Secretaries of Defense of the United States

Secretary

Term of office

James V. Forrestal	1947-49
Louis A. Johnson	1949-50
George C. Marshall	1950-51
Robert A. Lovett	1951-53
Charles E. Wilson	1953-57
Neil H. McElroy	1957-59
Thomas S. Gates, Jr.	1959-61
Robert S. McNamara	1961-68
Clark M. Clifford	1968-69
Melvin R. Laird	1969-73
Elliot L. Richardson	1973-73
James R. Schlesinger	1973-75
Donald H. Rumsfeld	1975-77
Harold Brown	1977-81
Caspar Weinberger	1981-87
Frank C. Carlucci	1987-89
William H. Taft	1989 ¹
Richard B. Cheney	1989-93
Leslie (Les) Aspin	1993-94
William J. Perry	1994-97
William S. Cohen	1997-2001
Donald Rumsfeld	2001-2006
Robert M. Gates	2006-
1) Deputy Secretary of Defense William H. Taft served as Acting Secretary of Defense from January 20, 1989, until March 21, 1989.

Source: U.S. Department of Defense.

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