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Caspar Weinberger

Caspar Willard Weinberger GBE (August 18, 1917 – March 28, 2006) was an American politician and businessman. As a Republican, he served in a variety of state and federal positions for three decades, most notably as Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from January 1981 to November 1987.[1] He was indicted on charges of lying to Congress and obstructing government investigations as part of the Iran–Contra investigation, but was pardoned by President George H. W. Bush before facing trial.

Caspar Weinberger
Weinberger in the 1980s
15th United States Secretary of Defense
In office
January 21, 1981 – November 23, 1987
PresidentRonald Reagan
DeputyFrank Carlucci
W. Paul Thayer
William Taft IV
Preceded byHarold Brown
Succeeded byFrank Carlucci
10th United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
In office
February 12, 1973 – August 8, 1975
PresidentRichard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Preceded byElliot Richardson
Succeeded byF. David Mathews
20th Director of the Office of Management and Budget
In office
June 12, 1972 – February 1, 1973
PresidentRichard Nixon
Preceded byGeorge Shultz
Succeeded byRoy Ash
Chair of the Federal Trade Commission
In office
December 31, 1969 – August 6, 1970
PresidentRichard Nixon
Preceded byPaul Dixon
Succeeded byMiles Kirkpatrick
Director of the California Department of Finance
In office
March 1, 1968 – December 31, 1969
GovernorRonald Reagan
Preceded byGordon P. Smith
Succeeded byVerne Orr
Chair of the California Republican Party
In office
1962–1964
Preceded byJohn Krehbiel
Succeeded byGaylord Parkinson
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 21st district
In office
January 5, 1953 – January 5, 1959
Preceded byArthur H. Connolly Jr.
Succeeded byMilton Marks
Personal details
Born
Caspar Willard Weinberger

(1917-08-18)August 18, 1917
San Francisco, California, U.S.
DiedMarch 28, 2006(2006-03-28) (aged 88)
Bangor, Maine, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
(m. 1942)
Children2
EducationHarvard University (BA, LLB)
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Years of service1941–1945
RankCaptain
Unit41st Infantry Division
Battles/warsWorld War II

Weinberger was a member of the California State Assembly from 1953 to 1959. He also served as Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission and Director of the Office of Management and Budget under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He later became vice president and general counsel of Bechtel Corporation.

Weinberger's tenure as Secretary of Defense was marked by his hard line against the Soviet Union, in disagreement with the State Department. He promoted the Strategic Defense Initiative, an orbital weapons program. Weinberger was awarded both the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1987 and an honorary British knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II. In 1993, he became Chairman of Forbes magazine.

Early life edit

Weinberger was born on August 18, 1917, in San Francisco, California, the younger of two sons of Herman Weinberger (1886-1944), an attorney, and Cerise Carpenter Weinberger (née Hampson; 1886-1975), a music teacher. His father was of Jewish descent from Austria-Hungary, while his maternal grandparents were from Wisconsin. Caspar Weinberger's father, Herman, was the younger brother of Luella Weinberger McNeill, mother of Don McNeill. The 1910 Census shows Herman and Luella living in the household of Nathan Weinberger, the grandfather of Caspar Weinberger.

Weinberger's paternal grandparents had left Judaism over a religious dispute while living in Bohemia. He was raised in a home with no denominational ties, though with a socially Christian orientation. Weinberger would later become an active Episcopalian and often expressed his faith in God.[2] Weinberger had stated that his mother's Episcopal religion was "an enormous influence and comfort all my life".[3]

Education edit

Weinberger attended San Francisco Polytechnic High School. He was academically gifted and gained admission to Harvard University, graduating in 1938 with a B.A., magna cum laude. Weinberger was offered a scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge but instead attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1941 with a Bachelor of Laws.[4]

Career edit

Military service edit

After graduating from Harvard Law School, Weinberger enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private. He was sent to the Army's Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia (now Fort Moore), where he was commissioned a second lieutenant. During World War II, he served with the 41st Infantry Division in the Pacific; by the war's end, he was a captain on the intelligence staff of General Douglas MacArthur. Early in life, Weinberger developed an interest in politics and history, and, during the war years, a special admiration for Winston Churchill, whom he would later cite as an important influence in his life. From 1945 to 1947, Weinberger was a law clerk for U.S. circuit judge William Edwin Orr of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He then entered private practice at a San Francisco law firm.

California politics edit

In 1952, Weinberger entered the race for California's 21st State Assembly district[5] in the San Francisco Bay area as a Republican at the persuasion of his wife, Jane Weinberger,[6] who also served as his campaign manager.[7] He won and was reelected in 1954 and 1956. As the chairman of the Assembly Government Organization Committee, Weinberger was responsible for the creation of the California Department of Water Resources and was instrumental in the creation of the California State Water Project. Weinberger also unsuccessfully opposed the construction of the Embarcadero Freeway, saying it would ruin the view of the Bay and damage property values.[8] Weinberger felt vindicated when the freeway was removed after the 1989 earthquake. Although unsuccessful in his 1958 campaign for California Attorney General, Weinberger continued to be active in politics and was chosen by Nixon in 1962 to become chairman of the California Republican Party.

Governor Ronald Reagan named him chairman of the Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy in 1967 and appointed him State director of finance early in 1968. Weinberger moved to Washington in January 1970 to become chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. He is credited for having revitalized the FTC by enforcing consumer protection.[9]

Nixon cabinet edit

 
Weinberger in a group photo of Nixon's cabinet on June 16, 1972, far right in the front row.

Weinberger subsequently served under President Richard Nixon as deputy director (1970–1972) and director (1972–1973) of the Office of Management and Budget and Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (1973–1975). While serving in the Office of Management and Budget, Weinberger earned the nickname "Cap the Knife" for his cost-cutting ability. For the next five years, Weinberger was vice president and general counsel of the Bechtel Corporation in California.

Relf v. Weinberger edit

In 1973, the Southern Poverty Law Center named Weinberger as a defendant in a case that sought restitution for the forced non-consensual sterilization and medical experimentation on three young Black American girls, Minnie Lee, Mary Alice, and Katie Relf in Montgomery, Alabama. An employee of Montgomery's federally-funded Community Action organization took the Relf sisters to a family planning clinic under the pretext of needing “shots.” Staff gave Katie Relf a then-experimental birth control shot as well as inserted a contraceptive IUD device without parental knowledge or consent. On a separate occasion, doctors surgically sterilized Minnie Lee and Mary Alice who were twelve and fourteen years old respectively.[10] At the time of the suit, the Office of Economic Opportunity was preparing to hand over funding and control of its associated family planning clinics to Weinberger's Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

The SPLC's complaint shows that the O.E.O. recently began providing funding for such sterilization procedures, while top OEO personnel intentionally did not distribute a medical memo containing guidelines on obtaining patient consent for such operations. Dr. Warren M. Hern authored the memo, and ultimately resigned in outrage that the guidelines were not distributed. Copies of the memo, which included age of consent laws whose criteria the Relf girls did not meet, sat undistributed in a DC warehouse. At the time of the suit, Weinberger's most recent approved Health, Education, and Welfare budget included specific funding allotments for sterilization procedures, and thus he was named a defendant in the case. A district court involved in Relf V. Weinberger hearings found that anywhere from 100,000 to 150,000 poor people were sterilized annually using federal dollars, and some among those sterilized were coerced into the procedures by doctors who threatened to cut off welfare benefits.[11] The case shined fresh light on numerous[example needed] state sterilization and eugenics programs nationwide and led to compensation funds and settlements for some victims[citation needed].

Secretary of Defense edit

 
U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General David C. Jones during Senate Armed Services Committee Hearings at Capitol Hill.
 
Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger (left) with Israeli Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon, 1982

Weinberger was vying for Reagan to appoint him as Secretary of State but was given the position of Secretary of Defense instead.[12]

Weinberger took the lead in implementing a rollback strategy against Soviet communism. In 1984, journalist Nicholas Lemann interviewed Weinberger and summarized the strategy of the Reagan administration to roll back the Soviet Union:

Their society is economically weak, and it lacks the wealth, education, and technology to enter the information age. They have thrown everything into military production, and their society is starting to show terrible stress as a result. They can't sustain military production the way we can. Eventually it will break them, and then there will be just one superpower in a safe world – if, only if, we can keep spending.[13]

Lemann notes that when he wrote that in 1984, he thought the Reaganites were living in a fantasy world. But in 2016, he says, that passage represents "a fairly uncontroversial description of what Reagan actually did".

Although not widely experienced in defense matters, Weinberger had a reputation in Washington as an able administrator; his powers as a cost cutter earned him the sobriquet "Cap the Knife". He shared President Reagan's conviction that the Soviet Union posed a serious threat to the United States, and that the defense establishment needed to be modernized and strengthened. Belying his nickname, at the Pentagon Weinberger became a vigorous advocate of Reagan's plan to increase the Department of Defense budget. Readiness, sustainability, and modernization became the watchwords of the defense program. In his early years at the Pentagon, Cap Weinberger was known as "Cap the Ladle" for advocating large increases in defense spending.

 
Caspar Weinberger inspecting new hardware, Fort Lewis, Washington on April 22, 1983

As Secretary of Defense, Weinberger oversaw a massive rebuilding of US military strength. Major defense programs he championed included the B-1B bomber and the "600-ship Navy". His efforts created economic and military-industrial pressures that were associated with the beginning of Perestroika and the beginning of the end of both the Cold War and the Soviet Union.[14] However, this thesis was contested by a study on the causes of the collapse of the Soviet Union by two prominent economists from the World Bank – William Easterly, and Stanley Fischer from MIT: "... the study concludes that the increased Soviet defense spending provoked by Mr. Reagan's policies was not the straw that broke the back of the Evil Empire. The Soviet war in Afghanistan and the Soviet response to Mr. Reagan's Star Wars program caused only a relatively small rise in [USSR] defense costs. The massive US defense effort throughout the period from 1960 to 1987 contributed only marginally to Soviet economic decline."[15]

The same study points out the key reason for the economic decline of the USSR was relying on centrally-planned industrial-expansion to drive economic growth, rather than driving growth by increasing worker productivity via incentives; France and Japan were also mentioned (in 1994) as other centrally-planned economies that could soon experience similar troubles.[15] While the Reagan Doctrine was not a key factor in causing the economic implosion of the USSR, which was driven by internal contradictions, the Reagan proxy-rollback policy of the 1980s (which replaced Détente that Nixon and Carter generally pursued during the 1970s) was the key factor[16] in preventing expansion of the Soviet economic empire, and sustenance of their declining domestic economy from external sources. Reagan was one of the few people to predict this possibility. The final piece of the puzzle was the Soviet leadership: Brezhnev, Andropov, and Chernenko were hardline Communists, and prevented any significant changes, but Gorbachev was a reformer—and once economic reforms and political reforms began, they became unstoppable. British journalist Berrnard Levin wrote in 1977:

I do not believe it possible that the thirst for freedom and decency in the countries of the Soviet Empire can remain much longer unslaked, and that any attempt ... to satisfy it by real reforms, will be cataclysmically destructive of the eroded foundations of the entire State system. ... there will be no stopping the tide once the first sluice has been opened. Memories of the Czech tragedy of 1968 will still be fresh ... the most significant element of the Prague Spring was the way in which, once Mr Dubcek had shown that he supported the Czech desire for liberation, no attempt by him and his equally brave colleagues to go slowly proved availing — the scent of freedom in the nostrils of his people was too strong.[17][better source needed]

These events came at the cost of helping to triple the US national debt, and funding radicals. Weinberger pushed for dramatic increases in the United States' nuclear funding, and was a strong advocate of the controversial SDI, an initiative which proposed a space- and ground-based missile defense shield.[18][19]

Weinberger was reluctant to commit the armed forces, keeping only a token force of American marines in Lebanon that then became victims in the October 1983 Beirut barracks bombing.[20] In the wake of that terrible event, he laid out his engagement policy in a November 1984 speech on "The Uses of Military Power" at the National Press Club as the Six Tests.[21]

Unlike President Reagan and Secretary of State Shultz, Weinberger did not regard any of Gorbachev's actions—whether it was perestroika or glasnost—as reassuring indicators of his stated intentions.[22]: 34  "Not only did Gorbachev give up all of the Soviet 'non-negotiable' demands [regarding the INF Treaty], but he gave us precisely the kind of treaty that the President had sought for seven years. That act of course does not mean—any more than does the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan—that the USSR has given up its long-term aggressive designs."[22]: 34  Initially, Reagan's views were in line with Weinberger's views, but he began to reevaluate his perception of Gorbachev's intentions in 1987, the year Gorbachev accepted the U.S. proposal on INF.[22]: 35 

Weinberger resigned as Secretary of Defense on November 6, 1987.[23][24]

Iran–Contra affair edit

The Iran–Contra affair concerned the selling of US missiles to Iran. The funds received from Iran were then channeled to guerilla rebels known as Contras, who were fighting the socialist government of Nicaragua.[25] Such funding had been specifically denied by the US Congress.

Though he claimed to have been opposed to the sale on principle,[citation needed] actually Weinberger participated in the transfer of United States Hawk and TOW missiles to Iran at that time.

Iran–Contra resulted in a major scandal with several investigations which resulted in fourteen Reagan administration officials being indicted.[26][27][28]

After his resignation as Secretary of Defense, legal proceedings against Weinberger were continued by Independent Counsel Lawrence E. Walsh. On June 17, 1992, Weinberger was indicted on five felony charges related to the Iran-contra affair, including accusations that he had lied to Congress and obstructed Government investigations.[29][30] He was defended by defense attorney Carl Rauh.

Prosecutors brought an additional indictment just four days before the 1992 presidential election. This was controversial because it cited a Weinberger diary entry contradicting a claim made by President George H. W. Bush. Republicans claimed that this action contributed to President Bush's later defeat. On December 11, 1992, Judge Thomas F. Hogan threw out this indictment because it violated the five-year statute of limitations and improperly broadened the original charges.[31]

Before Weinberger could be tried on the original charges, he received a pardon on December 24, 1992, from then President Bush, who had been Reagan's vice president during the scandal.[27][32]

Later career edit

External videos
  Booknotes interview with Weinberger on Fighting for Peace, July 15, 1990, C-SPAN

Weinberger had been Secretary of Defense for six years and ten months, longer than anyone except for Robert McNamara and more recently Donald Rumsfeld. After Weinberger left the Pentagon, he joined Forbes, Inc., in 1989 as publisher of Forbes magazine. He was named chairman in 1993. Over the next decade, he wrote frequently on defense and national security issues. In 1990, he wrote Fighting for Peace, an account of his Pentagon years. In 1996, Weinberger co-authored a book entitled The Next War, which raised questions about the adequacy of US military capabilities following the end of the Cold War.

He was a member of the Founding Council of the Rothermere American Institute at the University of Oxford.

Personal life edit

In 1942, Weinberger married Rebecca Jane Dalton, who was born on March 29, 1918, in Milford, Maine.[7] A World War II Army nurse, and later author and publisher, she "coaxed her husband ... into politics and was a loyal Washington wife during three Republican administrations before she began to write and publish children's books".[6] Jane Weinberger, a uterine cancer survivor, died on July 12, 2009, aged 91, at Bar Harbor, Maine, following a stroke.[6] The couple had a daughter, Arlin Weinberger, and a son, Caspar Willard Weinberger Jr.

Death edit

 
Weinberger's funeral at Arlington National Cemetery

While residing on Mount Desert Island, Maine, Weinberger was treated for and died from complications of pneumonia at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine, aged 88. He was survived by his wife, their two children, and several grandchildren.

He was buried in Section 30, Grave 835–1 at Arlington National Cemetery on April 4, 2006.

Shortly after his death President George W. Bush in a public statement said:

Caspar Weinberger was an American statesman and a dedicated public servant. He wore the uniform in World War II, held elected office, and served in the cabinets of three Presidents. As Secretary of Defense for President Reagan, he worked to strengthen our military and win the Cold War. In all his years, this good man made many contributions to our Nation. America is grateful for Caspar Weinberger's lifetime of service. Laura and I send our condolences and prayers to the entire Weinberger family.[33]

Then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated:

Cap Weinberger was a friend. His extensive career in public service, his support for the men and women in uniform and his central role in helping to win the Cold War leave a lasting legacy ... He left the United States armed forces stronger, our country safer and the world more free.[34]

Awards edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "The Political Graveyard: Phi Beta Kappa Politicians in Maine". politicalgraveyard.com.
  2. ^ Weinberger, Caspar W.; Roberts, Gretchen (2003). In the Arena: A Memoir of the 20th Century. Regnery Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-89526-103-8. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
  3. ^ Stout, David (March 29, 2006). "Caspar W. Weinberger, Who Served 3 Republican Presidents, Is Dead at 88". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Jackson, Harold (29 March 2006). "Obituary: Caspar Weinberg". The Guardian.
  5. ^ . Miller Center, University of Virginia. Archived from the original on 2016-09-23.
  6. ^ a b c Woo, Elaine (2009-07-15). "Jane Weinberger dies at 91; author, publisher and wife of Defense secretary". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
  7. ^ a b Martin, Douglas (2009-07-15). "Jane Weinberger, Author Who Became Publisher, Dies at 91". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
  8. ^ Norquist, John (1998). Wealth of Cities (1st ed.). Basic Books. p. 164. ISBN 978-0201442137.
  9. ^ Niesen, Molly (2012). "The Little Old Lady Has Teeth: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Advertising Industry, 1970–1973". Advertising & Society Review. 12 (4). doi:10.1353/asr.2012.0000. S2CID 154923896.
  10. ^ "RELF V. WEINBERGER". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  11. ^ Levin, Dees, Palmer, Jospeh, Morris, Frederick. "Relf V. Weinberger Complaint" (PDF). Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Denton, Sally (2016). The Profiteers: Bechtel and the Men Who Built the World.
  13. ^ Nicholas Lemann, "Reagan: The Triumph of Tone" The New York Review of Books 10 March, 2016
  14. ^ Owens, Mackubin Thomas (June 5, 2004). . National Review Online. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2006.
  15. ^ a b Dale, Reginald (June 17, 1994). "Many Can Learn From Soviet Downfall". The New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
  16. ^ Knopf, Jeffrey W. (August 2004). . Strategic Insights, Volume III, Issue 8. Center for Contemporary Conflict at the Naval Postgraduate School. Archived from the original on 2009-03-01. Retrieved 2006-04-19.
  17. ^ Levin, Bernard (August 1977). "The Most Accurate Prediction in History". The Times (London). Times Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  18. ^ Weinberger, Caspar W. (February 26, 1987). "Weinberger: No Division On SDI". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2013-01-13.
  19. ^ . February 24, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-02-24.
  20. ^ "Weinberger Reluctant On Bigger Beirut Force". www.nytimes.com. The New York Times Company. October 29, 1982. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  21. ^ . Air Force Magazine. 87 (1). January 2004. Archived from the original on 2013-12-12. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
  22. ^ a b c Yarhi-Milo, Keren (2013). "In the Eye of the Beholder: How Leaders and Intelligence Communities Assess the Intentions of Adversaries". International Security. 38 (1): 7–51. doi:10.1162/isec_a_00128. S2CID 57565605. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  23. ^ Brinley, Joel (November 6, 1987). "Weinberger, As Expected, Resigns". The New York Times. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  24. ^ Gerstenzang, James (November 6, 1987). "Weinberger Quits With Call for Strong Defense". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  25. ^ "Understanding the Iran-Contra Affairs - The Iran-Contra Affairs". www.brown.edu.
  26. ^ Dwyer, Paula. . Business Week. Archived from the original on 2008-04-16. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
  27. ^ a b McDonald, Dian (24 December 1992). "Bush Pardons Weinberger, Five Others Tied to Iran-Contra" (Press release). Washington: United States Information Agency. Retrieved 29 December 2018 – via GlobalSecurity.org.
  28. ^ "Pardons and Commutations Granted by President George H. W. Bush". United States Department of Justice. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
  29. ^ Brinley, Joel (June 17, 1992). "Weinberger Faces 5 Counts In Iran-Contra Indictment". The New York Times. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  30. ^ "Weinberger charged in Iran-Contra matter" (Press release). United States Information Agency. 16 June 1992. Retrieved 29 December 2018 – via GlobalSecurity.org.
  31. ^ Johnston, David (December 12, 1992). "Charge in Weinberger Case That Caused Furor Before Election is Thrown Out". The New York Times.
  32. ^ Johnston, David (25 December 1992). "Bush Pardons 6 in Iran Affair, Averting a Weinberger Trial; Prosecutor Assails 'Cover-Up'". The New York Times (National ed.). p. A00001. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  33. ^ "Statement by the President on the Death of Caspar Weinberger". georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov.
  34. ^ . U.S. Department of Defense. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.
  35. ^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.

Further reading edit

  • Culliton, Barbara J. "Caspar Weinberger: Beware of an 'All-Pervasive' Federal Government" Science 189#4203 (1975), pp. 617–619 Online
  • Granieri, Ronald J. "Beyond Cap the Foil: Caspar Weinberger And the Reagan-Era Defense Buildup," in Coleman, Bradley Lynn et al. eds. Reagan and the World: Leadership and National Security, 1981–1989 (2019) ch 3.
  • Powaski, Ronald E. "Ronald Reagan, George Shultz, and Caspar Weinberger: Winding Down the Cold War, 1984–1988." American Presidential Statecraft (Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2017) pp. 175–223.
  • Preston, Andrew. "A Foreign Policy Divided Against Itself: George Shultz versus Caspar Weinberger." in Andrew L. Johns, ed. A Companion to Ronald Reagan (2015): pp 546–564. online
  • Williams, Phil. "The Reagan Administration and Defence Policy." in Dilys M. Hill and Raymond A. Moore, eds The Reagan Presidency (Palgrave Macmillan, 1990) pp. 199–230.
  • Yoshitani, Gail E. S. Reagan on War: A Reappraisal of the Weinberger Doctrine, 1980-1984 (Texas A&M UP, 2011).

Primary sources edit

  • Weinberger, Caspar W. Fighting for peace: Seven critical years in the Pentagon (Warner Books, 1990)
  • Weinberger, Caspar W. and Peter Schweizer. The next war (Regnery, 1998).
  • Weinberger, Caspar W., and Gretchen Roberts. In the Arena: A Memoir of the 20th Century (Regnery Publishing, 2001).
  • Weinberger, Caspar W. "Report on Allied Contributions to the Common Defense" (Department of Defense: April 1987) Online

External links edit

  • An interview with Caspar Weinberger (MP3)
  • Interview about the MX missiles for the WGBH series
  • Appearances on C-SPAN
  • BBC News obituary
  • Baltimore Sun obituary
  • Caspar Weinberger at IMDb
  • Oral history interview on California politics [1]
Political offices
Preceded by Chair of the Federal Trade Commission
1969–1970
Succeeded by
Preceded by Director of the Office of Management and Budget
1972–1973
Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
1973–1975
Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Secretary of Defense
1981–1987
Succeeded by

caspar, weinberger, caspar, willard, weinberger, august, 1917, march, 2006, american, politician, businessman, republican, served, variety, state, federal, positions, three, decades, most, notably, secretary, defense, under, president, ronald, reagan, from, ja. Caspar Willard Weinberger GBE August 18 1917 March 28 2006 was an American politician and businessman As a Republican he served in a variety of state and federal positions for three decades most notably as Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from January 1981 to November 1987 1 He was indicted on charges of lying to Congress and obstructing government investigations as part of the Iran Contra investigation but was pardoned by President George H W Bush before facing trial Caspar WeinbergerWeinberger in the 1980s15th United States Secretary of DefenseIn office January 21 1981 November 23 1987PresidentRonald ReaganDeputyFrank CarlucciW Paul ThayerWilliam Taft IVPreceded byHarold BrownSucceeded byFrank Carlucci10th United States Secretary of Health Education and WelfareIn office February 12 1973 August 8 1975PresidentRichard NixonGerald FordPreceded byElliot RichardsonSucceeded byF David Mathews20th Director of the Office of Management and BudgetIn office June 12 1972 February 1 1973PresidentRichard NixonPreceded byGeorge ShultzSucceeded byRoy AshChair of the Federal Trade CommissionIn office December 31 1969 August 6 1970PresidentRichard NixonPreceded byPaul DixonSucceeded byMiles KirkpatrickDirector of the California Department of FinanceIn office March 1 1968 December 31 1969GovernorRonald ReaganPreceded byGordon P SmithSucceeded byVerne OrrChair of the California Republican PartyIn office 1962 1964Preceded byJohn KrehbielSucceeded byGaylord ParkinsonMember of the California State Assembly from the 21st districtIn office January 5 1953 January 5 1959Preceded byArthur H Connolly Jr Succeeded byMilton MarksPersonal detailsBornCaspar Willard Weinberger 1917 08 18 August 18 1917San Francisco California U S DiedMarch 28 2006 2006 03 28 aged 88 Bangor Maine U S Political partyRepublicanSpouseJane Dalton m 1942 wbr Children2EducationHarvard University BA LLB Military serviceBranch serviceUnited States ArmyYears of service1941 1945RankCaptainUnit41st Infantry DivisionBattles warsWorld War II Weinberger was a member of the California State Assembly from 1953 to 1959 He also served as Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission and Director of the Office of Management and Budget under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford He later became vice president and general counsel of Bechtel Corporation Weinberger s tenure as Secretary of Defense was marked by his hard line against the Soviet Union in disagreement with the State Department He promoted the Strategic Defense Initiative an orbital weapons program Weinberger was awarded both the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1987 and an honorary British knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II In 1993 he became Chairman of Forbes magazine Contents 1 Early life 1 1 Education 2 Career 2 1 Military service 2 2 California politics 2 3 Nixon cabinet 2 4 Relf v Weinberger 2 5 Secretary of Defense 2 5 1 Iran Contra affair 2 6 Later career 3 Personal life 3 1 Death 4 Awards 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 7 1 Primary sources 8 External linksEarly life editWeinberger was born on August 18 1917 in San Francisco California the younger of two sons of Herman Weinberger 1886 1944 an attorney and Cerise Carpenter Weinberger nee Hampson 1886 1975 a music teacher His father was of Jewish descent from Austria Hungary while his maternal grandparents were from Wisconsin Caspar Weinberger s father Herman was the younger brother of Luella Weinberger McNeill mother of Don McNeill The 1910 Census shows Herman and Luella living in the household of Nathan Weinberger the grandfather of Caspar Weinberger Weinberger s paternal grandparents had left Judaism over a religious dispute while living in Bohemia He was raised in a home with no denominational ties though with a socially Christian orientation Weinberger would later become an active Episcopalian and often expressed his faith in God 2 Weinberger had stated that his mother s Episcopal religion was an enormous influence and comfort all my life 3 Education edit Weinberger attended San Francisco Polytechnic High School He was academically gifted and gained admission to Harvard University graduating in 1938 with a B A magna cum laude Weinberger was offered a scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge but instead attended Harvard Law School graduating in 1941 with a Bachelor of Laws 4 Career editMilitary service edit After graduating from Harvard Law School Weinberger enlisted in the U S Army as a private He was sent to the Army s Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning Georgia now Fort Moore where he was commissioned a second lieutenant During World War II he served with the 41st Infantry Division in the Pacific by the war s end he was a captain on the intelligence staff of General Douglas MacArthur Early in life Weinberger developed an interest in politics and history and during the war years a special admiration for Winston Churchill whom he would later cite as an important influence in his life From 1945 to 1947 Weinberger was a law clerk for U S circuit judge William Edwin Orr of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit He then entered private practice at a San Francisco law firm California politics edit In 1952 Weinberger entered the race for California s 21st State Assembly district 5 in the San Francisco Bay area as a Republican at the persuasion of his wife Jane Weinberger 6 who also served as his campaign manager 7 He won and was reelected in 1954 and 1956 As the chairman of the Assembly Government Organization Committee Weinberger was responsible for the creation of the California Department of Water Resources and was instrumental in the creation of the California State Water Project Weinberger also unsuccessfully opposed the construction of the Embarcadero Freeway saying it would ruin the view of the Bay and damage property values 8 Weinberger felt vindicated when the freeway was removed after the 1989 earthquake Although unsuccessful in his 1958 campaign for California Attorney General Weinberger continued to be active in politics and was chosen by Nixon in 1962 to become chairman of the California Republican Party Governor Ronald Reagan named him chairman of the Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy in 1967 and appointed him State director of finance early in 1968 Weinberger moved to Washington in January 1970 to become chairman of the Federal Trade Commission He is credited for having revitalized the FTC by enforcing consumer protection 9 Nixon cabinet edit nbsp Weinberger in a group photo of Nixon s cabinet on June 16 1972 far right in the front row Weinberger subsequently served under President Richard Nixon as deputy director 1970 1972 and director 1972 1973 of the Office of Management and Budget and Secretary of Health Education and Welfare 1973 1975 While serving in the Office of Management and Budget Weinberger earned the nickname Cap the Knife for his cost cutting ability For the next five years Weinberger was vice president and general counsel of the Bechtel Corporation in California Relf v Weinberger edit In 1973 the Southern Poverty Law Center named Weinberger as a defendant in a case that sought restitution for the forced non consensual sterilization and medical experimentation on three young Black American girls Minnie Lee Mary Alice and Katie Relf in Montgomery Alabama An employee of Montgomery s federally funded Community Action organization took the Relf sisters to a family planning clinic under the pretext of needing shots Staff gave Katie Relf a then experimental birth control shot as well as inserted a contraceptive IUD device without parental knowledge or consent On a separate occasion doctors surgically sterilized Minnie Lee and Mary Alice who were twelve and fourteen years old respectively 10 At the time of the suit the Office of Economic Opportunity was preparing to hand over funding and control of its associated family planning clinics to Weinberger s Department of Health Education and Welfare The SPLC s complaint shows that the O E O recently began providing funding for such sterilization procedures while top OEO personnel intentionally did not distribute a medical memo containing guidelines on obtaining patient consent for such operations Dr Warren M Hern authored the memo and ultimately resigned in outrage that the guidelines were not distributed Copies of the memo which included age of consent laws whose criteria the Relf girls did not meet sat undistributed in a DC warehouse At the time of the suit Weinberger s most recent approved Health Education and Welfare budget included specific funding allotments for sterilization procedures and thus he was named a defendant in the case A district court involved in Relf V Weinberger hearings found that anywhere from 100 000 to 150 000 poor people were sterilized annually using federal dollars and some among those sterilized were coerced into the procedures by doctors who threatened to cut off welfare benefits 11 The case shined fresh light on numerous example needed state sterilization and eugenics programs nationwide and led to compensation funds and settlements for some victims citation needed Secretary of Defense edit nbsp U S Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General David C Jones during Senate Armed Services Committee Hearings at Capitol Hill nbsp Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger left with Israeli Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon 1982 Weinberger was vying for Reagan to appoint him as Secretary of State but was given the position of Secretary of Defense instead 12 Weinberger took the lead in implementing a rollback strategy against Soviet communism In 1984 journalist Nicholas Lemann interviewed Weinberger and summarized the strategy of the Reagan administration to roll back the Soviet Union Their society is economically weak and it lacks the wealth education and technology to enter the information age They have thrown everything into military production and their society is starting to show terrible stress as a result They can t sustain military production the way we can Eventually it will break them and then there will be just one superpower in a safe world if only if we can keep spending 13 Lemann notes that when he wrote that in 1984 he thought the Reaganites were living in a fantasy world But in 2016 he says that passage represents a fairly uncontroversial description of what Reagan actually did Although not widely experienced in defense matters Weinberger had a reputation in Washington as an able administrator his powers as a cost cutter earned him the sobriquet Cap the Knife He shared President Reagan s conviction that the Soviet Union posed a serious threat to the United States and that the defense establishment needed to be modernized and strengthened Belying his nickname at the Pentagon Weinberger became a vigorous advocate of Reagan s plan to increase the Department of Defense budget Readiness sustainability and modernization became the watchwords of the defense program In his early years at the Pentagon Cap Weinberger was known as Cap the Ladle for advocating large increases in defense spending nbsp Caspar Weinberger inspecting new hardware Fort Lewis Washington on April 22 1983 As Secretary of Defense Weinberger oversaw a massive rebuilding of US military strength Major defense programs he championed included the B 1B bomber and the 600 ship Navy His efforts created economic and military industrial pressures that were associated with the beginning of Perestroika and the beginning of the end of both the Cold War and the Soviet Union 14 However this thesis was contested by a study on the causes of the collapse of the Soviet Union by two prominent economists from the World Bank William Easterly and Stanley Fischer from MIT the study concludes that the increased Soviet defense spending provoked by Mr Reagan s policies was not the straw that broke the back of the Evil Empire The Soviet war in Afghanistan and the Soviet response to Mr Reagan s Star Wars program caused only a relatively small rise in USSR defense costs The massive US defense effort throughout the period from 1960 to 1987 contributed only marginally to Soviet economic decline 15 The same study points out the key reason for the economic decline of the USSR was relying on centrally planned industrial expansion to drive economic growth rather than driving growth by increasing worker productivity via incentives France and Japan were also mentioned in 1994 as other centrally planned economies that could soon experience similar troubles 15 While the Reagan Doctrine was not a key factor in causing the economic implosion of the USSR which was driven by internal contradictions the Reagan proxy rollback policy of the 1980s which replaced Detente that Nixon and Carter generally pursued during the 1970s was the key factor 16 in preventing expansion of the Soviet economic empire and sustenance of their declining domestic economy from external sources Reagan was one of the few people to predict this possibility The final piece of the puzzle was the Soviet leadership Brezhnev Andropov and Chernenko were hardline Communists and prevented any significant changes but Gorbachev was a reformer and once economic reforms and political reforms began they became unstoppable British journalist Berrnard Levin wrote in 1977 I do not believe it possible that the thirst for freedom and decency in the countries of the Soviet Empire can remain much longer unslaked and that any attempt to satisfy it by real reforms will be cataclysmically destructive of the eroded foundations of the entire State system there will be no stopping the tide once the first sluice has been opened Memories of the Czech tragedy of 1968 will still be fresh the most significant element of the Prague Spring was the way in which once Mr Dubcek had shown that he supported the Czech desire for liberation no attempt by him and his equally brave colleagues to go slowly proved availing the scent of freedom in the nostrils of his people was too strong 17 better source needed These events came at the cost of helping to triple the US national debt and funding radicals Weinberger pushed for dramatic increases in the United States nuclear funding and was a strong advocate of the controversial SDI an initiative which proposed a space and ground based missile defense shield 18 19 Weinberger was reluctant to commit the armed forces keeping only a token force of American marines in Lebanon that then became victims in the October 1983 Beirut barracks bombing 20 In the wake of that terrible event he laid out his engagement policy in a November 1984 speech on The Uses of Military Power at the National Press Club as the Six Tests 21 Unlike President Reagan and Secretary of State Shultz Weinberger did not regard any of Gorbachev s actions whether it was perestroika or glasnost as reassuring indicators of his stated intentions 22 34 Not only did Gorbachev give up all of the Soviet non negotiable demands regarding the INF Treaty but he gave us precisely the kind of treaty that the President had sought for seven years That act of course does not mean any more than does the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan that the USSR has given up its long term aggressive designs 22 34 Initially Reagan s views were in line with Weinberger s views but he began to reevaluate his perception of Gorbachev s intentions in 1987 the year Gorbachev accepted the U S proposal on INF 22 35 Weinberger resigned as Secretary of Defense on November 6 1987 23 24 Iran Contra affair edit The Iran Contra affair concerned the selling of US missiles to Iran The funds received from Iran were then channeled to guerilla rebels known as Contras who were fighting the socialist government of Nicaragua 25 Such funding had been specifically denied by the US Congress Though he claimed to have been opposed to the sale on principle citation needed actually Weinberger participated in the transfer of United States Hawk and TOW missiles to Iran at that time Iran Contra resulted in a major scandal with several investigations which resulted in fourteen Reagan administration officials being indicted 26 27 28 After his resignation as Secretary of Defense legal proceedings against Weinberger were continued by Independent Counsel Lawrence E Walsh On June 17 1992 Weinberger was indicted on five felony charges related to the Iran contra affair including accusations that he had lied to Congress and obstructed Government investigations 29 30 He was defended by defense attorney Carl Rauh Prosecutors brought an additional indictment just four days before the 1992 presidential election This was controversial because it cited a Weinberger diary entry contradicting a claim made by President George H W Bush Republicans claimed that this action contributed to President Bush s later defeat On December 11 1992 Judge Thomas F Hogan threw out this indictment because it violated the five year statute of limitations and improperly broadened the original charges 31 Before Weinberger could be tried on the original charges he received a pardon on December 24 1992 from then President Bush who had been Reagan s vice president during the scandal 27 32 Later career edit External videos nbsp Booknotes interview with Weinberger on Fighting for Peace July 15 1990 C SPAN Weinberger had been Secretary of Defense for six years and ten months longer than anyone except for Robert McNamara and more recently Donald Rumsfeld After Weinberger left the Pentagon he joined Forbes Inc in 1989 as publisher of Forbes magazine He was named chairman in 1993 Over the next decade he wrote frequently on defense and national security issues In 1990 he wrote Fighting for Peace an account of his Pentagon years In 1996 Weinberger co authored a book entitled The Next War which raised questions about the adequacy of US military capabilities following the end of the Cold War He was a member of the Founding Council of the Rothermere American Institute at the University of Oxford Personal life editIn 1942 Weinberger married Rebecca Jane Dalton who was born on March 29 1918 in Milford Maine 7 A World War II Army nurse and later author and publisher she coaxed her husband into politics and was a loyal Washington wife during three Republican administrations before she began to write and publish children s books 6 Jane Weinberger a uterine cancer survivor died on July 12 2009 aged 91 at Bar Harbor Maine following a stroke 6 The couple had a daughter Arlin Weinberger and a son Caspar Willard Weinberger Jr Death edit nbsp Weinberger s funeral at Arlington National Cemetery While residing on Mount Desert Island Maine Weinberger was treated for and died from complications of pneumonia at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor Maine aged 88 He was survived by his wife their two children and several grandchildren He was buried in Section 30 Grave 835 1 at Arlington National Cemetery on April 4 2006 Shortly after his death President George W Bush in a public statement said Caspar Weinberger was an American statesman and a dedicated public servant He wore the uniform in World War II held elected office and served in the cabinets of three Presidents As Secretary of Defense for President Reagan he worked to strengthen our military and win the Cold War In all his years this good man made many contributions to our Nation America is grateful for Caspar Weinberger s lifetime of service Laura and I send our condolences and prayers to the entire Weinberger family 33 Then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated Cap Weinberger was a friend His extensive career in public service his support for the men and women in uniform and his central role in helping to win the Cold War leave a lasting legacy He left the United States armed forces stronger our country safer and the world more free 34 Awards editPresidential Medal of Freedom in 1987 Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in 1988 awarded in recognition for an outstanding and invaluable contribution to military cooperation between the UK and the US particularly during the Falklands War of 1982 Weinberger was awarded the Gold Star Award by the International Strategic Studies Association for Outstanding Contributions to Strategic Progress Through Humanitarian Achievement Weinberger was inducted into the United States Army Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame in 1981 the highest honor that can be bestowed on any graduate from the school The Walter F Patenge Medal of Public Service from the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1975 Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1975 35 See also edit nbsp Biography portal List of people pardoned or granted clemency by the president of the United States List of former FTC commissionersReferences edit The Political Graveyard Phi Beta Kappa Politicians in Maine politicalgraveyard com Weinberger Caspar W Roberts Gretchen 2003 In the Arena A Memoir of the 20th Century Regnery Publishing p 16 ISBN 978 0 89526 103 8 Retrieved 2010 09 18 Stout David March 29 2006 Caspar W Weinberger Who Served 3 Republican Presidents Is Dead at 88 The New York Times Jackson Harold 29 March 2006 Obituary Caspar Weinberg The Guardian Caspar Weinberger 1981 1987 Miller Center University of Virginia Archived from the original on 2016 09 23 a b c Woo Elaine 2009 07 15 Jane Weinberger dies at 91 author publisher and wife of Defense secretary Los Angeles Times Retrieved 2009 07 24 a b Martin Douglas 2009 07 15 Jane Weinberger Author Who Became Publisher Dies at 91 The New York Times Retrieved 2009 07 27 Norquist John 1998 Wealth of Cities 1st ed Basic Books p 164 ISBN 978 0201442137 Niesen Molly 2012 The Little Old Lady Has Teeth The U S Federal Trade Commission and the Advertising Industry 1970 1973 Advertising amp Society Review 12 4 doi 10 1353 asr 2012 0000 S2CID 154923896 RELF V WEINBERGER Southern Poverty Law Center Retrieved January 2 2022 Levin Dees Palmer Jospeh Morris Frederick Relf V Weinberger Complaint PDF Southern Poverty Law Center Retrieved January 2 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Denton Sally 2016 The Profiteers Bechtel and the Men Who Built the World Nicholas Lemann Reagan The Triumph of Tone The New York Review of Books 10 March 2016 Owens Mackubin Thomas June 5 2004 The Reagan of History Reflections on the death of Ronald Reagan National Review Online Archived from the original on October 20 2012 Retrieved April 20 2006 a b Dale Reginald June 17 1994 Many Can Learn From Soviet Downfall The New York Times Retrieved April 28 2010 Knopf Jeffrey W August 2004 Did Reagan Win the Cold War Strategic Insights Volume III Issue 8 Center for Contemporary Conflict at the Naval Postgraduate School Archived from the original on 2009 03 01 Retrieved 2006 04 19 Levin Bernard August 1977 The Most Accurate Prediction in History The Times London Times Newspapers Ltd Retrieved 2013 01 14 Weinberger Caspar W February 26 1987 Weinberger No Division On SDI Chicago Tribune Retrieved 2013 01 13 Ronald Reagan Award Winner February 24 2013 Archived from the original on 2013 02 24 Weinberger Reluctant On Bigger Beirut Force www nytimes com The New York Times Company October 29 1982 Retrieved 8 April 2014 Weinberger s Six Tests Air Force Magazine 87 1 January 2004 Archived from the original on 2013 12 12 Retrieved 2013 06 20 a b c Yarhi Milo Keren 2013 In the Eye of the Beholder How Leaders and Intelligence Communities Assess the Intentions of Adversaries International Security 38 1 7 51 doi 10 1162 isec a 00128 S2CID 57565605 Retrieved 30 July 2013 Brinley Joel November 6 1987 Weinberger As Expected Resigns The New York Times Retrieved August 15 2019 Gerstenzang James November 6 1987 Weinberger Quits With Call for Strong Defense Los Angeles Times Retrieved August 15 2019 Understanding the Iran Contra Affairs The Iran Contra Affairs www brown edu Dwyer Paula Pointing a Finger at Reagan Business Week Archived from the original on 2008 04 16 Retrieved 2008 04 22 a b McDonald Dian 24 December 1992 Bush Pardons Weinberger Five Others Tied to Iran Contra Press release Washington United States Information Agency Retrieved 29 December 2018 via GlobalSecurity org Pardons and Commutations Granted by President George H W Bush United States Department of Justice Retrieved 2008 04 22 Brinley Joel June 17 1992 Weinberger Faces 5 Counts In Iran Contra Indictment The New York Times Retrieved August 15 2019 Weinberger charged in Iran Contra matter Press release United States Information Agency 16 June 1992 Retrieved 29 December 2018 via GlobalSecurity org Johnston David December 12 1992 Charge in Weinberger Case That Caused Furor Before Election is Thrown Out The New York Times Johnston David 25 December 1992 Bush Pardons 6 in Iran Affair Averting a Weinberger Trial Prosecutor Assails Cover Up The New York Times National ed p A00001 Retrieved 29 December 2018 Statement by the President on the Death of Caspar Weinberger georgewbush whitehouse archives gov U S Department of Defense U S Department of Defense Archived from the original on September 29 2007 Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement www achievement org American Academy of Achievement Further reading editCulliton Barbara J Caspar Weinberger Beware of an All Pervasive Federal Government Science 189 4203 1975 pp 617 619 Online Granieri Ronald J Beyond Cap the Foil Caspar Weinberger And the Reagan Era Defense Buildup in Coleman Bradley Lynn et al eds Reagan and the World Leadership and National Security 1981 1989 2019 ch 3 Powaski Ronald E Ronald Reagan George Shultz and Caspar Weinberger Winding Down the Cold War 1984 1988 American Presidential Statecraft Palgrave Macmillan Cham 2017 pp 175 223 Preston Andrew A Foreign Policy Divided Against Itself George Shultz versus Caspar Weinberger in Andrew L Johns ed A Companion to Ronald Reagan 2015 pp 546 564 online Williams Phil The Reagan Administration and Defence Policy in Dilys M Hill and Raymond A Moore eds The Reagan Presidency Palgrave Macmillan 1990 pp 199 230 Yoshitani Gail E S Reagan on War A Reappraisal of the Weinberger Doctrine 1980 1984 Texas A amp M UP 2011 Primary sources edit Weinberger Caspar W Fighting for peace Seven critical years in the Pentagon Warner Books 1990 Weinberger Caspar W and Peter Schweizer The next war Regnery 1998 Weinberger Caspar W and Gretchen Roberts In the Arena A Memoir of the 20th Century Regnery Publishing 2001 Weinberger Caspar W Report on Allied Contributions to the Common Defense Department of Defense April 1987 OnlineExternal links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Caspar Weinberger Obituary in Fortune magazine An interview with Caspar Weinberger MP3 Interview about the MX missiles for the WGBH series Appearances on C SPAN BBC News obituary Baltimore Sun obituary Caspar Weinberger at IMDb Oral history interview on California politics 1 Political offices Preceded byPaul Dixon Chair of the Federal Trade Commission1969 1970 Succeeded byMiles Kirkpatrick Preceded byGeorge Shultz Director of the Office of Management and Budget1972 1973 Succeeded byRoy Ash Preceded byElliot Richardson United States Secretary of Health Education and Welfare1973 1975 Succeeded byDavid Mathews Preceded byHarold Brown United States Secretary of Defense1981 1987 Succeeded byFrank Carlucci Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Caspar Weinberger amp oldid 1220549618, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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