United States Secretary of Defense

The United States Secretary of Defense is the head of the United States Department of Defense concerned with the armed services and military matters. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet.

This position was created in 1947, when the Navy, Army, and newly created Air Force were merged into the new Department of Defense. In the same massive reorganization, the Secretary of the Navy was changed to a non-Cabinet position placed under the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of War was replaced by the Secretary of the Army, also a non-Cabinet position under the Secretary of Defense.

Secretaries of Defense

Name	Term of Office	President(s) served under
James V. Forrestal	September 17, 1947 - March 28, 1949	Harry S. Truman
Louis A. Johnson	March 28, 1949 - September 19, 1950	Harry S. Truman
George C. Marshall	September 21, 1950 - September 12, 1951	Harry S. Truman
Robert A. Lovett	September 17, 1951 - January 20, 1953	Harry S. Truman
Charles E. Wilson	January 28, 1953 - October 8, 1957	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Neil H. McElroy	October 9, 1957 - December 1, 1959	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Thomas S. Gates	December 2, 1959 - January 20, 1961	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Robert McNamara	January 21, 1961 - February 29, 1968	John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson
Clark Clifford	March 1, 1968- January 20, 1969	Lyndon Johnson
Melvin Laird	January 22, 1969 - January 29, 1973	Richard Nixon
Elliot L. Richardson	January 30, 1973 - May 24, 1973	Richard Nixon
James R. Schlesinger	July 2, 1973 - November 19, 1975	Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford
Donald H. Rumsfeld (1st time)	November 20, 1975 - January 20, 1977	Gerald Ford
Harold Brown	January 21, 1977 - January 20, 1981	Jimmy Carter
Caspar W. Weinberger	January 21, 1981 - November 23, 1987	Ronald Reagan
Frank C. Carlucci	November 23, 1987 - January 20, 1989	Ronald Reagan
Richard B. Cheney	March 21, 1989 - January 20, 1993	George H. W. Bush
Les Aspin	January 21, 1993 - February 3, 1994	Bill Clinton
William J. Perry	February 3, 1994 - January 23, 1997	Bill Clinton
William S. Cohen	January 24, 1997 - January 20, 2001	Bill Clinton
Donald H. Rumsfeld (2nd time)	January 20, 2001 - present	George W. Bush

External Links

• Histories of the Secretaries of Defense