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{{short description|First United States Secretary of Defense (1892–1949)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = James Forrestal
| image               = James Forrestal - SecOfDef.jpg
| office              = 1st [[United States Secretary of Defense]]
| president           = [[Harry S. Truman]]
| term_start          = September 17, 1947
| term_end            = March 28, 1949
| predecessor         = ''Position established''
| successor           = [[Louis A. Johnson]]
| office1             = 48th [[United States Secretary of the Navy]]
| president1          = {{plainlist|
* [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
* Harry S. Truman
}}
| term_start1         = May 19, 1944
| term_end1           = September 17, 1947
| predecessor1        = [[Frank Knox]]
| successor1          = [[John L. Sullivan (United States Navy)|John Sullivan]]
| office2             = [[United States Under Secretary of the Navy]]
| president2          = Franklin D. Roosevelt
| term_start2         = August 22, 1940
| term_end2           = May 16, 1944
| predecessor2        = ''Position established''
| successor2          = [[Ralph Austin Bard]]
| birth_name          = James Vincent Forrestal
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1892|2|15}}
| birth_place         = [[Beacon, New York|Matteawan, New York]], U.S. (now Beacon)
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1949|5|22|1892|2|15}}
| death_place         = [[Bethesda, Maryland]], U.S.
| restingplace        = [[Arlington National Cemetery]], Virginia, U.S.
| party               = [[Independent politician|Independent]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|Josephine Ogden Stovall|1926}}
| children            = 2, including [[Michael Forrestal|Michael]]
| education           = {{plainlist|
* [[Dartmouth College]]
* [[Princeton University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
}}
| signature           = James Forrestal Signature.svg
| allegiance          = United States 
| branch              = [[United States Navy]]
| rank                = [[Lieutenant (U.S. Navy)|Lieutenant]]
| battles             = [[World War I]]
| caption             = Official portrait, {{Circa|1948}}
}}

'''James Vincent Forrestal''' (February 15, 1892&nbsp;– May 22, 1949) was the last [[Cabinet (government)|cabinet]]-level [[United States Secretary of the Navy|United States secretary of the Navy]] and the first [[United States Secretary of Defense|United States secretary of defense]].<ref name="Historical Office James V. Forrestal">{{cite web |url=https://history.defense.gov/Multimedia/Biographies/Article-View/Article/571293/james-v-forrestal/ |title=James V. Forrestal – Harry S. Truman Administration |work=Office of the Secretary of Defense – Historical Office}}</ref>

Forrestal came from a very strict middle-class Irish Catholic family. He was a successful financier on Wall Street before becoming Undersecretary of the Navy in 1940, shortly before the United States entered the [[Second World War]]. He became Secretary of the Navy in May 1944 upon the death of his superior, [[Colonel (United States)|Col.]] [[Frank Knox]]. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] requested that Forrestal take the lead in building up the Navy. In 1947, after the end of the war, President [[Harry S. Truman]] appointed him the first secretary of the newly created Department of Defense. Forrestal was intensely hostile to the Soviet Union, fearing Communist expansion in Europe and the Middle East. Along with Secretary of State [[George C. Marshall]], he strongly opposed the United States' support for the establishment of the [[State of Israel]], fearing that this would alienate Arab nations which were needed as allies, and whose petroleum reserves were vital for both military and civilian industrial expansion.

Forrestal was a supporter of naval [[Carrier battle group|battle groups]] centered on [[aircraft carrier]]s. He tried to weaken the proposed Department of Defense for the Navy's benefit, but was hard-pressed to run it from 1947 to 1949 after Truman named him Secretary of Defense. The two men were often at odds, and Truman forced Forrestal's resignation.

Thereafter, Forrestal's mental health rapidly deteriorated, declining to the point in which he underwent medical care for depression. While a patient at [[Bethesda Naval Hospital]], Forrestal died by an alleged suicide from fatal injuries sustained after falling out of a sixteenth-floor window.

In 1954, the USN's new [[supercarrier]] was named {{USS|Forrestal|CV-59|6}} in his honor, as is the [[James V. Forrestal Building]], which houses the headquarters of the [[United States Department of Energy]]. He is the namesake of the Forrestal Lecture Series at the [[United States Naval Academy]] and of the [[Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory|James Forrestal Campus]] of his alma mater [[Princeton University]].

==Life and career==
{{More citations needed section|date=February 2025}}

===Early life===
Forrestal was born in Matteawan (now part of [[Beacon, New York]]), the youngest son of James Forrestal, an [[Irish people|Irish]] immigrant who dabbled in politics. His mother, the former Mary Anne Toohey (herself the daughter of another Irish immigrant) raised him as a devout [[Catholic]].<ref>[[Townsend Hoopes]] and [[Douglas Brinkley]], ''Driven Patriot: The Life and Times of James Forrestal'', [[Naval Institute Press]], 1992, p. 7</ref> During his youth, Forrestal was an amateur boxer.<ref name=DictAmBio>"James Vincent Forrestal". ''[[American National Biography|Dictionary of American Biography]]'', Supplement 4: 1946–50. [[American Council of Learned Societies]], 1974. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. [[Farmington Hills, Michigan]]: [[Gale]], 2009. [http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC galenet.galegroup.com]</ref> After graduating from high school in 1908, at the age of 16, he spent the next three years working for a trio of newspapers: the ''Matteawan Evening Journal'', the ''Mount Vernon Argus'' and the ''[[Poughkeepsie, New York|Poughkeepsie]] News Press''.

Forrestal entered [[Dartmouth College]] in 1911, but transferred to [[Princeton University]] in his sophomore year, where he served as an editor for ''[[The Daily Princetonian]]''. His senior class voted him "Most Likely to Succeed", but he left just prior to completing work on a degree. Forrestal was a member of [[University Cottage Club]] while he was a student at Princeton.<ref>{{cite web|title=About the Cottage Club|url=https://www.cottageclub.net/about-cottage-club|access-date=2021-01-03|website=University Cottage Club|language=en-US}}</ref> Forrestal married the former Josephine Stovall (née Ogden), a ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'' writer, in 1926. She eventually developed a dependence on alcohol and suffered various mental health issues.<ref>Townsend Hoopes and Douglas Brinkley, ''Driven Patriot: The Life and Times of James Forrestal'', Naval Institute Press, 1992, pp. 42–48, 47, 131–135, 216–218, 427, 432, 479</ref>

=== World War I naval officer and Wall Street financier ===
Forrestal went to work as a bond salesman for William A. Read and Company (later renamed [[Dillon, Read & Co.]]) in 1916. When the US entered [[World War I]], he enlisted in the Navy and ultimately became a [[military aviation|Naval Aviator]], training with the [[Royal Flying Corps of Canada|Royal Flying Corps]] at [[Camp Borden]] and [[Deseronto]] in Canada.<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. Navy Veteran Online Memorial &#124; TWS Roll of Honor |url=https://navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=528791}}</ref> During the final year of the war Forrestal spent much of his time in Washington, at the Office of Naval Operations, while completing his flight training and reaching the rank of lieutenant. After the war, Forrestal resumed his career in finance and made his fortune on Wall Street. He became a partner in 1923, was appointed vice president in 1926, and by 1937 was president of the company. He also acted as a publicist for the [[History of the United States Democratic Party|Democratic Party]] committee in [[Dutchess County, New York]], helping politicians from the area win elections at both the local and state level. One of the individuals aided by his work was a neighbor, [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]].

Forrestal has been characterized 
as a compulsive [[workaholic]] and skilled administrator. Biographers have described him as pugnacious, introspective, shy, philosophic, solitary, and [[Emotional security|emotionally insecure]].<ref name=DictAmBio/><ref>Hoopes and Brinkley, ''Driven Patriot''</ref><ref>Rogow, ''James Forrestal''.</ref> He took no part in national politics, though he usually voted for Democrats, but did not support [[New Deal]] liberalism.<ref>Hoopes and Brinkley, p. 118; Millis, ed. ''Forrestal Diaries'' pp. xxi, 495.</ref>

===Political career===

====Secretary of the Navy====
[[File:208-PU-70A-8 (25519787573).jpg|thumb|Forrestal takes the oath of office as Secretary of the Navy from Rear Admiral [[Thomas Leigh Gatch|Thomas L. Gatch]], [[Judge Advocate General of the Navy|judge advocate general of the Navy]] on May 19, 1944. [[Ernest King]], [[Chief of Naval Operations]], stands to the right.]]
President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Forrestal a [[Special Assistant to the President|special administrative assistant]] on June 22, 1940. Six weeks later, he nominated him for the newly established position, Undersecretary of the Navy. In his nearly four years as undersecretary, Forrestal proved highly effective at mobilizing domestic [[industrial production]] for the war effort. The [[Chief of Naval Operations]], [[Admiral]] [[Ernest J. King]], wanted to control logistics and procurement, but Forrestal prevailed.<ref name=DictAmBio/>

In September 1942, to get a grasp on the reports for material his office was receiving, he made a tour of naval operations in the [[South West Pacific theatre of World War II|Southwest Pacific]] and a stop at [[Pearl Harbor]]. Returning to Washington, D.C., he made his report to Roosevelt, [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[Henry L. Stimson]], and the cabinet. In response to Forrestal's elevated request that materiel be sent immediately to the Southwest Pacific area, Stimson (who was more concerned with supplying [[Operation Torch]] in North Africa), told Forrestal, "Jim, you've got a bad case of [[Clientitis|localitis]]." Forrestal shot back in a heated manner, "Mr. Secretary, if the Marines on [[Guadalcanal campaign|Guadalcanal]] were wiped out, the reaction of the country will give you a bad case of localitis in the seat of your pants."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Albion |first1=Robert Greenhalgh |last2=Connery |first2=Robert Howe |title=Forrestal and the Navy |url=https://archive.org/details/forrestalnavy00albi |url-access=registration |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York City |year=1962 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/forrestalnavy00albi/page/104 104–106]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Potter |first=Elmer Belmont |title=Nimitz |url=https://archive.org/details/nimitz00pott/page/186 |url-access=registration |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, MD |year=1976 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/nimitz00pott/page/186 186–188] |isbn=978-0-87021-492-9}}</ref>

He became [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]] on May 19, 1944, after his immediate superior, Secretary [[Frank Knox]], died from a heart attack. Knox had been a figurehead as secretary and Forrestal was highly energetic. Forrestal led the Navy through the closing year of the war and the early years of [[demobilization]] that followed. Forrestal ordered that a [[Naval Board of Inquiry|Naval Court of Inquiry]] be convened to investigate the facts surrounding the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] and to assess any culpability borne by members of the Navy. The Court consisted of Admiral [[Adolphus Andrews]]; Admiral [[Orin G. Murfin]], who served as President of the Court and Admiral [[Edward C. Kalbfus]].<ref name="Naval History and Heritage Command2">{{cite web | url = https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/research-guides/modern-biographical-files-ndl/modern-bios-a/andrews-adolphus.html | access-date = January 28, 2018 | work = history.navy.mil | title = Vice admiral Adolphus Andrews – Naval History and Heritage Command | publisher = Naval History and Heritage Command Websites}}</ref><ref name="Santa Cruz Sentinel, Volume 89, Number 168, 15 July 1944">{{cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19440715.1.1&srpos=38&e=-------en--20--21--txt-txIN-Vice+admiral+Adolphus+Andrews-------1|title=Pearl Harbor Inquiry ordered by Forrestal – Santa Cruz Sentinel, Volume 89, Number 168, 15 July 1944; page ONE|publisher=cdnc.ucr.edu|access-date=August 27, 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Photograph of Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal, evidently arriving at the White House for a Cabinet meeting. - NARA - 199141.jpg|thumb|Forrestal arrives at the [[White House]] for a Cabinet meeting, {{circa|1945}}]]

The court convened on July 24, 1944, and held daily sessions in Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Pearl Harbor. After interviewing numerous witnesses, it completed its work on October 19, 1944. Its report to the Navy Department largely exonerated Rear Admiral [[Husband E. Kimmel]], commander in chief of the [[United States Pacific Fleet|Pacific Fleet]] at the time of the attack. The court found that Kimmel's decisions had been correct given the limited information available to him, but criticized then-Chief of Naval Operations [[Harold R. Stark]] for failing to warn Kimmel that war was imminent. The court concluded that "based upon the facts established, the Court is of the opinion that no offenses have been committed nor serious blame incurred on the part of any person or persons in the naval service."<ref name=court>{{citation| series = Hearings Before the Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack, Part 39: Reports, Findings, and Conclusions of Roberts Commission, Army Pearl Harbor Board, Navy Court of Inquiry, and Hewitt Inquiry, With Endorsements| first = Seventy-Ninth Congress | last = Congress of the United States| publisher = Government Printing Office| year = 1946| title = Report of Navy Court of Inquiry| pages = 297, 318–321| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/pha/navy/navy_0.html#9}}</ref> Because the court's findings implicitly revealed that [[Magic (cryptography)|American cryptographers]] had broken the Japanese codes, a critical wartime secret, the court's report was not made public until after the end of the war.

Upon reviewing the report, Forrestal felt that the court had been too lenient in assigning blame for the disaster. The court had found that the Army and Navy had adequately cooperated in the defense of Pearl Harbor; that there had been no information indicating that Japanese carriers were on their way to attack Pearl Harbor; and that the attack had succeeded principally because of the [[aerial torpedo]], a secret weapon whose use could not have been predicted. Forrestal disapproved all of these findings, judging that Kimmel could have done more with the information he had had to prevent or mitigate the attack. Forrestal concluded that both Kimmel and Stark had "failed to demonstrate the superior judgment necessary for exercising command commensurate with their rank and their assigned duties."<ref name=secnav>{{citation |last=Congress of the United States |first=Seventy-Ninth Congress |series=Hearings Before the Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack, Part 39: Reports, Findings, and Conclusions of Roberts Commission, Army Pearl Harbor Board, Navy Court of Inquiry, and Hewitt Inquiry, With Endorsements |title=Fourth Endorsement to Record of Proceedings of Pearl Harbor Court of Inquiry |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/pha/navy/navy_0.html#17 |publisher=Government Printing Office |year=1946 |pages=373, 375–377, 381–383}}</ref>

[[File:80-G-702670 (42459474961).jpg|thumb|Secretary of the Navy Forrestal pins Admiral [[Jonas H. Ingram]] with a Gold Star in lieu of a third [[Navy Distinguished Service Medal|Distinguished Service Medal]] on May 21, 1946.]]

As Secretary, Forrestal introduced a policy of [[racial integration]] in the Navy. Forrestal traveled to combat zones to see naval forces in action. He was in the South Pacific in 1942, present at the [[Battle of Kwajalein]] in 1944, and (as Secretary) witnessed the [[Battle of Iwo Jima]] in 1945. After five days of pitched battle, a detachment of Marines was sent to hoist the American flag on the 545-foot summit of Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. This was the first time in the war that the U.S. flag had flown on Japanese soil. Forrestal, who had just landed on the beach, claimed the historic flag as a souvenir. When Forrestal witnessed the sight of the [[Flag of the United States|Stars and Stripes]] atop Mount Suribachi, he turned to Major General [[Holland Smith]] and said, "the raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years."<ref>{{cite book|last=Beevor|first=Antony|title=The Second World War|publisher=Back Bay Books|year=2012|isbn=978-0316023740|pages=701}}</ref> A second, larger flag was run up in its place, and this second flag-raising was the moment captured by Associated Press photographer [[Joe Rosenthal]] in his [[Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima|famous photograph]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Hall|first= Bennett|title= Memories of Iwo Jima|work= [[Corvallis Gazette-Times]]|date= February 1, 2011|url= http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_5273af3a-2ddc-11e0-9497-001cc4c03286.html}}</ref>

In the early months of 1945, Forrestal, along with Stimson and Under Secretary of State [[Joseph Grew]], strongly advocated a softer policy toward Japan that would permit a negotiated armistice, a face-saving surrender. Forrestal's primary concern was not the resurgence of a militarized Japan, but rather "the menace of Russian [[Communism]] and its attraction for decimated, destabilized societies in Europe and Asia," and, therefore, keeping the [[Soviet Union]] out of the war with Japan.<ref name="Hoopes">Hoopes and Brinkley, pp. 205–214. The quoted line is from p. 208</ref> So strongly did he feel about this matter that he cultivated negotiation efforts that some regarded as approaching insubordination.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://ussslcca25.com/zach12.htm|title=How We Bungled the Japanese Surrender|author-link=Ellis M. Zacharias|first=Ellis M.|last=Zacharias|magazine=[[Look (American magazine)|Look]]|date=June 6, 1950|via=ussslcca25.com}}</ref>

[[File:80-G-701553 (26222675321).jpg|thumb|left|Forrestal with Admirals King and Nimitz in Washington, D.C., November 1945]]

His counsel on ending the war was finally followed, but not until the atomic bombs had been dropped on [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|Hiroshima and Nagasaki]]. On 10 August 1945, the day after the Nagasaki attack, the Japanese sent out a radio transmission saying that it was ready to accept the terms of the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]]' [[Potsdam Declaration]], "with the understanding that said declaration does not comprise any demand which prejudices the prerogatives of [[Hirohito|His Majesty]] as a sovereign ruler." That position still fell short of the U.S. "unconditional surrender" demand, retaining the sticking point that had held up the war's conclusion for months. Strong voices within the administration, including [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[James F. Byrnes]], counseled fighting on. At that point, "Forrestal came up with a shrewd and simple solution: Accept the offer and declare that it accomplishes what the Potsdam Declaration demanded. Say that the Emperor and the Japanese government will rule subject to the orders of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. This would imply recognition of the Emperor while tending to neutralize American public passions against the Emperor. President [[Harry S. Truman]] liked this. It would be close enough to 'unconditional'."<ref>J. Robert Moskin, ''Mr. Truman's War'' (1996), pp. 311–313</ref>

After the war, Forrestal urged Truman to take a hard line with the Soviets over Poland and other issues. In furtherance of the anti-Soviet position, he was the primary promoter of the famous "[[long telegram]]" by State Department official [[George Kennan]]. "[Averell] Harriman thought Forrestal's reaction [to the Kennan document] was a 'decisive' catalyst in shaping American opinion on the issue."<ref>Townsend Hoopes and Douglas Brinkley, ''Driven Patriot: The Life and Times of James Forrestal'' (1992), p. 272.</ref> He also strongly influenced the new Wisconsin Senator, [[Joseph McCarthy]], concerning infiltration of the government by Communists. Upon McCarthy's arrival in Washington in December 1946, Forrestal invited him to lunch. In McCarthy's words, "Before meeting Jim Forrestal I thought we were losing to international Communism because of incompetence and stupidity on the part of our planners. I mentioned that to Forrestal. I shall forever remember his answer. He said, 'McCarthy, consistency has never been a mark of stupidity. If they were merely stupid, they would occasionally make a mistake in our favor.' This phrase struck me so forcefully that I have often used it since."<ref>{{cite book|last=McCarthy|first=Joseph|title=McCarthyism – The Fight For America|year=1952|url=https://archive.org/stream/McCarthyismTheFightForAmerica/McCarthyism%20-%20The%20Fight%20For%20America%20%28by%20Senator%20Joe%20McCarthy%29_djvu.txt}}</ref>

====Secretary of Defense====
[[File:80-G-704442 James Forrestal swearing in ceremony (cropped).jpg|thumb|Forrestal is sworn in as the first Secretary of Defense, September 17, 1947.]]
[[File:Prospect House (Washington, D.C.).jpg|thumb|Forrestal lived at [[Prospect House (Washington, D.C.)|Prospect House]] in Washington, D.C.]]
In 1947, Truman appointed him the first [[United States Secretary of Defense]]. Forrestal continued to advocate for complete racial integration of the [[U.S. armed forces|services]], a policy eventually implemented in 1949.

During private cabinet meetings with Truman in 1946 and 1947, Forrestal had argued against [[partition of Palestine]] on the grounds it would infuriate [[Arab countries]] who supplied oil needed for the [[U.S. economy]] and national defense. Instead, Forrestal favored a federalization plan for Palestine. Outside the White House, response to Truman's continued silence on the issue was immediate. Truman received threats to cut off [[campaign contributions]] from wealthy donors, as well as [[hate mail]], including a letter accusing him of "preferring [[fascist]] and Arab elements to the democracy-loving [[Jewish people]] of Palestine."<ref>{{cite book|first=Robert J.|last=Donovan|author-link=Robert J. Donovan|title=Conflict and Crisis: The Presidency of Harry S. Truman, 1945–1948|year=1996 |publisher=[[University of Missouri Press]]|isbn=978-0-8262-1066-1|pages=325|quote=Visibly upset, Truman gave the letter to an aide, stating that he was far too angry to answer it in a polite manner.}}</ref> Appalled by the intensity and implied threats over the partition question, Forrestal appealed to Truman in two separate cabinet meetings not to base his decision on partition, whatever the outcome, on the basis of political pressure.<ref>Donovan, Robert J., ''Conflict and Crisis: The Presidency of Harry S. Truman, 1945–1948'', University of Missouri Press (1996), {{ISBN|978-0826210661}}, pp. 325–335</ref> In his only known public comment on the issue, Forrestal stated to [[J. Howard McGrath]], [[U.S. Senator|Senator]] from [[Rhode Island]]:

<blockquote>...no group in this country should be permitted to influence our policy to the point it could endanger our national security.<ref>(The Forrestal Diaries, 1951)</ref></blockquote>

Forrestal's statement soon earned him the active enmity of some congressmen and supporters of [[Israel]]. He was also an early target of the [[muckraking]] columnist and broadcaster [[Drew Pearson (journalist)|Drew Pearson]], an opponent of [[foreign policies]] hostile to the Soviet Union, who began to regularly call for Forrestal's removal after Truman named him Secretary of Defense.<ref name=Time1949>[[Time Magazine]], ''Washington Head-Hunters'', New York: Time Publications, 24 January 1949</ref> Pearson told his own [[Mentorship|protege]], [[Jack Anderson (columnist)|Jack Anderson]], that he believed Forrestal was "the most dangerous man in America" and claimed that if he was not removed from office, he would "cause another world war".

Upon taking office as Secretary of Defense, Forrestal was surprised to learn that the administration did not [[Military budget of the United States|budget for defense]] needs based on military threats posed by enemies of the United States and its interests. According to historian [[Walter LaFeber]], Truman was known to approach defense budgetary requests in the abstract, without regard to defense response requirements in the event of conflicts with potential enemies.<ref name=LaFeber1993>{{cite book|last=LaFeber|first=Walter|author-link=Walter LaFeber|title=America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945–1980|edition=7th|location=New York|publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=1993}}</ref> The president would begin by subtracting from total receipts the amount needed for domestic needs and recurrent operating costs, with any surplus going to the defense budget for that year.<ref name=LaFeber1993/> The Truman administration's willingness to slash conventional readiness needs for the Navy and Marine Corps soon caused fierce controversies within the upper ranks of their respective branches.<ref name=LaFeber1993/><ref name=Blair2003>Blair, Clay, ''The Forgotten War: America in Korea, 1950–1953'', Naval Institute Press (2003)</ref>

During the Reagan years, [[Paul Nitze]] reflected upon the qualities which made a Secretary of Defense great: the ability to work with Congress, the ability for "big-time management," and an ability at war planning. Nitze felt that Forrestal was the only one who possessed all three qualities together.<ref>Shultz, George P. ''Turmoil and Triumph'', p. 705</ref>

====Post-war====
At the close of World War II, millions of dollars of serviceable equipment had been scrapped or abandoned rather than having funds appropriated for its storage costs. New military equipment ''en route'' to operations in the Pacific theater was scrapped or simply tossed overboard.<ref name=Blair2003/> Facing the wholesale demobilization of most of the US defense force structure, Forrestal resisted Truman's efforts to substantially reduce defense appropriations,<ref name=Hess1972>{{cite web|url=http://www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/larkin.htm|title=Oral History Interview|access-date=2009-03-26|first=Jerry N.|last=Hess|author2=Felix E. Larkin|year=1972|orig-year=September 18, 1972 and October 23, 1972|publisher=[[Truman Library]]}}</ref> but was unable to prevent a steady reduction in defense spending, resulting in major cuts not only in defense equipment stockpiles, but also in military readiness.

By 1948, Truman had approved military budgets billions of dollars below what the services were requesting, putting Forrestal in the middle of a fierce tug-of-war between the President and the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]]. Forrestal was also becoming increasingly worried about the Soviet threat.<ref name="Chambers">See [[Whittaker Chambers]] to confirm that his concerns on the domestic front were quite legitimate</ref> His 18 months at Defense came at an exceptionally difficult time for the U.S. military establishment: Communist governments came to power in [[Czechoslovakia]] and China; the Soviets imposed a [[Berlin Blockade|blockade]] on [[West Berlin]] prompting the U.S. [[Berlin Airlift]] to supply the city; the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]] followed the establishment of Israel; and negotiations were going on for the formation of [[NATO]].

[[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] recorded he was in agreement with Forrestal's theories on the dangers of Soviet and International communist expansion. Eisenhower recalled that Forrestal had been "the one man who, in the very midst of the war, always counseled caution and alertness in dealing with the Soviets." Eisenhower remembered on several occasions, while he was [[Supreme Allied Commander]], he had been visited by Forrestal, who carefully explained his thesis that the Communists would never cease trying to destroy all [[representative government]]. Eisenhower commented in his personal diary on 11 June 1949, "I never had cause to doubt the accuracy of his judgments on this point."<ref>Immerman, James. ''The CIA in Guatemala.'' U. of Texas Press: 1982.{{ISBN?}}{{page needed|date=September 2022}}</ref>

Forrestal also opposed the unification of the military services proposed by the Truman officials. Even so, he helped develop the [[National Security Act of 1947]] that created the [[National Military Establishment]] (the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] was not created as such until August 1949).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/legislative/images/forrestal-letter.jpg |title=Letter from James Forrestal to Chan Gurney |date=March 4, 1947 |series=Committee on Armed Services, Records of the U.S. Senate |publisher=U.S. National Archives and Records Administration}}</ref> With the former Secretary of War [[Robert P. Patterson]] retiring to private life, Forrestal was the next choice.

[[Michael Hogan (academic)|Michael Hogan]] downplays Forrestal's achievements:
:Forrestal was not in FDR's inner circle, was not apprised of the Manhattan Project, and did not attend the major wartime conferences....Forrestal also ended up on the wrong side of the struggle to unify the armed forces....He slowed but did not stop the unification process as secretary of the navy and then had to live with legislation that prevented him from managing the military establishment efficiently as the country's first secretary of defense. In that capacity, however, Forrestal was unable to devise an integrated defense budget, work out a joint war plan, or compel the Joint Chiefs of Staff to accept presidential directives they did not like.<ref>Hogan, ''The Vice Men of Foreign Policy'' (1993). p. 324.</ref>

====Resignation as Secretary of Defense====
[[Governor of New York]] [[Thomas E. Dewey]] was expected to win the [[1948 United States presidential election|presidential elections of 1948]]. Forrestal met with Dewey privately, and it was agreed he would continue as Secretary of Defense under a Dewey administration. Unwittingly, Forrestal would trigger a series of events that would not only undermine his already precarious position with Truman but also contribute to the loss of his job, his failing health and eventual demise. Weeks before the election, Pearson published an exposé of the meetings between Dewey and Forrestal.<ref>Spencer Zimmerman ''The Epoch Point'', pp. 193–194, Mill City Press Inc., 2008 {{ISBN|978-1-934248-93-5}}</ref>
In 1949, angered over Forrestal's continued opposition to his defense economization policies, and concerned about reports in the press over his mental condition, Truman abruptly asked Forrestal to resign. By March 31, 1949, Forrestal was out of a job.<ref name=Hess1972/> He was replaced by [[Louis A. Johnson]], an ardent supporter of Truman's defense retrenchment policy.

===Psychiatric treatment===
In 1949, exhausted from overwork, Forrestal entered psychiatric treatment. The attending psychiatrist, [[Captain (naval)|Captain]] George N. Raines, was handpicked by the [[Surgeon General of the United States Navy|Navy Surgeon General]]. The [[regimen]] was as follows:
# 1st week: [[Truth drug|narcosis]] with [[Amobarbital|sodium amytal]].
# 2nd – 5th weeks: a regimen of [[insulin shock therapy|insulin sub-shock]] combined with psycho-therapeutic interviews. According to Raines, the patient overreacted to the insulin much as he had to the amytal and this would occasionally throw him into a confused state with a great deal of agitation and confusion.
# 4th week: insulin administered only in stimulating doses; 10 units of insulin four times a day, morning, noon, afternoon and evening.

According to Raines, "We considered [[electroconvulsive therapy|electro-shock]] but thought it better to postpone it for another 90 days. In reactive depression if electro-shock is used early and the patient is returned to the same situation from which he came there is grave danger of suicide in the immediate period after they return... so strangely enough we left out electro-shock to avoid what actually happened anyhow."<ref>[http://ariwatch.com/VS/JamesForrestal/WillcuttsReport.htm Admiral M.D. Willcutts Report, p. 34, 41, 1949], released to the public 2004</ref>

===Death===
Although Forrestal told associates he had decided to resign, he was reportedly shattered when Truman abruptly asked for his resignation.<ref name="Post_Wooley">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/05/23/the-fall-of-james-forrestal/60c653b3-c537-462f-b523-5fdc5cd934aa/|title=The Fall Of James Forrestal|last=Wooley|first=Alexander|date=1999-05-23|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=2019-11-03|language=en-US|quote="Psychiatrists who later treated Forrestal would backdate the onset of his depression, insomnia, restlessness and weight loss to this period. Forrestal's strength, energy and composure deserted him. His double-breasted suits began to hang looser and looser. He appeared to age years in the space of weeks."|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> His letter of resignation was tendered on March 28, 1949, and his condition steadily deteriorated.<ref name="Hoopes and Brinkley, pp. 446–68">Hoopes and Brinkley, pp. 446–468.</ref> On the day of Forrestal's resignation from office, he was reported to have gone into a daze and was flown on a Navy airplane to the estate of Under Secretary of State [[Robert A. Lovett]] in [[Hobe Sound, Florida]], where Forrestal's wife, Josephine, was vacationing. [[William C. Menninger]] of the [[Menninger Clinic]] in Kansas was consulted and he diagnosed "severe depression" of the type "seen in [[combat stress reaction|operational fatigue]] during the war". The Menninger Clinic had successfully treated similar cases during the war, but Forrestal's wife, his friend and associate [[Ferdinand Eberstadt (policy advisor)|Ferdinand Eberstadt]], Menninger, and Navy psychiatrist Captain George N. Raines decided to send the patient to the [[National Naval Medical Center]] (NNMC) in [[Bethesda, Maryland]].<ref>[[Richard Rhodes]] ''Dark Sun'', p. 354, Simon & Schuster, 1996 {{ISBN|978-0-684-82414-7}}.</ref> He was checked into NNMC five days later. The decision to house him on the 16th floor instead of the first floor was justified in the same way. Forrestal's condition was officially announced as "nervous and physical exhaustion"; his lead doctor, Captain Raines, diagnosed his condition as "depression" or "reactive depression".<ref name="Hoopes and Brinkley, pp. 446–68"/> As a person who prized anonymity and once stated that his hobby was "obscurity", Forrestal, with his policies, had been the constant target of vicious personal attacks from columnists, including [[Drew Pearson (journalist)|Drew Pearson]] and [[Walter Winchell]]. Pearson's protégé, [[Jack Anderson (columnist)|Jack Anderson]], later asserted that Pearson "hectored Forrestal with innuendos and false accusations".<ref>Mary Akashah and Donald Tennant (1980). "[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/oas/oas_pdf/v60/p89_92.pdf Madness and Politics: The Case of James Forrestal] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927235852/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/oas/oas_pdf/v60/p89_92.pdf |date=2007-09-27}}" (PDF). ''Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science'' 60: 89–92.</ref>

[[File:US Navy 030820-N-9593R-114 The entrance to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.jpg|thumb|[[National Naval Medical Center]]]]

Forrestal seemed to be on the road to recovery, having regained {{convert|12|lb|}} since his admission into the hospital. However, in the early morning hours of May 22, his body, clad only in the bottom half of a pair of pajamas, was found on a third-floor roof below the sixteenth-floor kitchen across the hall from his room.<ref name="Report">{{cite web|url=https://findingaids.princeton.edu/collections/MC051/c04531|title=James V. Forrestal Papers (MC051) – Series 2: Personal Files – Willcutts Report on Forrestal's Death|website=findingaids.princeton.edu}}</ref><ref name="ariwatch.com">{{cite web|url=http://ariwatch.com/VS/JamesForrestal/WillcuttsReport.htm|title=The Willcutts Report|website=ariwatch.com}}</ref> Forrestal's alleged last written statement, touted in the contemporary press and later biographers as an implied suicide note, was part of a poem from [[Winthrop Mackworth Praed|W.&nbsp;M. Praed's]] translation of [[Sophocles]]' tragedy ''[[Ajax (Sophocles)|Ajax]]'':<ref>Townsend Hoopes and Douglas Brinkley, ''Driven Patriot'', Naval Institute Press, 2000, p. 464 {{ISBN|978-1-55750-334-3}}.</ref>

<blockquote><poem>Fair [[Salamis Island|Salamis]], the billows' roar,
Wander around thee yet,
And sailors gaze upon thy shore
Firm in the Ocean set.
Thy son is in a foreign clime
Where [[Mount Ida|Ida]] feeds her countless flocks,
Far from thy dear, remembered rocks,
Worn by the waste of time–
Comfortless, nameless, hopeless save
In the dark prospect of the yawning grave....
Woe to the mother in her close of day,
Woe to her desolate heart and temples gray,
When she shall hear
Her loved one's story whispered in her ear!
"Woe, woe!" will be the cry–
No quiet murmur like the tremulous wail
Of the lone bird, the querulous [[nightingale]]–
</poem></blockquote>
[[File:ANCExplorer James Forrestal grave.jpg|thumb|Grave at Arlington National Cemetery]]

The official Navy review board, which completed hearings on May 31, waited until October 11, 1949, to release only a brief summary of its findings. The announcement, as reported on page 15 of the October 12 ''[[New York Times]]'', stated only that Forrestal had died from his fall from the window. It did not say what might have caused the fall, nor did it make any mention of a bathrobe sash cord that had first been reported as tied around his neck. The full report<ref>{{cite web|url=https://findingaids.princeton.edu/collections/MC051/c04531|title=James V. Forrestal Papers (MC051): Willcutts Report on Forrestal's Death|website=findingaids.princeton.edu}}</ref> was released by the Department of the Navy in April 2004.
{{blockquote|After full and mature deliberation, the board finds as follows:

FINDING OF FACTS

# That the body found on the ledge outside of room three eighty-four of building one of the National Naval Medical Center at one-fifty a.m. and pronounced dead at one fifty-five a.m., Sunday, May 22, 1949, was identified as that of the late James V. Forrestal, a patient on the Neuropsychiatric Service of the U. S. Naval Hospital, National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.
# That the late James V. Forrestal died on or about May 22, 1949, at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, as a result of injuries, multiple, extreme, received incident to a fall from a high point in the tower, building one, National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.
# That the behavior of the deceased during the period of his stay in the hospital preceding his death was indicative of a mental depression.
# That the treatment and precautions in the conduct of the case were in agreement with accepted psychiatric practice and commensurate with the evident status of the patient at all times.
# That the death was not caused in any manner by the intent, fault, negligence or inefficiency of any person or persons in the naval service or connected therewith.<ref name="ariwatch.com"/>}}

He was buried at [[Arlington National Cemetery]], in [[Arlington, Virginia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CglGb3JyZXN0YWwSBUphbWVz/ |title=Burial Detail: Forrestal, James V. (Section 30, Grave 674) |work= ANC Explorer|publisher=Arlington National Cemetery |id=(Official website)}}</ref><ref>Hoopes and Brinkley, ''Driven Patriot'', Naval Institute Press, 2000, p. 469 {{ISBN|978-1-55750-334-3}}.</ref>

==''The Forrestal Diaries''==
Forrestal's diaries from 1944 to March 1949 were serialised in the ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'' in 1951, and published as a 581-page book ''The Forrestal Diaries'', edited by [[Walter Millis]] in October 1951. They were censored prior to publication.<ref>The Forrestal Diaries</ref> [[Adam Matthew Publications Ltd.]] published a [[Microform|microfilm]] of the complete and unexpurgated diaries in 2001, from the originals preserved in the [[Princeton University Library|Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library]], Princeton University; a digital edition was released in January 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amdigital.co.uk/primary-sources/world-war-two-studies|title = World War Two Studies &#124; Research Source}}</ref><ref name="sscnet.ucla.edu">{{cite web|url=http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/trachtenberg/documents/forrestal.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020111045651/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/trachtenberg/documents/forrestal.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 11, 2002|title=Document 1: Extract from the Forrestal Diary|website=www.sscnet.ucla.edu}}</ref><ref>[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/78216614 Diaries of James V. Forrestal, 1944–1949, Secretary of the Navy, 1944–1947, and First Secretary of Defense, 1947–1949: complete and unexpurgated diaries from the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University.]</ref> An example of censorship is the removal of the following account of a conversation with Truman: "He [the President] referred to Hitler as an egomaniac. The result is we shall have a [[Slav]] Europe for a long time to come. I don't think it is so bad."<ref name="sscnet.ucla.edu"/>

==Awards==
Forrestal was awarded both the [[Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army)|Distinguished Service Medal]] and the [[Medal for Merit|Medal of Merit]] by President Truman.<ref>{{cite web |title=Citation Accompanying Distinguished Service Medal Awarded to James Forrestal |url=https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/public-papers/63/citation-accompanying-distinguished-service-medal-awarded-james-forrestal |website=www.trumanlibrary.gov |access-date=March 5, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=President Truman presenting Medal of Merit to James Forrestal |url=https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/photograph-records/59-1445-2 |website=www.trumanlibrary.gov |access-date=March 5, 2025}}</ref>

==Legacies and depictions ==

===Namesakes===
The [[James V. Forrestal Building]] in Washington, D.C., completed in 1969, is named for him.<ref>Francesca Russello Ammon,  "Commemoration amid criticism: The mixed legacy of urban renewal in southwest Washington, DC." ''Journal of Planning History'' 8.3 (2009): 175-220.</ref>

The J.&nbsp;V. Forrestal Elementary School at 125 Liberty Street in [[Beacon, New York]], his hometown, is named for him. Forrestal Elementary School in the Great Lakes military housing area is named for him.

The aircraft carrier [[USS Forrestal|USS ''Forrestal'']], in commission 1955–1993, was named for him.<ref>Brads, ''Elward, Brad. US Cold War Aircraft Carriers: Forrestal, Kitty Hawk and Enterprise Classes'' (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014).</ref>

=== In literature and the arts ===
In the 2002 [[HBO]] TV movie ''[[Path to War]]'', Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (portrayed by Alec Baldwin) hauntingly recounts the story of James Forrestal's dismissal and suicide to speechwriter Richard Goodwin (portrayed by James Frain).

In the 2006 film ''[[Flags of Our Fathers (film)|Flags of Our Fathers]],'' Forrestal was played by [[Michael Cumpsty]].

The story of James Forrestal is prominently featured in Chapter 4 of the [[Oliver Stone]] popular documentary series ''[[Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States]],'' which aired on Showtime in 2012–13.

The later part of Forrestal's life, including his marriage and his death, is a large part of ''Majic Man'' by [[Max Allan Collins]].

In the anime OVA series ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory]]'', a secret document is briefly viewable in the eighth episode that mentions the death of a Secretary Forrestal. It goes on to say that a "vacancy" was left due to his death until he was replaced by an unnamed general.

=== Conspiracy theories ===
A number of works (shown below) have implied or indicated that Forrestal's death was suspicious or nefarious.

In December 1950, [[William Bradford Huie]] published an article titled "Untold Facts about the Death of James Forrestal" in ''[[The American Mercury]]'', which he co-owned.<ref name="HBonCT"/> That article, later entered into the Congressional Record and republished, suggested Forrestal has been forced to resign amid pressure from "disgruntled politicians, Communists, Zionists, and gossip columnists".<ref name="UntoldForrestal">https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1950-pt12/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1950-pt12-8-1.pdf , pg. 16179</ref> Huie opined that "Much of the truth has thus far been suppressed, but the ghost of Jim Forrestal is not going to be laid until there are reasonable answers to such questions as these: Why was the attack on Forrestal so reckless and sadistically savage? Why have his papers been held secret? Where is the report of those who investigated his death? Why was the deposed Defense Secretary held a virtual prisoner at Bethesda Naval Hospital—a prisoner who could not be visited by his own priest."<ref name="UntoldForrestal"/>

In 1954, journalist [[Walter Trohan]] published a piece listing Forrestal's death as part of a pattern of suspicious deaths of federal officials.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/371150353/ | title=Chicago Tribune 15 Apr 1954, page 10 }}</ref><ref>Also cited were the deaths of [[Harry Dexter White]], Walter Jarvin Smith, [[John G. Winant]], Laird Shields Goldsborough, [[Francis Otto Matthieson]], John C. Montgomery, [[Abraham Feller]], James F. Lane, Morton E. Kent, James S. Kronthal, Fredrick W. Crockett, [[Edwin H. Armstrong]]</ref> In 1955, anti-Communist investigative journalist [[Howard Rushmore]] claimed, without evidence, that the former Secretary had been murdered by Communists.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/10829447/ | title=Corsicana Daily Sun 09 Jul 1955, page Page 1 }}</ref> In 1966, a book-length treatment of the conspiracy theory was published in the fringe press.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CU1YAAAAMAAJ | title=The Death of James Forrestal | last1=Simpson | first1=Cornell | date=1966 }}</ref><ref name="HBonCT">Hoopes & Brinkley, p.544</ref>

In a statement posted to the Paranet BBS in December 1987, [[John Lear]] claimed that Forrestal's suicide was connected to the "horrible truth" about aliens and their interactions with humanity, and implies that his medical records remain sealed as part of the coverup initiated by President Truman.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.textfiles.com/ufo/alear1.txt | title=Statement Released By: John Lear}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Gy0HPzcxkEC&pg=PA1984 | title=Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America | isbn=978-0-520-93972-1 | last1=Barkun | first1=Michael | date=7 November 2003 | publisher=University of California Press }}</ref>

In 2017, on the final episode of the [[Netflix]] miniseries ''[[Wormwood (miniseries)|Wormwood]]'', journalist [[Seymour Hersh]] implies that Forrestal's death may have been one of a series of deaths labeled as suicides that were actually covert assassinations by the CIA.
''The Assassination of James Forrestal'', a 2019 nonfiction book by David Martin, argues that Forrestal was killed.

==== In fiction ====
Forrestal conspiracy theories have been featured in numerous works of fiction. In the 1994 television movie ''[[Roswell (film)|Roswell]]'', Forrestal is portrayed by [[Eugene Roche]]. He is depicted as sitting on a commission concerning the [[Roswell UFO incident]] and advocating the eventual release of information to the public. The film treats his death and classified diary as highly suspicious.

An opera concerning the conspiracy theories behind Forrestal's death, ''Nightingale: The Last Days of James Forrestal'' composed by [[Evan Hause]] with a libretto by [[Gary Heidt]], premiered in New York City at the Present Company Theatorium on May 19, 2002

In ''[[The Golden Age (comics)|The Golden Age]]'', a [[DC Comics]] ''[[Elseworlds]]'' "imaginary story" four-issue prestige format [[mini-series]] by [[James Robinson (comics)|James Robinson]] (writer) and [[Paul Smith (comics)|Paul Smith]] (artist), Forrestal's death is shown to have been a murder. Forrestal is pushed from the window of his Bethesda Naval Hospital room by the Golden Age [[Robotman (Robert Crane)|Robotman]].

In the PC game ''[[Area 51 (2005 video game)|Area 51]]'' one of the secret documents the player can collect talks about the [[Majestic 12]] initiative being threatened with "receiving the same punishment as his last secretary, Forrestal", implying the murder of Forrestal was to cover his operation from the public. (Forrestal was allegedly a member of Majestic 12.)

The 2020 film ''[[The 11th Green]]'' suggests that in 1949, Forrestal was preparing to make public proof of alien visitations and technology, and was forced by two [[Men in black|Men in Black]] to choose between committing suicide or seeing his entire family killed. A title slide over the last shot of the movie says "Dedicated to the Memory of James V. Forrestal (1892–1949), who understood the significance of the events and sought to act honorably amid treachery."

==See also==
* {{USS|Forrestal|CV-59}}
* [[Frank Olson]], a CIA scientist who plummeted from a high building to his death in 1953

{{clear}}

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Further reading==
* Akashah, Mary, and Donald Tennant. (1980)."[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/oas/oas_pdf/v60/p89_92.pdf Madness and Politics: The Case of James Forrestal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927235852/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/oas/oas_pdf/v60/p89_92.pdf |date=2007-09-27 }}" (PDF). ''Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science'' 60: 89–92. Retrieved on 2007-09-09. Refutes the idea that Forrestal's "policies and positions were somehow the products of a diseased mind."
* Albion, Robert G. and Robert H. Connery, ''Forrestal and the Navy'' (1962), a major study
* Borklund, Carl W. ''Men of the Pentagon: From Forrestal to McNamara'' (1966)
* Caraley, Demetrios. ''The Politics of Military Unification'' (1966)
* Connery, Robert H.''The Navy and Industrial Mobilization in World War II'' (1951)
* Cornell, Cecelia. "Understanding Forrestal", ''Psychohistory Review'' 21#3 (1993) 329–38
* Dorwart, Jeffrey M. ''Eberstadt and Forrestal, A National Security Partnership, 1909–1949'' (College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 1991)
* Dorwart, Jeffrey M. "James Forrestal" ''American National Biography'' (2000), short scholarly biography.
* Hammond, Paul Y. ''Organizing for Defense: The American Military Establishment in the Twentieth Century'' (1961).
* Hogan, Michael J. "The Vice Men of Foreign Policy", ''Reviews in American History'' (1993) 21#2 pp.&nbsp;320–28 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2703220 online]
* Hoopes, Townsend and Douglas Brinkley. ''Driven Patriot: the Life and Times of James Forrestal'' {{ISBN|0-7366-2520-8}} (1992), scholarly biography
* Kinnard, Douglas. ''The secretary of defense'' (University Press of Kentucky, 2014) [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y54fBgAAQBAJ&dq=James+Forrestal&pg=PP1 online].
* Larsen, Jeffrey A., and Erin R. Mahan. ''Establishing the Secretary's Role: James Forrestal'' (Historical Office, Office of Secretary of Defense 2011). [https://history.defense.gov/Portals/70/Documents/special_studies/SpecStudy1.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240812005859/https://history.defense.gov/Portals/70/Documents/special_studies/SpecStudy1.pdf |date=2024-08-12 }}
* Martin, David. ''The Assassination of James Forrestal: Second Edition'' (2021)
* Meaker, M. J. ''Sudden Endings, 13 Profiles in Depth of Famous Suicides'' (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1964), p.&nbsp;46–66: "Patriot's Record: James Forrestal"
* [[Walter Millis|Millis, Walter]] ed., ''The Forrestal Diaries'' (New York: Viking, 1951)
* Rogow, Arnold A. ''James Forrestal, A Study of Personality, Politics, and Policy'' (Macmillan Publishers, 1963)
** Rogow, Arnold A. "Notes on Researching James Forrestal." in ''Introspection in Biography'' (Routledge, 2019) pp.&nbsp;309–316.
* Rogow, Arnold A. "Private illness and public policy: The case of James Forrestal and John Winant", ''The American Journal of Psychiatry'' 125#8 (1969) pp.&nbsp;1093–1098 {{doi|10.1176/ajp.125.8.1093}}
* Simpson, Cornell. ''The Death of James Forrestal'' (1966)

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons}}
* [http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/secdef_histories/bios/forrestal.htm DoD biography] (includes more details of DoD formation process and budget negotiations)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060828140820/http://alsos.wlu.edu/qsearch.aspx?browse=people%2FForrestal%2C+James+V. Annotated bibliography for James Forrestal from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071213185550/http://www.history.army.mil/books/Last_Salute/Ch5.htm The Last Salute: Civil and Military Funeral, 1921–1969, Chapter V, Former Secretary of Defense James V. Forrestal, Official Funeral, 22–25 May 1949] by B.&nbsp;C.&nbsp;Mossman and M.&nbsp;W.&nbsp;Stark. [[United States Army Center of Military History]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617191541/http://www.princeton.edu/~mudd/finding_aids/willcutts/ Admiral M.D. Willcutts Report, 1949 (pdf).] [http://ariwatch.com/VS/JamesForrestal/WillcuttsReport.htm Or in searchable html.]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060222092241/http://www.adam-matthew-publications.co.uk/collections_az/DiariesJVForr/description.aspx Diaries of James V. Forrestal, 1944–1949]
* [http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/8w32r561t James V. Forrestal Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University]
* [http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/2v23vt455 Arnold A. Rogow Papers on James V. Forrestal at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University]
* {{cite web |title=Death of Mr. James V. Forrestal |url=https://www.jag.navy.mil/library/investigations/JAMES%20FORRESTAL%201949.pdf |website=JAG Manual Investigations |publisher=[[Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy]] |date=May 22, 1949 |access-date=April 24, 2019 |archive-date=November 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105114644/https://www.jag.navy.mil/library/investigations/JAMES%20FORRESTAL%201949.pdf |url-status=dead }}
;Media
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.archives.arc.39025|name="Grasshopper" Planes on Bougainville etc. (1944)}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.archives.arc.39036|name=President Roosevelt Returns to Washington Etc. (1944)}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.archives.arc.39086|name=A German is Tried for Murder etc. (1945)}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=SunsetInThePacific|name=Sunset in the Pacific (1945)}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=1946-07-08_First_Pictures_Atomic_Blast|name=First Pictures Atomic Blast!, 1946/07/08 (1946)}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=1947-01-20_Army-Navy_Agree_On_Merger|name=Army-Navy Agree On Merger, 1947/01/20 (1947)}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/005393}}

{{S-start}}
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{{Succession box|before=New office|title=[[Under Secretary of the Navy]]|after=[[Ralph Austin Bard]]|years= August 22, 1940 – May 16, 1944}}
{{Succession box|before= [[Frank Knox]]|title= [[United States Secretary of the Navy]]<br /><small>([[United States Federal Executive Departments|cabinet]])</small> |
years= 1944–1947|after= [[John L. Sullivan (Navy)|John L. Sullivan]]<br /><small>([[United States Department of Defense|DoD]])</small>}}
{{s-off}}
{{U.S. Cabinet official box
| before= New office
| after= [[Louis A. Johnson]]
| years= 1947–1949
| president= [[Harry S. Truman]]
| department= Secretary of Defense}}
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{{USSecNavy}}
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{{FD Roosevelt cabinet}}
{{Truman cabinet}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forrestal, James V.}}
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