Biography

James Schlesinger was born on February 15, 1929 in New York City, New York, USA. He was married to Rachel Line Mellinger. He died on March 27, 2014 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

U.S. secretary of defense (1973-1976).

Secretary of Defense under President Richard Nixon from June 28, 1973 to November 3, 1975. A conservative Republican, previously a teacher of economics at the University of Virginia, senior staff member of the conservative think-tank Rand Corporation, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (appointed by Nixon on July 21, 1971), and director of the Central Intelligence Agency for a few months in 1973. When President Jimmy Carter launched the Department of Energy, Schlesinger was appointed to be the first Secretary Of Energy (August 4, 1977; resigned July 19, 1979).

Director of the CIA for 17 weeks in 1973, in which time he fired or laid off ten percent of the agency's 40,000+ employees, over 4,000 people.

He had eleven grandchildren.

He and his wife Rachel had eight children, all of which survived him. Cora Schlesinger of Richmond, Virginia; Charles Schlesinger of Benbrook, Texas; James Schlesinger, Jr. of Front Royal, Virginia; and Ann Schlesinger, William Schlesinger, Emily Schlesinger, Thomas Schlesinger and Clara Schlesinger, all living in Arlington, Virginia.