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Biography Caspar Weinberger was born August 18, 1917 in San Francisco, Ca. The son of a lawyer, Weinberger went on to receive his A.B. degree in 1938, and his Juris Doctor degree in 1941, both from Harvard University. In 1941 he entered the U.S. Army as a private, was commissioned, and served in the Pacific theater. By the end of the war he'd risen to the rank of Captain, and had been on General Douglas McArthur's intelligence staff. Early in life he'd developed an interest in politics and history. During the war he'd developed a special admiration for Winston Churchill, whom he would later cite as an important influence in his life. From 1945 through 1947, Weinberger worked as a law clerk for a federal judge, then joined a San Francisco law firm. He won election to the California State Assembly in 1952, and re-election in 1954 and 1956. Although he was unsuccessful in his 1958 campaign for California Attorney General, Weinberger continued to be active in politics, becoming Chairman of the California Republican Party in 1962. In 1967, Governor Ronald Reagan named him Chairman of the Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy, and in 1968 appointed him State Director of Finance. Weinberger moved to Washington in January of 1970 to become Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. Serving as deputy director from 1970-1972, and director from 1972-1973. From 1973-1975 he served as director of the Office of Management and Budget, and as Secretary of Health Education and Welfare. As Secretary of Defense, Weinberger oversaw the massive building of U.S. military strength that contributed to tripling the national debt. Weinberger pushed for significant increases in the United State's nuclear weapons arsenal. He was a strong advocate of the controversial Strategic Defense Initiative, widely known as Star Wars. Weinberger participated in the sale of U.S. TOW Missiles to Iran during the Iran-Contra Affair. By 1987, disclosure of the Iran-Contra Affair became public. Weinberger resigned as the Secretary of Defense November 23, 1987. Following his resignation, Weinberger was placed under indictment by Independent Council Lawrence E. Walsh. The formal indictment charged Weinberger with several felony counts of lying to the Iran-Contra Independent council during its investigation. Weinberger received a Presidential pardon from President George H.W. Bush on December 24, 1992, just days before his trial was scheduled to begin. It was thought by many that the reason he was pardoned was to keep his personal diary, which was said to have contained confirmation that Bush's knowledge of and involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair, from being introduced as evidence at trial, and therefore becoming a public record that could be used against him. After he left the Pentagon, Weinberger became publisher and chairman of Forbes Magazine, where over the next decade he wrote frequently on defense and national security issues. In 1990, he wrote Fighting for Peace, an account of his Pentagon years. In 1996, Weinberger co-authored a book entitled The Next War, which raised questions about the adequacy of the U.S. military capabilities following the end of the Cold War. After his book was published, his colleagues from the Reagan administration broke contact and refused to talk to him.
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