Lovett, Robert Abercrombie

(1895-1986)

   Born in Texas, Robert Lovett was a graduate of Yale in 1918 and Harvard University in 1921. He began a career in banking as a clerk and eventually became a partner in Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., working with Averell Harriman. In 1940, Lovett became special assistant to secretary of war Henry L. Stimson and then was appointed assistant secretary of war. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his work by President Harry S. Truman in 1945. From 1946 to 1949, he became assistant secretary of state to General George C. Marshall and then turned deputy when Marshall became secretary of defense in 1950. In 1951, Lovett became secretary of defense and oversaw the mobilization during the Korean War until he left office in 1953. He declined a cabinet appointment in John F. Kennedy’s administration in 1961 but did act as a policy adviser. In 1963, Lovett was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work in government.