James H. Douglas Jr. | |
---|---|
9th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense | |
In office December 11, 1959 – January 24, 1961 |
|
President | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
Preceded by | Thomas S. Gates Jr. |
Succeeded by | Roswell Gilpatric |
5th Secretary of the Air Force | |
In office May 1, 1957 – December 10, 1959 |
|
President | Dwight Eisenhower |
Preceded by | Donald A. Quarles |
Succeeded by | Dudley C. Sharp |
Personal details | |
Born |
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA |
March 11, 1899
Died | February 24, 1988 Lake Forest, Illinois, USA |
(aged 88)
Political party | Republican |
James Henderson Douglas Jr. (March 11, 1899 – February 24, 1988) was a lawyer and senior-level official in the United States Government. He was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, serving under both President Herbert Hoover and President Franklin Roosevelt. During the Eisenhower Administration, he served in the United States Department of Defense as Secretary of the Air Force and Deputy Secretary of Defense.
Douglas grew up in the Lake Forest area near Chicago, Illinois. His family was quite wealthy, having co-founded the Quaker Oats Company.
He attended Princeton University where he received a commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Army in 1918. He was initially assigned to Camp Hancock, Georgia. World War I ended before he could join a unit in Europe. After the war he returned to Princeton where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1920. He attended Corpus Christi College, Cambridge for a year prior to returning the United States to study law at Harvard University, graduating with a law degree in 1924.
Douglas was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1925, and joined the Chicago law firm of Winston, Strawn & Shaw, but left the firm after only a year to pursue opportunities in the investment banking. He join investment banking firm of Field, Glore & Company in 1929.