Paul Nitze

Paul Nitze
12th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
In office
July 1, 1967 – January 20, 1969
PresidentLyndon B. Johnson
Preceded byCyrus Vance
Succeeded byDavid Packard
58th United States Secretary of the Navy
In office
November 29, 1963 – June 30, 1967
PresidentLyndon B. Johnson
Preceded byFred Korth
Succeeded byPaul Ignatius
Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
In office
January 29, 1961 – November 29, 1963
PresidentJohn F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
Preceded byJohn N. Irwin II
Succeeded byWilliam Bundy
2nd Director of Policy Planning
In office
January 1, 1950[1] – May 28, 1953
PresidentHarry S. Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded byGeorge F. Kennan
Succeeded byRobert R. Bowie
Personal details
Born
Paul Henry Nitze

(1907-01-16)January 16, 1907
Amherst, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedOctober 19, 2004(2004-10-19) (aged 97)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Spouses
Phyllis Pratt
(m. 1932; died 1987)
Elisabeth Scott Porter
(m. 1993)
Children4
EducationHarvard University (BA)

Paul Henry Nitze (January 16, 1907 – October 19, 2004) was an American businessman and government official who served as United States Deputy Secretary of Defense, U.S. Secretary of the Navy, and Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. State Department. He is best known for being the principal author of NSC 68 and the co-founder of Team B. He helped shape U.S. Cold War defense policy over the course of numerous presidential administrations.[2]

  1. ^ "Directors of the Policy Planning Staff".
  2. ^ Strobe Talbott, The Master of the Game: Paul Nitze and the Nuclear Peace (1989).