Neil H. McElroy
| Neil H. McElroy | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 6th United States Secretary of Defense | |
|
In office October 9, 1957 – December 1, 1959 |
|
| President | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Preceded by | Charles Erwin Wilson |
| Succeeded by | Thomas S. Gates |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Neil Hosler McElroy October 30, 1904 Berea, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | November 30, 1972 (aged 68) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Profession | Businessman |
Neil Hosler McElroy (October 30, 1904 – November 30, 1972) was United States Secretary of Defense from 1957 to 1959 under President Eisenhower. He had been president of Procter & Gamble.
Born in Berea, Ohio, to school-teacher parents, McElroy grew up in the Cincinnati area. After receiving a bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard in 1925, he returned to Cincinnati to work in the advertising department of the Procter & Gamble Company. In 1931, as a junior executive managing the advertising campaign for P&G's Camay brand of soap, McElroy wrote a famous 3-page company memo that laid out the principles of modern brand management.
In the memo, McElroy argued that companies should assign a separate marketing team to each individual product brand, as if it were a separate business. This innovative system of brand management would eventually be adopted by consumer product companies all throughout the U.S.
He advanced rapidly up the managerial ladder and became company president in 1948. Although a well known businessman, McElroy's only experience in the federal government prior to 1957 had been as chairman of the White House Conference on Education in 1955-56. Given his background in industry, and given President Eisenhower's predominance in defense matters, McElroy's appointment was not unusual. He spelled out his mandate the day he assumed office: "I conceive the role of the Secretary of Defense to be that of captain of President Eisenhower's defense team."
On October 4, 1957, just four days before Defense Secretary Charles E. Wilson left office, the Soviet Union launched into orbit the world's first satellite (Sputnik I), suggesting that the Soviets were ahead of the United States in missile development. This event, which raised important questions about the U.S. defense program, served as a backdrop to the swearing in, on October 9, 1957, of Neil H. McElroy as Secretary of Defense.
The launching of Sputnik I and a second Soviet satellite a month later prevented McElroy from easing into his duties at a deliberate pace. To meet the concern generated by the sputniks, McElroy attempted both to clarify the relative positions of the United States and the Soviet Union in missile development and to speed up the U.S. effort. Placing considerable emphasis on the intermediate-range ballistic missiles the United States then had under development, McElroy argued that with proper deployment in overseas locations they would serve as effectively as Soviet intercontinental-range ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
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