NS&D Monitor
3/28/2014
James Schlesinger, who served as the first Secretary of Energy, passed away this week at the age of 85. According to reports, Schlesinger died due to complications of pneumonia. Schlesinger was named in 1971 to chair the Atomic Energy Commission, and was tapped by President Jimmy Carter to serve as the first Secretary of Energy in 1977, holding the position until 1979. He also briefly served as Director of Central Intelligence in 1973, and as Secretary of Defense from 1973 to 1975. “The passing of Dr. James R. Schlesinger is a great loss for the academic, scientific and intelligence communities. It is a loss for the Department of Energy and for me personally. Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Schlesinger served this nation with integrity and earned the respect of his colleagues,” the current Secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz, said in a statement. Schlesinger was active in national security issues until recently, and was the co-chair with William Perry of the influential Strategic Posture Commission, which delivered a report in 2008 on issues facing the nation’s nuclear deterrent.
Moniz said, “As Chairman of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, he was instrumental to the establishment and shaping of the Department of Energy as a cabinet level agency. As the nation’s first Secretary of Energy, Dr. Schlesinger was tasked with unifying the various energy entities throughout the government, but he did much more than that. Dr. Schlesinger took the helm of the new DOE when U.S. and global energy markets were undergoing a radical change. He navigated the nation’s energy policy in the difficult, post-Arab oil embargo world. He was here for the passage and evolution of some of our most fundamental environmental laws, many of which affected how we produce and consume energy. He established the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, he supported the programs in his tenure that helped enable the growth of the U.S. solar industry and oil and gas boom we are seeing today—we are still reaping the many benefits from his leadership of the Department.”
Moniz went on to add, “Dr. Schlesinger reshaped programs to fit the national energy policy and provide the structure for carrying out a nation’s energy plan. His footprint can still be felt throughout the Department today. Whether you agreed with him, or disagreed with him, Jim Schlesinger always put the public interest first.”