James forrestal secretary of the navy
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Proclamation 2840—Death of James Forrestal
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
To the People of the United States:
It has become my sad duty to announce officially the death of James Forrestal, formerly Secretary of Defense in the Government of the United States, who died at the Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, at 2 a.m. on the 22nd day of May, 1949.
Mr. Forrestal served with devotion and great distinction as Administrative Assistant to the President of the United States, as Under Secretary and Secretary of the Navy, and finally as the nation's first Secretary of Defense. He exhausted his strength by his unremitting labors in the burdensome duties of these offices during the war and the critical years which have followed the end of hostilities. His tragic death came as a shock to his friends, and a great loss to the people of the United States, whom he had served so well and faithfully.
As a mark of respect to Mr. Forrestal's memory, it is hereby ordered that the national flag be displayed at half-mast upon all public buildings and at all forts and military posts and naval stations, and on all vessels of the United States, until after the funeral shall have taken place.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused
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James V. Forrestal (1944–1945)
James Vincent Forrestal was born February 15, 1892, in Beacon, New York, attending both Dartmouth College and Princeton University. He began his career as a bond salesman for a Wall Street banking firm in 1915 but left the following year to enlist in the U.S. Navy. After the war, he returned to the financial sector and, in 1938, assumed the presidency of William A. Read & Company, becoming one of the most important bond investors on Wall Street.
Forrestal served for six weeks as an administrative assistant to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 before being named undersecretary of the Navy (1940-1944).He became secretary of the Navy in 1944 and remained in that post following Roosevelt's death, overseeing the transition of the Departments of War and Navy into a comprehensive Department of Defense -- a bureaucratic reorganization mandated by the National Security Act of 1947.
Forrestal became the nation's first secretary of defense, serving President Harry S. Truman in that capacity from 1947 until he resigned in 1949. Shortly after his resignation, Forrestal was hospitalized because of severe depression. On May 22, 1949, he committed suicide when he allegedly climbed out of a window to hang himself and fell to his death from the six
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James Forrestal
First Pooled States Assistant of Defense
James Forrestal | |
|---|---|
Official representation, c. 1948 | |
| In office September 17, 1947 – March 28, 1949 | |
| President | Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Louis A. Johnson |
| In office May 19, 1944 – September 17, 1947 | |
| President | |
| Preceded by | Frank Knox |
| Succeeded by | John Sullivan |
| In office August 22, 1940 – May 16, 1944 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Ralph Austin Bard |
| Born | James Vincent Forrestal (1892-02-15)February 15, 1892 Matteawan, Different York, U.S. (now Beacon) |
| Died | May 22, 1949(1949-05-22) (aged 57) Bethesda, Colony, U.S. |
| Resting place | Arlington National Graveyard, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Independent |
| Spouse | Josephine Semanticist Stovall (m. 1926) |
| Children | 2, including Michael |
| Education | |
| Signature | |
| Branch/service | United States Navy |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Battles/wars | World Fighting I |
James Vincent Forrestal (February 15, 1892 – May 22, 1949) was the mug cabinet-level Common States set out of picture navy bear the be in first place United States secretary imbursement defense.[1]
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