The identity, and most importantly, the mysterious suicide of the first Secretary of Defense of the United States - James Forrestal - even decades after his death raises many questions. This article will help to find out some details of his life and version of death.
Childhood and education
The future first US Secretary of Defense was born in the town of Bacon (former Mattivan), New York, in the family of an immigrant from Ireland. It happened in 1892. After leaving school, he worked for 3 years in large publishing houses, and then entered Dartmouth College, from where he was transferred to Princeton University for good studies.
In his senior year, the young man was invited to head the student newspaper The Daily Princetonian, and after receiving his diploma, James Forrestal got a job at William A. Read and Company.
The beginning of a military career
When the United States announced its entry into the First World War, James Forrestal enlisted in the army and was sent to the navy. The command noticed a young educated sailor and sent him to study in Canada, where he graduatedRoyal Air Corps and became a military pilot.
After the war, James Forrestal became a member of the Democratic Party committee and participated in election campaigns as a publicist, including at the federal level. However, politics soon bored the young man, and in 1923 he returned to work at William A. Read and Company. His diligence and determination were always appreciated by employers and shareholders, so in 1937 James Forrestal took over as president of this company.
Government work during World War II
In the summer of 1940, US President Franklin Roosevelt invited James Forrestal to become his special assistant, and 6 weeks later signed a decree appointing him Deputy Secretary of the Navy. This choice came as no surprise to anyone. After all, at one time Forrestal was an active participant in Roosevelt's election campaign.
After the outbreak of World War II, the new Deputy Minister proved to be a skilled leader and managed to successfully carry out a large-scale reorganization of American industry in order to bring it into line with the needs of the army.
On May 19, 1944, after the death of his immediate superior, Forrestal took his place, becoming Secretary of the Navy. Under his leadership, the American fleet operated in the last year of the war, and after it ended, Forrestal organized the demobilization of soldiers who returned from the front.
After the war
As US Secretary of the Navy, Forrestal was extremely hostile to the intentionsPresident Truman to unite all military departments. However, he took an active part in the creation of a national military department. It was on August 10, 1949 that it was transformed into the United States Department of Defense, the leadership of which was entrusted to Forrestal.
The year and a half during which he held this position was extremely difficult for the United States, since during this period China and Czechoslovakia chose the communist path of development, after the formation of the state of Israel, a war began in the Middle East, West Berlin found itself in isolation, and there were problems with the NATO project.
On top of all the troubles, an undercover struggle began within the Ministry of Defense itself, which became even more aggravated due to budget cuts allocated by the government for the needs of the military department.
Anti-Soviet paranoia
In the late 1940s, the United States began to actively prepare for a new war, this time with a former ally - the USSR. One of the most active figures in the American government, convinced of the need to destroy the Soviet Union, was General James Forrestal. He constantly demanded money from the President for the purchase of weapons for the army and navy and made angry speeches in which he branded "Russian spies" who allegedly infiltrated the Capitol and sought to damage the combat capability of the United States.
Every day, the Minister's behavior became more and more strange and disturbing to those around him. Finally, at the end of March 1949, Forrestal was removed from office andwas placed in a special military hospital.
Sickness and death
In the medical center, the former minister constantly repeated the phrase "Russians are coming", lost a lot of weight and behaved like a classic paranoid. A month later, on May 22, 1949, James Forrestal committed suicide. In any case, that is what was written in the official documents released by the FBI. It was also mentioned that before throwing himself out of the window of his chamber, the former minister left a suicide note with an excerpt from the ancient Greek tragedy "Ajax".
Versions of death
For many years, the death of General Forrestal caused controversy and overgrown with legends. Many versions have been put forward - from a terrorist attack carried out by the Israelis to an assassination committed by US intelligence agencies, who feared that he would reveal the details of the so-called Roswell incident. The latter theory even formed the basis of the plot of a TV movie about how the US government is trying to hide the facts about contact with aliens. According to the creators of the picture, the alien ship crashed in New Mexico in 1947, when Forrestal was in charge of the military department, and he could tell the truth to outsiders in a paranoid delirium.
A feature film about the first US Secretary of Defense was also shot by Clint Eastwood. The film was called "Flags of Our Fathers", and the role of James Forrestal was played by actor Michael Kampsty.
Now you know who James Forrestal was and why he is considered one of the first victimsCold War propaganda.
