Jane Weinberger

Jane Weinberger
Weinberger in April 2006
Born	Rebecca Jane Dalton March 29, 1918 Milford, Maine, U.S.
Died	July 12, 2009 (aged 91) Bar Harbor, Maine, U.S.
Occupation	Author and publisher
Spouse(s)	Caspar Weinberger (1942-2006; his death; 2 children)

Rebecca Jane Weinberger (March 29, 1918 – July 12, 2009) was an American author, publisher and wife of Caspar Weinberger, the 15th United States Secretary of Defense. She wrote over a dozen books during her career, many written for children and young adults.

Born as Rebecca Jane Dalton on March 29, 1918, in Milford, Maine, she attended the University of Maine and the Somerville Hospital School of Nursing in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Dalton, who became a nursing instructor following her completion of school, signed with the United States government to help in times of national emergency. She was called to duty at the beginning of World War II and became a U.S. Army nurse. She met her future husband, a U.S. Army second lieutenant Caspar Weinberger, while the two were on the same troop transport ship to Australia during the summer of 1942. She actually outranked Weinberger by a few weeks at the time.

The couple married just three weeks later, once the ship disembarked in Australia. The wedding took place in Sydney, Australia, in 1942. However, they did not live together until the end of World War II. They moved to San Francisco, Caspar Weinberger's hometown, after the war.

Caspar Weinberger initially worked for a San Francisco law firm. However, it was his wife who persuaded her husband to run for political office and worked as his first campaign manager. He was elected to the California State Assembly in 1952, where he represented a San Francisco area constituency for the next six years. She remained actively engaged in his political campaigns.