The Life of James Rodney Schlesinger

Both parents are Jewish, and his mother is a Lithuanian immigrant. Born in New York City, he received bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from Harvard University in 1950, 1952 and 1956, respectively. In 1955, he taught at the University of Virginia. In 1963, he became a senior employee of the RAND Corporation and director of the Strategic Research Office. In 1969, he served as Assistant Director and Acting Director of the Bureau of Budget, and in 1970, he became Assistant Director for Administration and Budget. In 1971, he was appointed Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. In 1973, he succeeded Richard Helms as the director of the CIA. He was only 44 years old when he took office. He was the youngest director in the history of the CIA. It was the climax of the Watergate incident. He declared, "I am here to ensure that You won’t let the president get rid of you.” In just five months of his term, he carried out comprehensive organizational and personnel reforms of the CIA, which greatly damaged the CIA’s vitality and scattered its people. He promoted CIA Audit Director William Colby to serve as deputy director. The most subversive reform during Schlesinger's tenure was to thoroughly investigate all unconstitutional activities carried out by the CIA since its establishment. The purpose was to strictly limit the activities of the CIA to legislative prerogatives. within the scope of what can be explained. On May 9, 1973, it signed and issued a directive drafted by Colby to all employees and former employees of the CIA, requiring them to report to the Director all current and past activities that may be considered illegal. This investigation exposed all the inside stories of the CIA and made the CIA infamous.

Nixon transferred Schlesinger to the Department of Defense. He did not really want to be this secretary because it was rumored that the president's military secretary Alexander Haig had moved the 82nd Airborne Division around the White House in preparation for impeachment by Congress. A military coup was held, but fortunately this did not happen. At that time, the number of nuclear weapons of the Soviet Union under the leadership of Brezhnev had exceeded that of the United States, and traditional nuclear deterrence could no longer play a role. He required that despite reduced funding, maintain a conventional army capable of confronting the Warsaw Pact, and required NATO countries to at least Maintain a military budget of 5% of gross national product. He has repeatedly said that the current defense budget has actually been reduced by one-third from the 1968 defense budget, and weapons research and development funding has been reduced by 45%. This is the worst defense budget ever, and so on. The only thing worth mentioning during his tenure is that he retained the development of the F-16 light fighter.

Three months after he took office, the Arab countries launched the Yom Kippur War, and the Israeli army was in danger, but he was afraid of pushing the Arab countries into the arms of the Soviet Union, emphasized neutrality, and Secretary of State Henry Kissing A big conflict occurred. In the end, it was the president's order to provide unconditional aid to Israel that eased the situation. In 1974, the unionists in Cyprus launched a coup and drove away Archbishop Makarios. Turkey sent troops to help the Turkish people on the island and occupied 40% of the island's territory. Two NATO allies, Greece and Turkey, almost came to war. In the United States, The Greeks lobbied and accused Turkey of using NATO-aided weapons for improper purposes, but the United States was reluctant to let go of Turkey, an ally that blocked the Soviet Union's southward march. As a result, it imposed an arms embargo on Turkey for five years. In 1975, North Vietnam sent troops to destroy South Vietnam, successfully ending the Vietnam War. At this time, he was fighting for the Mayaguez ship being detained by the Khmer Rouge, without even informing President Ford. The unbearable President Ford finally dismissed him and let Donald Henry Rumsfeld take over.

In 1976, he served as a visiting fellow at the Institute for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. In 1977, he took up the newly created position of Minister of Energy. In 1979, President Carter fired him again, this time because of his tough style and uncooperative attitude in Congress. From now on, I will make a living through academics. He is a senior advisor for strategy and international issues at Georgetown University and a senior advisor at Lehman Brothers-Kuhn & Block. In terms of foreign policy, he is known for his tough stance on the Soviet Union and advocates developing relations with China within the framework of the Grand Triangle. He is the author of "The Political Economy of National Security".