United States Secretary of Defense - List of Secretaries of Defense

List of Secretaries of Defense

The longest-serving Secretary of Defense is the late Robert McNamara, who served for a total of 2,595 days. Combining his two non-sequential services as Secretary of Defense, the second longest serving is Donald Rumsfeld, who served merely ten days fewer than McNamara.

Parties

Democratic Republican

Status
Denotes an Acting Secretary of Defense
No. Portrait Name State of Residence Took Office Left Office Days served President
1 James Vincent Forrestal New York September 19, 1947 March 19, 1949 558 Harry S. Truman
2 Louis Arthur Johnson West Virginia March 28, 1949 September 19, 1950 540
3 George Catlett Marshall, Jr. Pennsylvania September 19, 1950 September 19, 1951 365
4 Robert Abercrombie Lovett New York September 19, 1951 January 20, 1953 491
5 Charles Erwin Wilson Michigan January 20, 1953 October 8, 1957 1,722 Dwight D. Eisenhower
6 Neil Hosler McElroy Ohio October 9, 1957 December 1, 1959 783
7 Thomas Sovereign Gates, Jr. Pennsylvania December 2, 1959 January 20, 1961 415
8 Robert Strange McNamara Michigan January 21, 1961 February 29, 1968 2,595 John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
9 Clark McAdams Clifford Maryland March 1, 1968 January 20, 1969 326
10 Melvin Robert Laird Wisconsin January 22, 1969 January 29, 1973 1,469 Richard Nixon
11 Elliot Lee Richardson Massachusetts January 30, 1973 May 24, 1973 114
– William Perry Clements, Jr.
 Texas May 24, 1973 July 2, 1973 39
12 James Rodney Schlesinger Virginia July 2, 1973 November 19, 1975 870
Gerald Ford
13 Donald Rumsfeld Illinois November 20, 1975 January 20, 1977 427
14 Harold Brown California January 21, 1977 January 20, 1981 1,460 Jimmy Carter
15 Caspar Willard Weinberger California January 21, 1981 November 23, 1987 2,497 Ronald Reagan
16 Frank Charles Carlucci III Virginia November 23, 1987 January 20, 1989 424
– William Howard Taft IV
 Ohio January 20, 1989 March 20, 1989 59 George H. W. Bush
17 Richard Bruce Cheney Wyoming March 21, 1989 January 20, 1993 1,402
18 Leslie Aspin, Jr. Wisconsin January 21, 1993 February 3, 1994 378 Bill Clinton
19 William James Perry Pennsylvania February 3, 1994 January 24, 1997 1,085
20 William Sebastian Cohen Maine January 24, 1997 January 20, 2001 1,457
21 Donald Rumsfeld Illinois January 20, 2001 December 18, 2006 2,158 George W. Bush
22 Robert M. Gates Texas December 18, 2006 July 1, 2011 1,643
Barack Obama
23 Leon Panetta California July 1, 2011 Incumbent 7002513000000000000513

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