Melvin Laird

Melvin Laird
Official portrait as Secretary of Defense
Melvin Laird
Born	Melvin Robert Laird Jr. 1 9, 1922
Birthplace	Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Died	Template:Death date and age Fort Myers, Florida, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Politician, statesman, writer
Education	Carleton College (B.A.)
Spouse(s)	Template:Marriage Carole Pottenger (m. 1996)
Awards	Presidential Medal of Freedom

Melvin Robert Laird Jr. (September 1, 1922 – November 16, 2016) was an American politician, statesman, and writer who served as the 10th United States Secretary of Defense from 1969 to 1973 under President Richard Nixon. A Republican, Laird represented Wisconsin's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for sixteen years, from 1953 to 1969, during which time he became one of his party's foremost authorities on defense and military affairs. He is credited with coining the term "Vietnamization" to describe the policy of gradually transferring combat responsibilities to South Vietnamese forces while withdrawing American troops from the Vietnam War. A World War II Navy veteran who survived a kamikaze attack, Laird brought direct military experience to his political career, which spanned from the Wisconsin State Senate to the highest levels of the executive branch. After leaving the Pentagon, he briefly served as Nixon's Domestic Affairs Advisor before returning to the private sector. At the time of his death in 2016, Laird was the last surviving former U.S. representative elected to the 83rd Congress and the last surviving representative to have served during the presidency of Harry S. Truman.

Early Life

Melvin Robert Laird Jr. was born on September 1, 1922, in Omaha, Nebraska. He grew up in a politically active family; his father, Melvin R. Laird Sr., served in the Wisconsin State Senate, representing the 24th district. The family was based in Marshfield, Wisconsin, where the elder Laird was a prominent figure in local Republican politics. Politics was effectively the family business, and the younger Laird was exposed to government and public service from an early age.

During World War II, Laird served as an officer in the United States Navy. He saw combat in the Pacific theater, where he survived a kamikaze attack on his ship. His wartime service gave him firsthand knowledge of military operations and the costs of armed conflict—experience that would inform his later career as a congressman focused on defense policy and, ultimately, as Secretary of Defense during one of the most divisive wars in American history. Laird was discharged from the Navy following the war and returned to Wisconsin, where he began his career in politics at a remarkably young age.

In 1946, following the death of his father, Laird won election to the seat his father had held in the Wisconsin State Senate, representing the 24th district. He was just 24 years old when he took office on January 6, 1947, succeeding his father directly. He served in the state senate for six years, gaining legislative experience and building a political base in central Wisconsin that would serve him well in subsequent campaigns for higher office.

Education

Laird attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. Carleton, a private liberal arts college, provided Laird with a broad educational foundation. His studies were interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the Navy, but he completed his degree and returned to Wisconsin to begin his political career.

Career

Wisconsin State Senate (1947–1953)

Laird began his political career in the Wisconsin State Senate, winning election to the 24th district seat previously held by his father, Melvin R. Laird Sr. He took office on January 6, 1947, and served until January 3, 1953. During his six years in the state legislature, Laird established himself as a capable Republican lawmaker and developed the political skills and connections that would propel him to the national stage. His successor in the state senate was William Walter Clark.

U.S. House of Representatives (1953–1969)

In 1952, Laird won election to the United States House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin's 7th congressional district. He succeeded Reid F. Murray and took office on January 3, 1953, as part of the 83rd United States Congress. He would go on to serve eight consecutive terms, representing his central Wisconsin constituency for sixteen years.

During his tenure in the House, Laird became one of the Republican Party's leading experts on military and defense affairs. He served on the House Appropriations Committee, where he specialized in defense spending and gained a detailed understanding of the Department of Defense budget and operations. His expertise on these matters made him an influential voice in congressional debates over military policy and national security during the Cold War.

From 1965 to 1969, Laird served as Chairman of the House Republican Conference, the third-ranking position in the House Republican leadership. In this role, he succeeded Gerald Ford, who had moved up to become House Minority Leader. As conference chairman, Laird helped shape the party's messaging and legislative strategy during the Johnson administration, a period marked by escalating American involvement in Vietnam and growing domestic unrest.

By the late 1960s, Laird had become increasingly concerned about the direction of the Vietnam War. His position on the Appropriations Committee gave him access to classified information about the conflict, and he grew skeptical of the optimistic assessments being presented by the Johnson administration's military leadership. This skepticism would shape his approach when he was called upon to serve as Secretary of Defense.

Laird was also involved in broader Republican Party politics during this period. He was the last surviving former U.S. representative to have been elected to the 83rd Congress, and the last surviving representative to have served during the presidency of Harry S. Truman, who left office in January 1953. When Laird left the House in January 1969 to join the Nixon Cabinet, he was succeeded by Democrat Dave Obey, who won a special election to fill the vacancy.

Secretary of Defense (1969–1973)

President-elect Richard Nixon selected Laird to serve as the 10th United States Secretary of Defense, and Laird took office on January 22, 1969. He succeeded Clark Clifford, who had served under President Johnson. Laird's appointment was widely seen as a recognition of his deep expertise in defense matters, accumulated over sixteen years on the House Appropriations Committee.

Laird inherited the enormous challenge of the Vietnam War, which by 1969 had become the defining issue of American politics. More than 500,000 U.S. troops were deployed in Vietnam, and the war had produced deep divisions in American society. Laird arrived at the Pentagon with a clear conviction that the war could not be won through military means alone and that American troop levels needed to be reduced.

Vietnamization

Laird's most significant contribution as Secretary of Defense was the development and implementation of the policy he termed "Vietnamization." The concept involved the gradual withdrawal of American combat forces from Vietnam while simultaneously building up the military capabilities of the South Vietnamese armed forces so that they could assume primary responsibility for the war effort.

Laird coined the term "Vietnamization" himself, and it became the central organizing principle of the Nixon administration's approach to the conflict. He publicly announced the policy, declaring that the United States was moving to "Vietnamize" the war as rapidly as possible. Under Laird's direction, American troop levels in Vietnam were substantially reduced during his tenure. He pressed the Nixon White House to accelerate the pace of withdrawal, sometimes coming into conflict with other administration officials—including Nixon himself and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger—who favored a more cautious approach.

By late 1968, even before taking office, Laird had concluded that diplomacy was the only viable path to ending the war. Once in office, he worked to implement this conviction through concrete policy changes. The troop withdrawal program he oversaw was substantial: during Nixon's first term, the majority of U.S. forces were withdrawn from Vietnam.

Cambodia and Controversies

Laird's tenure was not without controversy. The Nixon administration conducted a secret bombing campaign in Cambodia, which was carried out without public disclosure or congressional authorization. In a later interview, Laird acknowledged that the secrecy surrounding the Cambodia bombing and other covert operations contributed to significant political problems for the administration. The Cambodia issue would become one of several factors that eroded public trust in the Nixon administration's conduct of the war.

Despite these controversies, Laird was generally regarded as having been an effective administrator of the Pentagon. He managed the complex logistics of the troop withdrawal while maintaining military readiness and navigating the political pressures from both hawks and doves in Congress and the public.

End of the Draft and Military Reform

During his tenure, Laird also oversaw the transition from the military draft to the all-volunteer force. The conscription system had become a major source of antiwar sentiment, and the move toward a volunteer military was seen as both a practical and political necessity. Laird supported this transition and worked to implement policies that would make military service more attractive to volunteers.

Laird served as Secretary of Defense until January 29, 1973, when he was succeeded by Elliot Richardson.

White House Domestic Affairs Advisor (1973–1974)

After leaving the Pentagon, Laird briefly returned to the private sector. However, the growing Watergate scandal created a crisis within the Nixon White House, and the president turned to Laird for help. Following the departure of John Ehrlichman, who resigned in April 1973 amid the Watergate revelations, Nixon asked Laird to serve as his Domestic Affairs Advisor.

Laird took up the position on May 1, 1973, initially in an acting capacity until June 6, 1973, and then in a permanent role. He served until January 8, 1974, when he was succeeded by Kenneth Reese Cole Jr. Laird's time in this role was overshadowed by the intensifying Watergate crisis, which consumed the administration's attention and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in August 1974.

Later Career and Private Sector

After leaving the White House in early 1974, Laird moved into the private sector, where he served as a senior counselor for national and international affairs at Reader's Digest Association. He remained engaged in public policy discussions throughout the following decades, writing and commenting on defense and foreign policy issues.

In a notable 2005 essay published in Foreign Affairs, Laird drew on his experience as Secretary of Defense to analyze the Iraq War, arguing that the lessons of Vietnam should be applied to the conflict in Iraq. He advocated for building up indigenous security forces and reducing American dependence on large-scale military deployments—essentially arguing for an approach similar to the Vietnamization strategy he had pioneered decades earlier.

Laird continued to speak publicly about defense policy and the lessons of Vietnam well into his later years. In an interview with the National Security Archive at George Washington University, he reflected on the decisions made during the Nixon administration, including the controversial aspects of the war in Southeast Asia.

Personal Life

Melvin Laird married Barbara Masters in 1942, and the couple remained married until her death in 1992. Together, they had children, including a daughter, Judith Anne Laird Wagoner, who later settled in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and died on March 15, 2025.

In 1996, Laird married Carole Pottenger.

Laird maintained connections to Marshfield, Wisconsin, throughout his life. The Laird family had deep roots in the community, and the Marshfield area remained an important part of his identity even after his career took him to Washington, D.C., and beyond.

Melvin Laird died on November 16, 2016, in Fort Myers, Florida, at the age of 94. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in recognition of his military service and his contributions to the nation's defense.

Recognition

Laird received significant recognition for his decades of public service. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the highest civilian honors in the United States.

Upon his death, tributes came from across the political spectrum. Lawrence J. Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress who had served as assistant secretary of defense from 1981 to 1985, wrote a remembrance for Politico praising Laird's contributions to defense policy and his skill as a political leader.

Major news organizations, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and CNN, published extensive obituaries documenting his career and impact on American defense policy.

The Laird Center in Marshfield, Wisconsin, was established to preserve his legacy and contributions to public life. The center maintains biographical materials and archives related to his career.

Legacy

Melvin Laird's legacy is defined primarily by his role in managing the American withdrawal from Vietnam. The policy of Vietnamization that he championed and implemented represented a fundamental shift in the United States' approach to the war, moving away from the escalatory strategies of the Johnson era toward a model of gradual disengagement. While the ultimate outcome of the Vietnam War—the fall of Saigon in 1975, two years after the last American combat troops departed—remains a subject of historical debate, Laird's role in engineering the withdrawal of American forces is a central part of the war's history.

Laird's advocacy for the all-volunteer military also had lasting consequences. The end of the draft and the creation of a professional volunteer force reshaped the American military and remains the model in use today. The transition was fraught with challenges, but it ultimately produced a military that, by most assessments, proved more capable and professional than the conscript force it replaced.

In later years, Laird himself sought to shape the interpretation of his legacy by writing about the applicability of Vietnam's lessons to subsequent conflicts, particularly the Iraq War. His 2005 Foreign Affairs essay argued that the core principles of Vietnamization—building local capacity, reducing American troop exposure, and pursuing diplomatic solutions—remained relevant to 21st-century conflicts.

Laird's career also illustrated the possibilities of bipartisan cooperation in an era that, while contentious, still allowed for productive relationships across party lines. His long service in Congress, his leadership of the Pentagon during a period of extraordinary national division, and his willingness to return to government during the Watergate crisis all reflected a commitment to public service that extended across multiple decades and administrations.

His papers and records are preserved at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, reflecting his close working relationship with Ford during their years together in the House Republican leadership.