US GOVERNMENT OFFICE

The cabinet positions of Secretary of War (renamed Secretary of the Army) and Secretary of the Navy were subordinated under a common rubric in 1947, a "National Military Establishment" (later called the Defense Department) headed by the Secretary of Defense.

17-Sep-1947	28-Mar-1949	James V. Forrestal	(under Harry S. Truman)
28-Mar-1949	19-Sep-1950	Louis A. Johnson	(under Harry S. Truman)
21-Sep-1950	12-Sep-1951	George C. Marshall	(under Harry S. Truman)
17-Sep-1951	20-Jan-1953	Robert A. Lovett	(under Harry S. Truman)
28-Jan-1953	8-Oct-1957	Charles E. Wilson	(under Dwight D. Eisenhower)
9-Oct-1957	1-Dec-1959	Neil H. McElroy	(under Dwight D. Eisenhower)
2-Dec-1959	20-Jan-1961	Thomas S. Gates	(under Dwight D. Eisenhower)
21-Jan-1961	29-Feb-1968	Robert McNamara	(under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson)
1-Mar-1968	20-Jan-1969	Clark Clifford	(under Lyndon B. Johnson)
22-Jan-1969	29-Jan-1973	Melvin Laird	(under Richard M. Nixon)
30-Jan-1973	24-May-1973	Elliot Richardson	(under Richard M. Nixon)
2-Jul-1973	19-Nov-1975	James R. Schlesinger	(under Richard M. Nixon and Gerald Ford)
20-Nov-1975	20-Jan-1977	Donald Rumsfeld	(1st time, under Gerald Ford)
21-Jan-1977	20-Jan-1981	Harold Brown	(under Jimmy Carter)
21-Jan-1981	23-Nov-1987	Caspar Weinberger	(under Ronald Reagan)
23-Nov-1987	20-Jan-1989	Frank Carlucci	(under Ronald Reagan)
21-Mar-1989	20-Jan-1993	Dick Cheney	(under George H.W. Bush)
21-Jan-1993	3-Feb-1994	Les Aspin	(under Bill Clinton)
3-Feb-1994	23-Jan-1997	William J. Perry	(under Bill Clinton)
24-Jan-1997	20-Jan-2001	William Cohen	(under Bill Clinton)
20-Jan-2001	18-Dec-2006	Donald Rumsfeld	(2nd time, under George W. Bush)
18-Dec-2006	1-Jul-2011	Robert M. Gates	(under George W. Bush and Barack Obama)
1-Jul-2011	27-Feb-2013	Leon Panetta	(under Barack Obama)
27-Feb-2013	17-Feb-2015	Chuck Hagel	(under Barack Obama)
17-Feb-2015	--	Ashton Carter	(under Barack Obama)

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