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2014 SPECIAL SESSION I
14200152DWHEREAS, James Rodney Schlesinger, a brilliant economist and national defense strategist who served three United States Presidents in cabinet-level positions in the 1970s, died on March 27, 2014; and
WHEREAS, a native of New York City, James Schlesinger graduated from the Horace Mann School and earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from Harvard University; and
WHEREAS, after completing his education, James Schlesinger helped inspire future leaders of the Commonwealth and the nation as a professor of defense economics at the University of Virginia; he later taught at the Naval War College in Rhode Island, and his lectures there were anthologized in a book in 1960; and
WHEREAS, in 1963, James Schlesinger joined the RAND Corporation, a prominent think tank, as a specialist on nuclear issues and budget issues, and in 1969, he was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon as deputy director of the Bureau of the Budget, where he worked to maintain the defense budget; and
WHEREAS, in 1971, James Schlesinger became the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, where he instituted reforms and created the division of environmental and safety affairs to help the agency better serve the public; a skillful administrator who was respected for his intellectual prowess, he was next appointed as the Director of Central Intelligence; and
WHEREAS, James Schlesinger was named Secretary of Defense in 1973 with goals to reform and revise the nation’s nuclear strategy and enhance military capabilities and readiness among North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies; and
WHEREAS, popular with members of the military, James Schlesinger modernized weapons systems and led the Department of Defense through a series of international incidents during the Nixon and Ford administrations, including the Yom Kippur War, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the evacuation of the American embassy during the fall of Saigon, and the hijacking of the SS Mayaguez; and
WHEREAS, James Schlesinger then served as a consultant to President Jimmy Carter during his election campaign; he was named as the President’s energy adviser, and after the formation of the Department of Energy in 1977, he became the nation’s first Secretary of Energy; and
WHEREAS, James Schlesinger worked to reduce dependence on foreign oil and left a strong legacy by helping to draft a visionary energy reform bill that ended price controls on natural gas and offered tax incentives to Americans with solar panels on their homes; and
WHEREAS, after completing his service at the Department of Energy, James Schlesinger offered his experience as a consultant for a New York City investment bank, served as the chairman of a nonprofit government research group, and remained active in national defense affairs as a member of several commissions and advisory panels; and
WHEREAS, predeceased by his wife, Rachel, James Schlesinger will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his children, Cora, Charles, James, Jr., Ann, William, Emily, Thomas, and Clara, and their families and numerous other family members and friends; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of James Rodney Schlesinger, a respected economist and national defense strategist who offered his expertise to three United States Presidents; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of James Rodney Schlesinger as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his memory.