The man who became the nation's first secretary of defense, James V. Forrestal, was born to a moderately prosperous Irish-American family in Beacon, N.Y., in 1892. He attended Dartmouth College and Princeton University .

His working life stretched from financial reporter to tobacco salesman to World War I naval aviator to stockbroker - where he made his fortune - to government service.

He was plucked from success in the financial community by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 and became the first undersecretary of the Navy. He guided the procurement and production program that produced the world's largest navy. He was appointed secretary of the navy in 1944 and the first secretary of defense in 1947. it was his job to develop a cooperative system for the nation's armed services.

Attuned to a global view, and alert to the threat of the Soviet Union, he advocated a military buildup that included vastly improved aircraft carriers suitable for jet aircraft. A budget-conscious President Truman balked.

Forrestal resigned in early 1949, despondent in the belief he had failed his responsibility to secure the nation. He soon took his own life.

In December, 1954, his widow christened the nation's first super carrier, the USS Forrestal, a testament to Forrestal's advocacy of preparedness.