Aspin proposed budget cuts and restructuring of forces as part of the downsizing of the military after the end of the Cold War.

Les Aspin then attended the University of Oxford, where he received his Master of Philosophy in economics in 1962 and his Doctor of Philosophy in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1966.

Les Aspin met his wife, Maureen Shea, in Saigon during the Vietnam War.

Les Aspin served a brief tenure as a congressional staff member for United States Senator William Proxmire.

Les Aspin ran as a peace candidate in 1970, opposing the Vietnam War.

Les Aspin lost the initial count by a few dozen votes, and initially refused to pay for a recount out of his own pocket.

Les Aspin was elected as a Democrat to the 92nd and to the 11 succeeding Congresses and served from January 3,1971, until his resignation January 20,1993.

Les Aspin began his career in the United States House of Representatives as an outsider but honed his particular interest and expertise in defense matters.

Les Aspin's chairmanship caused controversy among some House Democrats, particularly because he supported the Reagan administration's policies on the MX missile and aid to the Nicaraguan Contras.

Les Aspin again broke with many Democrats in January 1991 when he issued a paper supporting the Bush administration's intention to use military force to drive the Iraqis from Kuwait.

Les Aspin served as an adviser to Clinton on defense matters during the 1992 presidential campaign.

Les Aspin was skeptical about the Strategic Defense Initiative, and favored a smaller Navy, a cut in US troops in Europe, and further reduction of military personnel strength.

Les Aspin looked like a sound choice to manage this change.

Also on the social side, Les Aspin had to deal with the volatile question of service women in combat.

The bottom-up review report, which Les Aspin released in September 1993, took into account strategy formulation, force structure, weapon systems modernization, and Defense infrastructure.

In March 1993 Les Aspin introduced a FY 1994 budget proposal costing $263.4 billion, about $12 billion below current levels, and reflecting cuts in the military services similar to those later included in the bottom-up review.

Furthermore, Les Aspin was on record as favoring the use of US troops in regional conflicts, as opposed to other decisionmakers, including General Colin Powell, chairman of the JCS.

In May 1993 Les Aspin announced "the end of the Star Wars era," explaining that the collapse of the Soviet Union had determined the fate of SDI.

Les Aspin renamed the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization as the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and established its priorities as theater and national missile defense and useful follow-on technologies.

Les Aspin rejected this demand and announced that the United States would suspend plans to withdraw its troops gradually from the peninsula.

Les Aspin described the attack as a "wake up call" for Saddam Hussein.

Two months later Les Aspin received a report on the US military performance during the 1991 Gulf War, the result of a study undertaken by the House Armed Services Committee when he chaired it.

Les Aspin had to consider the question of health problems of US service personnel who participated in the action against Iraq.

Les Aspin announced that a preliminary review disclosed no connection between chemical weapon agents and the reported health problems.

Les Aspin did not favor using ground forces to intervene in the civil war involving the Bosnian Muslims, Serbs, and Croats, but thought that the use of sophisticated weapons was a more reasonable option.

In December 1992, shortly before Les Aspin became secretary of defense, the United States joined a new Unified Task Force to provide security as well as food relief.

At that time, confronting criticism at home that the United States was getting more deeply involved in the factional violence in Somalia without a clear rationale, Les Aspin explained that US troops would remain until order had been restored in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, progress had been made in disarming rival clans, and effective police forces were operating in the country's major cities.

In September 1993, General Powell asked Aspin to approve the request of the US commander in Somalia for tanks, armored vehicles and AC-130 Spectre gunships for his forces.

Les Aspin turned down the request and did not take Powell's request seriously.

The president publicly defended Les Aspin but made clear that the White House was not involved in the decision not to send armor reinforcements to Somalia.

Les Aspin had had increasing difficulty during the last years of his life with a congenital heart condition.