Eugene M. Zuckert

Eugene M. Zuckert

Eugene Martin Zuckert (born November 9, 1911 in New York City , † June 5, 2000 ) was an American politician and US Secretary of the Air Force from 1961 to 1965 .

Life

Studies and activities for the USAAF

After attending elementary schools and high schools in New York, Zuckert studied first at the Salisbury School in Salisbury and then at Yale University , where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1933 . He then completed a postgraduate degree in law at the Law School of Yale University in 1937 with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.), after having previously attended courses in business law at Harvard University and Yale University. There he also became a member of the Fraternity Beta Theta Pi, a student union founded in 1839 .

After his admission to the bar, Zuckert served as a lawyer for the US Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, DC and New York between 1937 and 1940 , and then lectured on government-business relations at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration until 1944 , at which he later became assistant professor and deputy dean .

During World War II he was also the director of administration of the first advanced management course ever given at Harvard Business School. In addition, he served as special advisor to the Commanding General of the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) on issues relating to the development of statistical controls. He was also a lecturer at the USAAF's Harvard Business School-affiliated Statistical Control School, which trained more than 3,000 Air Force officers. Finally, he took on numerous special missions at various air force bases on behalf of the Commanding General of the USAAF.

In 1944 he began his military service as Lieutenant Junior Grade in the US Navy and was employed in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations . Shortly afterwards he was assigned to the Navy's inventory control program and retired from active military service in September 1945.

He then became an administrative assistant to the Director of Surplus Property Administration , Stuart Symington . After he became Secretary of State for the Air Force in the War Department ( US Assistant Secretary of War for Air ) on January 31, 1946 , Zuckert became its special assistant. During this time, the National Security Act fell on July 26, 1947 , which not only equated the Air Force with the US Army and the US Navy, but also created the United States Department of Defense .

Promotion to US Secretary of the Air Force

After the appointment of Symington as the first US Secretary of the Air Force, Zuckert was on September 26, 1947 Undersecretary for Management in the Air Force Department ( US Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Management ).

In this role he was responsible for the economic administration of the ministry and introduced the “Management Control through Cost Control” program, which was primarily intended to put the Air Force on a business-like basis by using recognized economic practices as a benchmark for the implementation of Air Force operations used. In addition, he was also representative of the US Air Force in the formulation of the draft defense budget in the financial year 1950, the first joint budget of US Army, US Navy and US Air Force in the history of the United States .

During his tenure, he also introduced new methods of budget reporting and control, which divided the Air Force into twelve sectors that represented the essential functional elements of its program. This major reform enabled the Air Force to move closer to the goal of a task-based budget. He also led the establishment of the Air Force Loyalty and Security Program and in July 1948 was a member of a committee set up by Secretary of Defense James V. Forrestal to develop a uniform law for the military courts .

After completing his work as US Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, he was appointed to the US Atomic Energy Commission on January 21, 1952 and was a member of this until June 30, 1954. He then went back to work as a lawyer and specialized as a consultant on issues relating to nuclear energy .

On January 23, 1961, Eugene M. Zuckert was appointed US Secretary of the Air Force by US President John F. Kennedy and held this position under Kennedy's successor Lyndon B. Johnson until September 30, 1965. During his tenure, he was valid alongside General Maxwell D. Taylor , Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , as a political opponent of General Curtis E. LeMay , Chief of Staff of the Air Force . During his tenure as Air Force Minister, political crises such as the Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961, the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962 and the intensification of US military engagement in Vietnam up to the beginning of the Vietnam War in March 1965 fell. One of his special assistants was most recently Ralph R. Harding , who on January 3, 1965, had to leave the US House of Representatives as a representative of Idaho after an election defeat .

After his retirement from government service, he joined the private sector and was initially Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nuclear Science & Engineering Corporation, one in Pittsburgh -based company in the field of nuclear chemistry . He also helped found Information for Industrie, Inc., the publisher of an index of chemical and electronic patents, and served on the Board of Directors of AMF Atomics, Ltd., a Canada- based company. Finally, he was a temporary member of the board of directors of the Yale Law School Association and a trustee of the Landon School in Bethesda .

Publications

• with Arnold Kramish: Atomic Energy for Your Business. Today's key to tomorrow's profits. McKay, New York NY 1956.

Web links

• Biography on the US Air Force homepage
• Eugene M. Zuckert in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)
• THE NEW YORK TIMES: Eugene M. Zuckert, Secretary of Air Force in Crises, Was 88 (June 7, 2000)