About Caspar W. Weinberger

Caspar Willard Weinberger GBE (August 18, 1917 – March 28, 2006) was an American statesman and businessman. As a prominent Republican, he served in a variety of state and federal positions for three decades, including chairman of the California Republican Party, 1962–1968. Most notably he was Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1987.

Weinberger was born in San Francisco, California. He served in the 41st Infantry Division in the Pacific theater of World War II. Weinberger's entry into politics was as a California State Assemblyman from 1953 to 1959, and he would go on to serve as Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission and Director of the Office of Management and Budget under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. An accomplished private sector businessman, he later became vice president and general counsel of Bechtel Corporation, and still later Chairman of Forbes magazine.

Weinberger's tenure as Secretary of Defense was marked by his hard line against the Soviet Union, in disagreement with the State Department. He promoted the Strategic Defense Initiative. He was indicted on charges of lying to Congress and obstructing government investigations as part of the Iran–Contra investigation but was pardoned prior to going to trial. Weinberger was awarded both the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1987 and an honorary British knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II.