Schlesinger, << SHLEHS uhn juhr, >> James Rodney (1929-2014), held two Cabinet offices. He served as secretary of defense under Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford from 1973 to 1975. In 1977, he became special assistant for energy matters to President Jimmy Carter. In that position, he helped plan the new Department of Energy, an executive’s department concerned with meeting the nation’s energy needs. Congress established the department in 1977, and Schlesinger served as its first secretary from 1977 to 1979.
From 1967 to 1969, Schlesinger worked on nuclear weapons strategy as director of strategic studies for the Rand Corporation. He became assistant director of the Bureau of the Budget in 1969. Following a reorganization of that agency, Schlesinger served as assistant director of the new Office of Management and Budget. Nixon appointed him chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission in 1971. Schlesinger served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency from February to July 1973, when he was appointed secretary of defense.
Schlesinger was born in New York City on Feb. 15, 1929, and earned B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard University. He taught economics at the University of Virginia from 1955 to 1963, when he joined the staff of the Rand Corporation. Schlesinger died on March 27, 2014.
