62 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
62 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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category: "Intelligence & Government"
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aliases:
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- "James Schlesinger"
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tags:
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- Person
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- CIA
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- Nuclear
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- DepartmentOfDefense
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- FamilyJewels
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summary: "Economist who chaired the Atomic Energy Commission, directed the CIA in 1973 and ordered the Family Jewels compilation, and served as Secretary of Defense and the first Secretary of Energy."
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born: 1929-02-15
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died: 2014-03-27
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location: "New York City, New York"
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relations:
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- type: head_of
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with: "[[Atomic Energy Commission]]"
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role: "chairman"
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start: 1971
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end: 1973
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fn: 1
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- type: head_of
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with: "[[Central Intelligence Agency]]"
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role: "Director of Central Intelligence"
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start: 1973-02-02
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end: 1973-07-02
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fn: 2
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- type: head_of
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with: "[[Department of Defense]]"
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role: "Secretary of Defense"
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start: 1973-07
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end: 1975-11
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fn: 1
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- type: head_of
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with: "[[Department of Energy]]"
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role: "first Secretary of Energy"
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start: 1977-08-06
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end: 1979-08-23
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fn: 1
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created: 2025-08-05
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updated: 2026-09-22
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---
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James R. Schlesinger was born in New York City on February 15, 1929, and took a doctorate at Harvard in 1956. He chaired the [[Atomic Energy Commission]] from 1971 to 1973, directed the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] in 1973, was Secretary of Defense from 1973 to 1975, and after serving as an assistant to President [[Jimmy Carter]] was confirmed on August 4, 1977, as the first Secretary of Energy, holding the office from August 6, 1977, to August 23, 1979.[^1]
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### Director of Central Intelligence
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Schlesinger was Director of Central Intelligence from February 2 to July 2, 1973. On May 9, 1973, he signed a memorandum, drafted by [[William Colby]], ordering senior officers to report any current or past activities "which might be construed to be outside the legislative charter of this Agency"; the replies became the 693-page compilation known as the [[CIA Family Jewels|Family Jewels]], which passed to Colby when he succeeded Schlesinger.[^2][^3] In the same weeks the question of the agency's parapsychology research at [[SRI International|SRI]] reached him; [[Kenneth A. Kress]] wrote that he "was soon told not to increase the scope of the project. The project was too sensitive and potentially embarrassing. It should be tabled."[^4] Testifying about [[Watergate]], [[James McCord]] said his lawyer, Gerald Alch, had proposed a defense under which the agency would supply a recall-to-duty record and that "the new Director, Dr. Schlesinger, 'would go along with it'"; Alch denied it.[^5]
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### Secretary of Defense
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During the [[Yom Kippur War]] of 1973, [[Henry A. Kissinger]] told Schlesinger that his goal was to "let [[Israel]] come out ahead, but bleed." Schlesinger noted that Israel's ammunition consumption had been gauged for a seven-day war, and concluded from Kissinger's sudden push for resupply that Israeli use of a nuclear weapon was not out of the question.[^6] After the *[[Glomar Explorer]]* operation leaked in March 1975, Schlesinger recommended at the [[White House]] acknowledging the "bare facts"; President [[Gerald R. Ford]] took Colby's advice instead.[^7] In November 1975 Ford removed both Colby and Schlesinger in the same announcement.[^3]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Legacy Management, "Secretaries of Energy." https://www.energy.gov/lm/secretaries-energy
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[^2]: Blanton, Thomas, ed. "The CIA's Family Jewels," National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 222, June 21, 2007, with Schlesinger's memorandum of May 9, 1973 (scanned image, text not examined). https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB222/index.htm
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[^3]: Central Intelligence Agency, "Family Jewels," CIA FOIA Reading Room, released 2007; Weiner, Tim. *Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA.* Doubleday, 2007, pp. 316-327.
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[^4]: Kress, Kenneth A. "Parapsychology in Intelligence: A Personal Review and Conclusions." *Studies in Intelligence,* vol. 21, no. 4, winter 1977, declassified.
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[^5]: House Committee on Armed Services, Special Subcommittee on Intelligence, report on the inquiry into the alleged involvement of the CIA in the Watergate and Ellsberg matters, October 23, 1973.
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[^6]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy.* Random House, 1991, ch. 17.
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[^7]: Burr, William, ed. "Project Azorian: The CIA's Declassified History of the Glomar Explorer." National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 305, February 12, 2010.
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