Later Life
After Lovett left office on January 20, 1953, he returned again to Brown Brothers Harriman, where he remained active as a general partner for many years. Robert Lovett has been recognized as one of the most capable administrators to hold the office of secretary of defense and as a perceptive critic of defense organization. His work in completing the Korean War mobilization and in planning and implementing the long-range rearmament program, as well as his proposals to restructure the Department of Defense, were among his major contributions. Following the 1960 presidential election, Joseph P. Kennedy advised his son John F. Kennedy to offer Robert A. Lovett any Cabinet post he might desire. Lovett graciously declined, citing health reasons. In 1963, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1964, he was awarded the prestigious Sylvanus Thayer Award by the United States Military Academy for his service to the country.
Domhoff credited Lovett, Harvey Bundy and John McCloy with having a close working relationship; and credited John F. Kennedy as accepting Lovett's advice to appoint Dean Rusk as Secretary of State, Robert McNamara as Defense Secretary, and C. Douglas Dillon for the Treasury.
Robert A. Lovett died in Locust Valley, New York, on May 7, 1986, having been preceded by wife Adele on January 4, 1986. Both outlived their children, Evelyn (1920–1967) and Robert Scott Lovett, II (1927–1984).
The Department of History at Yale University, his alma mater, has the Robert A. Lovett Chair of Military and Naval History in his honor. Its current incumbent is John Lewis Gaddis, the noted historian of the Cold War.
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