Schlesinger, James Rodney

Schlesinger, James Rodney Schlesinger, James Rodney, 1929â€"2014, U.S. secretary of defense (1973â€"75) and secretary of energy (1977â€"79), b. New York City. After graduating from Harvard (A.B., 1950; A.M., 1952; Ph.D., 1956), he taught economics (1955â€"63) at the Univ. of Virginia and was then (1963â€"69) a specialist in strategic studies for the RAND Corp. A Republican, he was appointed (1969) assistant director of the Bureau of the Budget by President Richard Nixon, under whom he later assumed the offices of chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (1971), director of the Central Intelligence Agency (Feb., 1973), and secretary of defense (July, 1973). After Nixon's resignation (1974), he continued to work for President Gerald Ford, but personal and policy differences led to his dismissal (1975). Under President Jimmy Carter, he was the first secretary of energy. Among his books is America at Century's End (1989). The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Pr ess. All rights reserved. See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. History: Biographies