(1892-02-15)February 15, 1892 Matteawan, New York, U.S. (now Beacon)
Died
May 22, 1949(1949-05-22) (aged 57) Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
Resting place
Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, U.S.
Political party
Independent
Spouse
Josephine Ogden Stovall
(m. 1926)
Children
2, including Michael
Education
Dartmouth College
Princeton University (BA)
Signature
Military service
Branch/service
United States Navy
Rank
Lieutenant
Battles/wars
World War I
James Vincent Forrestal (February 15, 1892 – May 22, 1949) was the last Cabinet-level United States Secretary of the Navy and the first United States Secretary of Defense.[1]
Forrestal came from a very strict middle-class Irish Catholic family. He was a successful financier on Wall Street before becoming Undersecretary of the Navy in 1940, shortly before the United States entered the Second World War. He became Secretary of the Navy in May 1944 upon the death of his superior, Col. Frank Knox. President Franklin D. Roosevelt requested that Forrestal take the lead in building up the Navy. In 1947, after the end of the war, President Harry S. Truman appointed him the first secretary of the newly created Department of Defense. Forrestal was intensely hostile to the Soviet Union, fearing Communist expansion in Europe and the Middle East. Along with Secretary of State George C. Marshall, he strongly opposed the United States' support for the establishment of the State of Israel, fearing that this would alienate Arab nations which were needed as allies, and whose petroleum reserves were vital for both military and civilian industrial expansion.
Forrestal was a supporter of naval battle groups centered on aircraft carriers. He tried to weaken the proposed Department of Defense for the Navy's benefit, but was hard-pressed to run it from 1947 to 1949 after Truman named him Secretary of Defense. The two men were often at odds, and Truman forced Forrestal's resignation.
Thereafter, Forrestal's mental health rapidly deteriorated, declining to the point in which he underwent medical care for depression. While a patient at Bethesda Naval Hospital, Forrestal died by suicide from fatal injuries sustained after falling out of a sixteenth-floor window.
In 1954, the USN's new supercarrier was named USS Forrestal in his honor, as is the James V. Forrestal Building, which houses the headquarters of the United States Department of Energy. He is the namesake of the Forrestal Lecture Series at the United States Naval Academy and of the James Forrestal Campus of his alma mater Princeton University.
^"James V. Forrestal – Harry S. Truman Administration". Office of the Secretary of Defense – Historical Office.
James Vincent Forrestal (February 15, 1892 – May 22, 1949) was the last Cabinet-level United States Secretary of the Navy and the first United States...
USS Forrestal (CVA-59) (later CV-59, then AVT-59), was a supercarrier named after the first United States Secretary of Defense JamesForrestal. Commissioned...
including the ATC, NSTX, and LTX. PPPL is located on Princeton University's Forrestal Campus in Plainsboro Township, New Jersey. In 1950, John Wheeler was setting...
phrase attributed to United States Secretary of Defense JamesForrestal in 1949. In full, Forrestal said "The Russians are coming. The Russians are coming...
word originated in a report Kennan submitted to US Defense Secretary JamesForrestal in 1947, which was later used in a Foreign Affairs article. In a broader...
Forrestal may refer to: JamesForrestal (1892–1949), United States Secretary of Defense USS Forrestal, United States Navy aircraft carrier 1967 USS Forrestal...
took effect on September 18, 1947, the day after the Senate confirmed JamesForrestal as the first secretary of defense. The act merged the Department of...
On 29 July 1967, a fire broke out on board the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal after an electrical anomaly caused a Zuni rocket on an F-4B Phantom to fire...
address. It is just north of Princeton University's Forrestal campus and is named for JamesForrestal. The center is anchored by Can Do Fitness (an upscale...
unit award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy JamesForrestal on 18 December 1944. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps commands may recommend...
secretaries maintained cabinet status. The first secretary of defense, JamesForrestal, who in his previous capacity as the secretary of the Navy had opposed...
of Texas at Austin. During World War II, he served on the staff of JamesForrestal and Dwight D. Eisenhower before transferring to the Asiatic-Pacific...
Retrieved 3 October 2022. "Webcast: Relinquishment of Responsibility for GEN James McConville / Change of Responsibility SMA Michael Grinston". DVIDS. Retrieved...
demobilization of the officer and enlisted members, Secretary of the Navy JamesForrestal, Fleet Admiral Ernest King, and Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz all commended...
Staff Admiral William Leahy and Admiral Ernest King, Navy Secretary JamesForrestal, Secretary for War Henry Stimson and Assistant Secretary for War John...
the cabinet meeting that morning, Truman discussed these actions. JamesForrestal paraphrased Truman as saying "there will be further dropping of the...
1945 15 December 1947 2 years, 0 days Submarines James Forrestal John L. Sullivan JamesForrestal (from Sep. 1947) 11 Denfeld, Louis EmilAdmiral Louis E...
directed 1995 Irish-British drama film Nothing Personal, alongside John Lynch, James Frain and Michael Gambon, for which, Hart won the Volpi Cup for best supporting...
members" of Majestic 12. Lloyd Berkner Detlev Bronk Vannevar Bush JamesForrestal Gordon Gray Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter Jerome Clarke Hunsaker Donald H...
June 1945 involving the JCS and Stimson and Secretary of the Navy JamesForrestal. At stake was the decision to press forward with Downfall or to opt...
Forrestal was born in New York City on November 26, 1927 to JamesForrestal and Josephine Forrestal. His father served as Secretary of the Navy before becoming...
Man Loves a Woman (1994) .... Walter Roswell (1994, TV Movie) .... JamesForrestal A Friend to Die For (1994, TV Movie) .... Priest Executive Decision...
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