2001 Keeper of the Flame Award: James Schlesinger

The Center for Security Policy takes great pleasure in awarding the 2001 “Keeper of the Flame” Award to Dr. James R. Schlesinger in recognition of his nearly five decades of service to his country, its people and its interests around the world.

Born in New York City a few months after the 1929 stock market crash sent the world spiraling into the Great Depression, Dr. Schlesinger has witnessed many of the most momentous events of the past century – and played a central role in many of them. His career in the private, academic and public sectors has been extraordinary by any measure – as have been his accomplishments in each arena.

Dr. Schlesinger is a graduate of Harvard University where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude in 1950, his Master of Arts degree in 1952 and his Ph.D. in 1956.  He spent the next seven years teaching at the University of Virginia, initially as an Assistant Professor and then as an Associate Professor. In 1963, our awardee left Charlottesville for Santa Monica, where he began a six-year stint as the Director of Strategic Studies and Senior Staff Member of the RAND Corportation.

Beginning in 1969, Dr. Schlesinger held a number of senior government posts, including: Assistant Director and later Acting Deputy Director of the Bureau of the Budget (1969-1971); Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (1973); Director of Central Intelligence (1973); Secretary of Defense (1973-1975); Assistant to the President (1977); and Secretary of Energy (1977-1979).

Since leaving government, Dr. Schlesinger has continued to contribute actively to the debate about and the shaping of U.S. security policy as a member of numerous advisory boards and blue-ribbon commissions. These include: the Defense Policy Board; the Advisory Committee on National Security to the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader of the Senate Commission on National Security in the 21st Century; the Panel to Assess the Reliability, Safety, and Security of the United States Nuclear Stockpile; the Pentagon’s Threat Reduction Advisory Committee; the Air Force’s Global Position System Independent Review Team; and the Energy Department’s Advisory Committee for the National Nuclear Security Administration. Particularly noteworthy have been the pivotal roles he played in the U.S. Senate’s consideration of the Chemical Weapons Convention and its rejection of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

The Center for Security Policy welcomes this opportunity to recognize Jim Schlesinger’s lifetime of achievement and looks forward to continuing to work closely with this bona fide “Keeper of the Flame.”