View source for William J. Perry

{{short description|American mathematician, businessman and 19th US Secretary of Defense}}
{{distinguish|W. J. Perry}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = William Perry
| image               = William Perry official DoD photo (retouched).jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 1994
| office              = 19th [[United States Secretary of Defense]]
| president           = [[Bill Clinton]]
| deputy              = [[John M. Deutch]]<br>[[John P. White]]
| term_start          = February 3, 1994
| term_end            = January 23, 1997
| predecessor         = [[Les Aspin]]
| successor           = [[William Cohen]]
| office1             = 23rd [[United States Deputy Secretary of Defense]]
| president1          = Bill Clinton
| term_start1         = March 5, 1993
| term_end1           = February 3, 1994
| predecessor1        = [[Donald J. Atwood Jr.]]
| successor1          = [[John M. Deutch]]
| office2             = [[Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering]]
| president2          = [[Jimmy Carter]]
| term_start2         = April 11, 1977
| term_end2           = January 20, 1981
| predecessor2        = [[Malcolm R. Currie]]
| successor2          = Richard DeLauer
| birth_name          = William James Perry
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1927|10|11}}
| birth_place         = [[Vandergrift, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Perry |first1=William J. |title=My Journey at the Nuclear Brink |date=2015 |publisher=Stanford University Press |page=87}}</ref>
| spouse              = {{marriage|Leonilla Green||2017|end=died}}
| children            = 5
| education           = [[Stanford University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Master of Arts|MA]])<br>[[Pennsylvania State University]] ([[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])
| branch              = [[United States Army]]
| serviceyears        = 1945–1947 (active)<br>1950–1955 (reserve)
| rank                = [[Second lieutenant (United States)|Second Lieutenant]] (reserve)
| unit                = [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]]<br>[[United States Army Reserve]]
}}
'''William James Perry''' (born October 11, 1927) is an American mathematician, engineer, businessman, and civil servant who was the [[United States Secretary of Defense]] from February 3, 1994, to January 23, 1997, under President [[Bill Clinton]].<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry">{{cite web |url=https://history.defense.gov/Multimedia/Biographies/Article-View/Article/571282/william-j-perry/ |title=William J. Perry - William J. Clinton Administration |publisher=Office of the Secretary of Defense - Historical Office}} {{Usgovpd}}</ref> He also served as [[Deputy Secretary of Defense]] (1993–1994)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.whs.mil/library/Key47-04/III.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2017-02-07 |archive-date=2011-05-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516011431/http://www.whs.mil/library/Key47-04/III.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[Director of Defense Research and Engineering|Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering]] (1977–1981).

Perry is the Michael and Barbara Berberian Professor (emeritus) at [[Stanford University]], with a joint appointment at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the School of Engineering.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/people/william_j_perry |title=FSI {{!}} CISAC - William J. Perry |publisher=CISAC |language=en |access-date=2018-08-28}}</ref> He is also a senior fellow at [[Stanford University]]'s [[Hoover Institution]]. He is the co-founder of the Palo Alto Unitarian Church<ref>{{cite web |first=David |last=Dodd |url=https://www.uupetaluma.org/services/william-perry-founder-of-the-william-j-perry-project/ |title=Change of Plans: What Matters Most to Me |publisher=uupetaluma |date=2019-11-03 |access-date=2022-03-19}}</ref> and serves as director of the Preventive Defense Project.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://worldwide.harvard.edu/preventive-defense-project|title=Preventive Defense Project|publisher=Harvard Worldwide|language=en|access-date=2018-08-28|archive-date=2018-08-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828170159/https://worldwide.harvard.edu/preventive-defense-project|url-status=dead}}</ref> He is an expert in U.S. foreign policy, national security and arms control. In 2013 he founded the William J. Perry Project, a non-profit effort to educate the public on the current dangers of nuclear weapons.<ref name=PerryProject>{{cite web|title=About William Perry|url=http://www.wjperryproject.org/about-wjp/|publisher=William J Perry Project|access-date=18 September 2017|archive-date=14 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714014650/http://www.wjperryproject.org/about-wjp/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Perry also has extensive business experience and serves on the boards of several high-tech companies. He was elected a member of the [[National Academy of Engineering]] in 1970 for contributions to communications theory, radio propagation theory, and computer technology in the design of advanced systems. He is also a fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]. Among Perry's numerous awards are the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] (1997) and the [[Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun]] (2002), awarded by [[Japan]].

==Early life==
Born in [[Vandergrift, Pennsylvania]], Perry attended, but did not graduate from [[Culver Military Academy]]. He graduated from [[Butler Senior High School]] in 1945 and served in the [[United States Army]] as an enlisted man from 1946 to 1947, including service in the [[Occupation of Japan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nae.edu/Activities/Projects/Awards/BuecheAward/BuecheWinners/page19969264/55406.aspx|title=William J. Perry Title U.S. Secretary of Defense|publisher=National Academy of Engineering}}</ref><ref name="defense.gov">{{cite web|url=http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=757|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302003002/http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=757|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 2, 2010|title=Secretary of Defense William J. Perry - National Defense University|publisher=U.S. Department of Defense|date=February 13, 1996}}</ref> Perry later received a commission in the [[United States Army Reserve]] through [[ROTC]], serving from 1950 to 1955.

Perry received his [[Bachelor of Science|B.S.]] (1949) and [[Master's degree|M.A.]] (1950) degrees from [[Stanford University]] and a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in [[mathematics]] from [[Pennsylvania State University]] in 1957.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cisac.stanford.edu/news/joseph_c_martz_from_los_alamos_national_lab_named_inaugural_perry_fellow_20091015|title =Joseph C. Martz from Los Alamos National Lab named inaugural Perry Fellow|publisher=Center for International Security and Cooperation|date=October 15, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.math.uh.edu/~tomforde/famous.html|title=Famous Nonmathematicians|publisher=University of Houston}}</ref>

==Early career==
From 1954 to 1964 Perry was director of the [[Electronic Defense Laboratories]] of [[Sylvania Electric Products|Sylvania]]/[[GTE]] in [[California]], and from 1964 to 1977 president of [[ESL Incorporated|Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory (ESL), Incorporated]], an electronics firm that he founded.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/status/bios/perry.htm|title=Dr. William J. Perry Secretary of Defense|publisher=University of North Texas}}</ref> He was instrumental in demonstrating the technical feasibility of extracting [[Signals intelligence]] on the Soviet Union from the overall [[Radio frequency|Rf]] background with the then proposed [[Rhyolite/Aquacade]] surveillance program.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/DOC_0000863247.pdf|title=Charting a Technical Revolution: An interview with former DDS&T Albert Wheelon|publisher= Studies in Intelligence, CIA}}</ref> In 1967 he was hired as a technical consultant to the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]].

===Undersecretary of Defense for R&E===
From 1977 to 1981, during the [[Jimmy Carter]] administration, Perry served as [[Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering]], where he had responsibility for weapon systems procurement and [[research and development]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whs.mil/library/Key47-04/23.pdf|title=UNDER SECRETARIES OF DEFENSE Under Secretary of Defense (Research and Engineering)|publisher=whs.mil|access-date=2013-01-31|archive-date=2018-05-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518130024/http://www.whs.mil/library/Key47-04/23.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Among other achievements, he had an influence on the development of the [[AirLand Battle]] doctrine,<ref name="csisrw">{{cite news |last1=Wagner |first1=Rich |last2=Tegnelia |first2=Jim |title=Technology-Strategy Seminar: NATO's AirLand Battle Strategy and Future Extended Deterrence |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSukv1CcORk |publisher=Center for Strategic & International Studies Center for Strategic & International Studies}}</ref> and was instrumental in the development of [[stealth technology|stealth aircraft technology]], specifically the [[Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk]].

==Mid-career==
On leaving [[the Pentagon]] in 1981, Perry became managing director until 1985 of [[Hambrecht & Quist]], a [[San Francisco]] [[investment banking]] firm "specializing in high-tech and defense companies."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldaffairsdc.org/pdf/WAT_PerryBio.pdf|title=The Honorable William J. Perry|publisher=World Affairs Council|access-date=2013-01-31|archive-date=2020-03-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302170344/https://www.worldaffairsdc.org/pdf/WAT_PerryBio.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He was appointed by President [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1983 to serve on the President's Commission on Strategic Forces.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1983/20583b.htm|title=Appointment of William J. Perry as a Member of the President's Commission on Strategic Forces|publisher=Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum|date=February 5, 1983|access-date=January 31, 2013|archive-date=September 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924085251/http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1983/20583b.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was also a member of the [[Packard Commission]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1986/03/02/pentagon-papers-go-on-and-on-and-so-do-weapons-problems/|title=Pentagon Papers Go On And On, And So Do Weapons Problems|work=Chicago Tribune|date=March 2, 1986}}</ref>

Later in the 1980s he held positions as founder and chairman of Technology Strategies Alliances, professor in the School of Engineering at [[Stanford University]], and served as a co-director of the Preventive Defense Project at the [[Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newamericanstrategies.org/advisory/display.asp?fldAuthorID=41|title=William J. Perry|publisher=New American Strategies for Security and Peace|access-date=2013-01-31|archive-date=2014-01-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107202410/http://newamericanstrategies.org/advisory/display.asp?fldAuthorID=41|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Undersecretary of Defense===
Perry returned to the Pentagon as [[Under Secretary of Defense]] after being nominated by [[Bill Clinton]] on February 3, 1993,<ref>[https://news.stanford.edu/pr/93/930209Arc3414.html Perry nominated deputy secretary of defense], [[University of Stanford|Stanford University News Service]], February 3, 1993. Retrieved April 30, 2021.</ref>

The "frenzy" of defense industry mergers that the US experienced after 1986 was encouraged when in autumn 1993, Perry and his boss [[Les Aspin]] invited two dozen industry executives to a dinner "in the secretary's dining room next to his office". The two Secretaries urged their guests to combine into a few, larger companies because Pentagon budget cuts would endanger at least half of the contractors represented there. The event would come to be known as the [[Last Supper (defense industry)|"Last Supper"]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mintz |first=John |date=July 3, 1997 |title=How a dinner led to a feeding frenzy |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1997/07/04/how-a-dinner-led-to-a-feeding-frenzy/13961ba2-5908-4992-8335-c3c087cdebc6/ |work=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref name="tirpak98">{{cite news |date=July 1, 1998 |title=The Distillation of the Defense Industry |url=https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/0798industry/ |work=Air & Space Forces Magazine}}</ref><ref name="kelley95">{{cite journal |last1=Kelley |first1=Maryellen R. |last2=Watkins |first2=Todd A. |title=The Myth of the Specialized Military Contractor |journal=Technology Review |date=April 1995 |volume=98 |issue=3 |pages=52–58 |url=https://www.lehigh.edu/~taw4/TR.html}}</ref><ref name="wbur1">{{cite news |url=https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2023/03/01/the-last-supper-how-a-1993-pentagon-dinner-reshaped-the-defense-industry |title='The last supper': How a 1993 Pentagon dinner reshaped the defense industry |date=March 2023 }}</ref>

==Secretary of Defense==
Perry's boss as Undersecretary, [[Les Aspin]], was not a good fit for the job and within a year tendered his resignation. Perry succeeded him after a two-month search.<ref name=vote/> The same day of his confirmation hearing, Perry was confirmed by a unanimous (97-0) vote to become Defense Secretary.<ref name=vote>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-02-04-mn-19161-story.html Perry Is Sworn In as Defense Secretary : Military: Aspin's deputy takes oath same day Senate votes, 97 to 0, to back nomination]. ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', Les Pine, February 4, 1994. Retrieved April 26, 2021.</ref>

He entered office with broad [[national security]] experience, both in industry and government and with an understanding of the challenges that he faced. A hands-on manager, he paid attention both to internal operations in the Pentagon and to international security issues. He worked closely with his deputy secretaries ([[John M. Deutch]], 1994–95, and [[John P. White]], 1995–97), and he met regularly with the service secretaries, keeping them informed and seeking their advice on issues. He described his style as "management by walking around."<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PPP-1997-book1/html/PPP-1997-book1-doc-pg34.htm|title=Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Secretary of Defense William J. Perry at Fort Myer, Virginia|publisher=Government Printing Office|date=January 14, 1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-03-17-mn-48096-story.html|title=Perry Sets $80-Million Upgrade For F-14 Jet|work=Los Angeles Times|date=March 17, 1996}}</ref>

Perry adopted "preventive defense" as his guide to national security policy in the [[Post–Cold War era|post-Cold War world]].<ref name="defense.gov"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/ID/40811/|title=Perry Pushes Preventive Defense|publisher=U.S. Department of Defense|date=May 29, 1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=770|title=Secretary of Defense William J. Perry Commonwealth Club of California and World Forum of Silicon Valley|publisher=U.S. Department of Defense|date=February 23, 1996}}</ref> During the [[Cold War]] the United States had relied on deterrence rather than prevention as the central principle of its security strategy. Perry outlined three basic tenets of a preventive strategy: keep threats from emerging; deter those that actually emerged; and if prevention and deterrence failed, defeat the threat with military force.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cisac.stanford.edu/research/preventive_defense_project|title=Preventive Defense Project- Project Ongoing research|publisher=Center for International Security and Cooperation}}</ref> In practical terms this strategy relied on threat reduction programs (reducing the nuclear complex of the former [[Soviet Union]]), [[counter-proliferation]] efforts, the [[NATO]] [[Partnership for Peace]] and expansion of the alliance, and the maintenance of military forces and weapon systems ready to fight if necessary. To carry out this strategy, Perry thought it necessary to maintain a modern, ready military force, capable of fighting two major regional wars at the same time.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2007/11/09/former-defense-secretary-william-perry-roundtable-discussion-today-cu|title=Former Defense Secretary William Perry Roundtable Discussion Today At CU-Boulder|publisher=University of Colorado|date=November 9, 2007}}</ref>

===Defense budget===
[[Image:William Perry shortly after arriving at Kigali Airport in Rwanda, 1994.jpg|thumb|right|Perry in Rwanda, 1994.]]
The formulation of the [[Military budget of the United States|Defense budget]] and shepherding it through Congress was one of Perry's most important duties. The problem of how to deal with a large projected Defense budget shortfall from 1995 to 2000, an issue that weakened Perry's predecessor [[Les Aspin]] and contributed to his resignation, persisted when Perry took office.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/16/us/change-pentagon-aspin-resigns-cabinet-president-lost-confidence-defense-chief.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|title=Change at the Pentagon; Aspin Resigns from Cabinet; President Lost Confidence in Defense Chief, aides say|work=New York Times|date=December 16, 1993}}</ref> Immediately on presenting his 1995 budget request, which he termed "a post-Cold War budget," Perry stated that Defense required a few more years of downsizing and that its infrastructure needed streamlining as well. The proposal, he said, maintained a ready-to-fight force, redirected a modernization program (including a strong research and development program), initiated a program to do business differently (acquisition reform), and reinvested defense dollars in the economy.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

Perry asked for $252.2 billion for [[fiscal year|FY]] 1995, including funds for numerous weapon systems, such as a new [[aircraft carrier]], three [[Aegis combat system|Aegis cruisers]], and six [[C-17 Globemaster III|C-17 cargo aircraft]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Magazine%20Documents/1994/April%201994/0494chart.pdf|title=Snapshots of the New Budget|work=Air Force Magazine|author=Tamar A. Mehuron|date=April 1994}}{{dead link|date=May 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The budget projected a further cut of 85,500 in active duty military personnel, leaving a force of 1.52 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19940207/1894013/armed-services-would-hold-line-on-spending----2637-billion-called-bottom-line|title=Armed Services Would Hold Line On Spending -- $263.7 Billion Called 'Bottom Line'|author=Robert Burns|work=[[Seattle Times]]|date=February 7, 1994}}</ref> Ultimately Congress provided $253.9 billion TOA, about $2 billion more than in FY 1994, but actually a 1.2% cut in inflation-adjusted growth.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

In February 1995, Perry asked for $246 billion for the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] for FY 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=353|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302001022/http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=353|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 2, 2010|title=FY 1996-97 Defense Budget|publisher=U.S. Department of Defense}}</ref> This proposal became entangled in the controversy during 1995 over the House Republicans' [[Contract with America]], their efforts to spend more on defense than the administration wanted, and the continuing need for deficit reduction.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defense.gov/specials/secdef_histories/bios/perry.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060926222125/http://www.defense.gov/specials/secdef_histories/bios/perry.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 26, 2006|title=William J. Perry February 3, 1994 - January 23, 1997 19th Secretary of Defense Clinton Administration|publisher=U.S. Department of Defense}}</ref><ref>[https://www.c-span.org/video/?63163-1/defense-department-news-briefing F.Y. '96 Defense Budget], ''[[C-Span]]'', February 6, 1995. Retrieved April 29, 2021.</ref>

Perry cautioned Congress in September of the possibility that President Clinton would [[veto]] the FY 1996 Defense budget bill because Congress had added $7 billion in overall spending, mainly for weapon systems that the Defense Department did not want, and because of restrictions on contingency operations Congress had put in the bill. Three months later he recommended that the president veto the bill. When Congress and the administration finally settled on a budget compromise midway through FY 1996, DoD received $254.4 billion TOA, slightly more than in FY 1995, but in terms of real growth a 2% cut.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

The question of a [[United States national missile defense|national missile defense system]] figured prominently in the budget struggles Perry experienced. Aspin had declared an end to the [[Strategic Defense Initiative]] program, but long-standing supporters both inside and outside of Congress called for its resurrection, especially when the Defense budget came up. Perry rejected calls for revival of SDI, arguing that the money would be better spent on battlefield antimissile defenses and force modernization, that the United States at the moment did not face a real threat, and that if the system were built and deployed it would endanger the [[Strategic Arms Reduction Talks]] with the Russians. The secretary was willing to continue funding development work on a national system, so that if a need emerged the United States could build and deploy it in three years. President Clinton signed the FY 1996 Defense bill early in 1996 only after Congress agreed to delete funding for a national missile defense system.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

Shortly before he introduced his FY 1997 budget request in March 1996, Perry warned that the United States might have to give up the strategy of preparing for two major regional conflicts if the armed forces suffered further reductions. The Five-Year Modernization Plan Perry introduced in March 1996 reflected his basic assumptions that the Defense budget would not decline in FY 1997 and would grow thereafter; that DoD would realize significant savings from infrastructure cuts, most importantly base closings; and that other savings would come by contracting out many support activities and reforming the defense acquisition system.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

For FY 1997 the Clinton administration requested a DoD appropriation of $242.6 billion, about 6% less in inflation-adjusted dollars than the FY 1996 budget. The budget proposal delayed modernization for another year, even though the administration earlier had said it would recommend increased funding for new weapons and equipment for FY 1997. The proposal included advance funding for contingency military operations, which had been financed in previous years through supplemental appropriations. Modest real growth in the Defense budget would not begin until FY 2000 under DoD's six-year projections. The procurement budget would increase during the period from $38.9 billion (FY 1997) to $60.1 billion (FY 2001). For FY 1997 Congress eventually provided $244 billion TOA, including funds for some weapon systems not wanted by the Clinton administration.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

Although he had not thought so earlier, by the end of his tenure in early 1997 Perry believed it possible to modernize the [[U.S. armed forces]] within a balanced federal budget. Perry argued for the current force level of just under 1.5 million as the minimum needed by the United States to maintain its global role. Further reductions in the Defense budget after 1997 would require cuts in the force structure and make it impossible for the United States to remain a global power.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

===Streamlining the military infrastructure===
Perry devoted much time to restructuring defense acquisition policy and procedure, pursuing measures on acquisition reform begun when he was deputy secretary. Six days after he became secretary Perry released a document that laid out a variety of proposed acquisition procedure changes, including simplification of purchases under $100,000; maximum reliance on existing commercial products; conforming military contracts, bidding, accounting, and other business procedures to commercial practices when possible; eliminating outdated regulations that delayed purchases; and announcing military purchase requirements on data interchanges normally used by private business to increase vendor competition.

In June 1994 the secretary signed a directive ordering the armed forces to buy products and components to the extent possible from [[commercial off-the-shelf]] sources (his phrase was "commercial state-of-the-art technology"),<ref>Perry, W. J., [https://elsmar.com/Cove_Members/Military%20Standards%20Conversi.pdf Specifications & Standards - A New Way of Doing Business: A memorandum by William J. Perry], published 29 June 1994 (republished by the [[SAE International|Society of Automotive Engineers]], 7 January 2001), accessed 14 September 2022</ref> rather than from defense contractors, signaling a major departure from the traditional "milspec" over 30,000 military specifications and standards that actually inflated the cost of military items.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

In March 1996 Perry approved a new DoD comprehensive acquisition policy that emphasized commercial practices and products. Program managers and other acquisition officials would have the power to use their professional judgment in purchasing. The plan canceled more than 30 separate acquisition policy memoranda and report formats and replaced existing policy documents with new ones that were about 90% shorter. Perry considered these reforms one of his most important accomplishments, and saw savings generated by the new practices as part of the key to adequate funding of the military in an era of continuing tight budgets.

A token of the Perry agenda's power is the 1995 merger between [[Lockheed Corporation]] and [[Martin Marietta]]. The resulting company, [[Lockheed Martin]], is still as of 2024 the largest defense contractor on the planet. Another token is the third-ranked [[Northrop Grumman]] company, which was formed in 1994 when [[Northrop Corporation]] purchased [[Grumman Corporation]].<ref name="wall1">{{cite news |date=June 9, 2024 |title=Meet The Largest Defense Contractors On Earth |url=https://247wallst.com/military/2024/06/09/meet-the-largest-defense-contractors-on-earth/ |work=247wallst.com}}</ref>

In a further effort to save money Perry resorted to base closures and realignments. In May 1994 he and General [[John M. Shalikashvili]], chairman of the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]], announced that Defense would go forward, as required by law, with a 1995 round of base closings. In doing so Defense would consider the economic impact on the affected communities and the capacity to manage the reuse of closed facilities,<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" /> and in March 1995 Perry released DoD's 1995 [[base realignment and closure]] (BRAC) plan, recommending 146 actions. He estimated that implementing BRAC 95 would bring one-time costs of $3.8 billion and net savings of $4 billion within a six-year period.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

===Foreign relations===
At the time of his appointment it was not expected that Perry would involve himself aggressively in [[foreign policy]]. He quickly belied this impression. Within days of taking office he left [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] on his first trip abroad to confer with European defense ministers. In April 1994 the ''Economist'', in an article entitled "Perrypatetic," observed: "The man who has started to sound like a [[secretary of state]] is in fact the defense secretary, William Perry. ... He is popping up in public all over the place and moving into the strategy business in a big way." In fact, Perry traveled abroad in his three-year tenure more than any previous secretary. Unlike most of his predecessors, Perry paid attention to the other nations in the [[Americas]], hosting the first Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas at [[Williamsburg, Virginia]], in 1995 and attending the second conference in 1996 in [[Argentina]]. His extensive travel matched his direct style. In his travels, he emphasized personal contact with rank and file members of the armed forces. His frequent trips also reflected the demands of the large number of foreign crises that occurred during his term, including several requiring the deployment of U.S. forces.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

====NATO====
[[Image:William Perry - Kenneth Bacon.JPG|thumb|upright|Perry and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs [[Kenneth Bacon]] and Linda Kozaryn, American Forces Press Service reporter, during a flight to [[Europe]], 1995]]
Perry strongly supported the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]]. He made major efforts to promote its [[Partnership for Peace|Partnership for Peace Program]], which the Clinton administration saw as a way to link NATO with the new [[Eastern Europe]]an [[democracy|democracies]], including Russia, and as a compromise between the wishes of many of the Eastern European countries to become full NATO members and Russia's determined opposition. Individual nations could join the Partnership for Peace under separate agreements with NATO, and many did so, enabling them to participate in NATO joint training and military exercises without becoming formal members of the alliance. Perry conferred several times with Russian Defense Minister [[Pavel Grachev]] in an effort to allay Russia's worries about and secure its membership in the Partnership for Peace. The issue remained outstanding when Perry left office in early 1997, by which time NATO had developed tentative plans to admit a few former [[Warsaw Pact]] members during the summer of 1997.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

====Russia====
Although he recognized that the reform movement in Russia might not succeed, Perry did everything he could to improve relations with [[Moscow]]. He stressed the need for continuing military cooperation with and aid to the states of the former Soviet Union to facilitate destruction of their [[nuclear weapon]]s. He used the [[Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction|Cooperative Threat Reduction]] Act of 1992 (the Nunn-Lugar program), which provided funds for the dismantling of nuclear weapons in Russia, [[Ukraine]], [[Belarus]], and [[Kazakhstan]], to diminish the nuclear threat. He urged Congress to continue the threat reduction program, defending it against claims that in reality it provided foreign aid to the [[Russian Armed Forces]]. By June 1996 when Perry traveled to Ukraine to observe the completion of that country's transfer of nuclear warheads to Russia under the [[Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances]], the only former Soviet missiles still outside of [[Russia]] were in Belarus. Perry testified in favor of U.S. ratification of the [[START II]] treaty, completed in 1996; in October 1996 he spoke to a session of the Russian [[State Duma]] in Moscow, urging its members to ratify the treaty.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

====Asia====
In [[Asia]], like former defense secretary [[Caspar Weinberger]] a decade earlier, Perry endeavored to improve relations with both the [[People's Republic of China]] and [[Japan]]. He was the first secretary of defense to visit China after the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]], when PRC authorities forcibly crushed a dissident movement. While not ignoring long-standing problems such as the PRC's weapons sales abroad and its [[human rights in the People's Republic of China|human rights]] abuses, he believed that the U.S. and the PRC should cooperate militarily. He made some progress, although when China [[Third Taiwan Strait Crisis|threatened Taiwan]] just before the latter's [[1996 ROC presidential election|presidential election in March 1996]], the United States sent two aircraft carrier task forces to the area to counter the Chinese.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

In 1995 a young girl was raped by three U.S. servicemen stationed in [[Okinawa, Japan]]. The crime led to demands that the United States diminish its military presence on the island. Late in 1996, the United States agreed to vacate 20% of the land it used on Okinawa and to close some military facilities, including [[Marine Corps Air Station Futenma]]. The Japanese agreed that the 28,000 [[United States Forces Japan]] troops stationed on Okinawa could remain.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

====Bosnian War====
A serious ongoing international crisis was in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]]. When Perry took over in 1994, the [[Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnian Serb]] [[Army of Republika Srpska]] were [[Siege of Sarajevo|besieging Sarajevo]], the Bosnian capital, but the Serbs were forced to draw back in face of a [[United Nations|UN]] ultimatum and warning of airstrikes. Shortly thereafter the Serbs threatened to overrun the [[Bosnian Muslim]] city of [[Goražde]] in eastern Bosnia. Perry at first ruled out U.S. military action, but in April 1994 U.S. fighter planes participated in UN airstrikes at Goražde, causing the Bosnian Serbs to retreat.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

In a major statement on Bosnia in June 1994, Perry attempted to clarify U.S. policy there, declaring that the conflict did involve U.S. national interests, humanitarian and otherwise, but not "supreme" interests. To limit the spread of violence in Bosnia, the United States had committed air power under NATO to stop the bombardment of Bosnian cities, provide air support for UN troops, and carry out humanitarian missions. Perry and the [[White House]] resisted congressional pressures to lift an arms embargo imposed earlier by the United Nations on all sides in the [[Bosnian War]]. During 1994–95 some senators, including Republican leader [[Bob Dole]], wanted the embargo against the [[Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] lifted to enable them to resist the [[Republika Srpska (1992–1995)|Republika Srpska]] more effectively. Perry thought this might provoke Serb attacks and perhaps force the commitment of U.S. ground troops. In August 1995 Clinton vetoed legislation to lift the arms embargo. (In fact, the Bosnian Muslims had been receiving arms from outside sources.) Meanwhile, although it had stated consistently that it would not send U.S. ground forces to Bosnia, in December 1994 the Clinton administration expressed willingness to commit troops to help rescue UN peacekeepers in Bosnia if they were withdrawn. In May 1995, after the Bosnian Serbs had taken about 3,000 peacekeepers hostage, the [[United States]], [[France]], [[Germany]], and [[Russia]] resolved to provide a larger and better-equipped UN force.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

Applying strong pressure, in November 1995 the United States persuaded the presidents of [[Serbia and Montenegro]], Bosnia, and [[Croatia]] to attend a conference in [[Dayton, Ohio]], that after much contention produced a peace agreement, formally signed in [[Paris]] in mid-December. It provided for the cessation of hostilities, withdrawal of the combatants to specified lines, creation of a separation zone, and the stationing in Bosnia of a [[IFOR|Peace Implementation Force (IFOR)]]. The [[North Atlantic Council]], with Perry participating, had decided in September 1995 to develop a NATO-led force to implement any peace agreement for Bosnia, setting the force size at 60,000 troops, including 20,000 from the United States. In congressional testimony in November, Perry explained why U.S. troops should go to Bosnia: The war threatened vital U.S. political, economic, and security interests in Europe; there was a real opportunity to stop the bloodshed; the United States was the only nation that could lead a NATO force to implement the peace, and the risks to the United States of allowing the war to continue were greater than the risks of the planned military operation.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

The first U.S. troops moved into Bosnia in early December 1995, and by late January 1996, the full complement of 20,000 had been deployed. Although Perry had said earlier that they would leave Bosnia within a year, in June 1996 he hinted at a longer stay if NATO decided the peace in Bosnia would not hold without them. The secretary agreed to a study proposed in September 1996 by NATO defense ministers for a follow-on force to replace IFOR. Finally in November 1996, after the [[1996 United States presidential election|presidential election]], Clinton announced, with Perry's support, that the United States would provide 8,500 troops to a NATO follow-on force. The U.S. force would be gradually reduced in 1997 and 1998 and completely withdrawn by June 1998.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

====Haitian Crisis====
Perry also inherited from Aspin the problem of what to do about [[Haïti]], where a military [[military dictatorship|junta]] continued to refuse to reinstate the deposed president, [[Jean-Bertrand Aristide]]. In the spring of 1994, debate persisted in the [[United States Congress]] on whether to intervene militarily to oust [[Raoul Cédras]], the military leader, and restore Aristide to power. President Clinton said that the United States would not rule out the use of military force and also suggested that military teams to train local security and police forces might be sent to Haïti. In the meantime, large numbers of [[refugee]]s fled from Haïti in boats, hoping to gain admittance to the United States. U.S. vessels intercepted most of them at sea and took them to the [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]] in [[Cuba]].<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

In spite of continuing pressure and obvious preparations in the United States for an invasion of Haïti, the junta refused to yield. On September 19, 1994, just after former President [[Jimmy Carter]] negotiated an agreement, the United States sent in military forces with UN approval. Haïti's ''[[de facto]]'' leaders, including Cédras, agreed to step down by October 15 so that Aristide could return to the presidency. By the end of September, 19,600 U.S. troops were in Haïti as part of [[Operation Uphold Democracy]]. At the end of March 1995, a UN commander took over, and the United States provided 2,400 of the 6,000-man UN force that would remain in Haïti until February 1996. Given the opposition to the mission when it began, the primary U.S. concern was to do its limited job and avoid casualties among its forces. With the final withdrawal of U.S. troops, and Aristide's duly elected successor installed in office in February 1996, the Pentagon and the Clinton administration could label the Haitian operation a success up to that point.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

====North Korea====
[[North Korea]] posed another serious problem for Perry, who backed the administration's policy of pressuring [[Kim Il Sung]]'s Communist regime to allow monitoring of its nuclear facilities by the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] (IAEA). Between February and October 1994 the United States increased its pressures on North Korea. Perry warned in March that the United States would not permit the development of an arsenal of nuclear weapons. War was not imminent, he said, but he indicated that he had ordered military preparations for a possible conflict. Soon thereafter Perry stated that the United States would propose UN economic sanctions if North Korea did not allow international inspection of its planned withdrawal of spent fuel from a nuclear reactor fuel containing sufficient plutonium to produce four or five nuclear weapons. North Korea began removing the nuclear fuel from the [[Yongbyon nuclear facility]] in May 1994 without granting the IAEA inspection privileges, and later said it withdraw from the IAEA and the [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]].<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" /> Perry offered three options to Clinton: [[sanctions against North Korea]] through the United Nations, a limited [[Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk|F-117]] air strike on the Yongbyon facility, or a massive military buildup in preparation for full-scale war with North Korea. Under the belief that all three options would lead to war, Clinton leaned towards the military buildup option before negotiations between former US President [[Jimmy Carter]] and Kim mediated the situation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Cha |first=Victor D. |url=http://archive.org/details/impossiblestaten0000chav_j2c1 |title=The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future |publisher=Ecco |others=Internet Archive |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-06-199850-8 |location=New York |pages=286–287 |language=en |lccn=2012009517 |oclc=1244862785}}</ref>

On October 21, 1994, the United States and North Korea signed the [[Agreed Framework]] after lengthy negotiations in [[Geneva, Switzerland]], assisted again by former President Carter. The United States, Japan, [[South Korea]], and other regional allies promised to provide North Korea with two [[light water reactor|light water nuclear reactors]], at an eventual cost of $4 billion, to replace existing or partially constructed facilities that could produce [[plutonium]] for nuclear weapons. North Korea then agreed to open its nuclear facilities to international inspection, and the United States pledged to lift trade restrictions and provide [[heavy fuel oil]] for [[Electricity generation|electric power generation]]. Perry considered this agreement better than risking a war in Korea and a continuation of North Korea's nuclear program. He promised that he would ask Congress for money to build up [[United States Forces Korea|U.S. forces in South Korea]] if the agreement broke down. Again a critical situation had moderated, but implementing the agreement proved difficult. By the end of Perry's term, some issues remained outstanding, and tension between the two Koreas flared up from time to time.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" /> After his tenure, Clinton appointed Perry as North Korean policy coordinator in 1998, where he recommended continued diplomatic engagement with [[Kim Jong Il]]'s government.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chronology of U.S.-North Korean Nuclear and Missile Diplomacy {{!}} Arms Control Association |url=https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/dprkchron |access-date=2022-05-17 |website=www.armscontrol.org}}</ref>

====The Middle East====
In the [[Persian Gulf]] area, [[Ba'athist Iraq]] continued to have conflict, with periodic provocative moves by [[Saddam Hussein]] triggering U.S. military action. After the 1991 [[Gulf War]], acting in accord with [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 688]], the United States organized a coalition to enforce [[Iraqi no-fly zones conflict|no-fly zones]] in Iraq, north of [[36th parallel north|36°]] and south of [[32nd parallel north|32°]]. In [[1994 Black Hawk shootdown incident|a tragic accident in April 1994]] two U.S. Air Force [[F-15 Eagle|F-15]] aircraft, operating in the no-fly zone north of the [[36th parallel north|36th parallel]] in Iraq, shot down two U.S. Army [[UH-60 Black Hawk]] helicopters after misidentifying them as Iraqi. This incident, with its high death toll, highlighted dramatically the complexities in dealing with Iraq in the [[Aftermath of the Gulf War|aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War]]. Further, in October 1994, when several elite [[Iraqi Armed Forces]] divisions began to move toward the [[Iraq–Kuwait border]], the United States mobilized ground, air, and naval forces in the area to counter the threat. Perry warned Iraq that the U.S. forces would take action if it did not move its [[Republican Guard (Iraq)|Republican Guard]] units north of the 32nd parallel. Subsequently, the UN Security Council passed a resolution requiring Iraq to pull its troops back at least 150 miles from Kuwait's border.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

[[Iran]], too, behaved aggressively, placing at least 6,000 troops in March 1995 on three islands at the mouth of the Persian Gulf claimed by both Iran and the [[United Arab Emirates]]. Perry stated that the Iranian moves threatened shipping in the [[Strait of Hormuz]], a waterway on which moved a significant part of the world's oil production. The United States worked with its allies in the Persian Gulf area to bolster their capacity to defend themselves and to use their collective strength through the [[Gulf Cooperation Council]]. Most important, in Perry's judgment, was the determination of the United States to maintain a strong regional defense capability with aircraft and naval ships in the area, prepositioned equipment, standing operational plans, and access agreements with the Persian Gulf partners.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

Provocative moves again by Iraq forced the United States to take strong action. When Saddam Hussein intervened in September 1996 by sending some 40,000 troops to assist one side in a dispute between two [[Kurd]]ish factions in northern Iraq, he demonstrated that he was not deterred by a U.S. warning against using military force. Perry made clear that while no significant U.S. interests were involved in the factional conflict, maintaining stability in the region as a whole was vital to U.S. security and there would be a U.S. reaction. On both September 2 and 3, U.S. aircraft attacked Iraqi fixed [[surface-to-air missile|surface-to-air missile (SAM)]] sites and air defense control facilities in the south, because, Perry explained, the United States saw the principal threat from Iraq to be against Kuwait.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

Another tragic incident on June 25, 1996, revealed the continuing tension in the Middle East and the dangers involved in the U.S. military presence. Terrorists exploded a [[truck bomb]] at the [[Khobar Towers]] apartment complex housing [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]] personnel in [[Dhahran, Saudi Arabia]], killing 19 and wounding 500. In September 1996 an investigative panel set up by Perry recommended vigorous measures to deter, prevent, or mitigate the effects of future terrorist acts against U.S. personnel overseas, and further, that a solitary DoD element have responsibility for force protection. The panel found that the unit attacked at Dhahran had not taken every precaution it might have to protect the forces at Khobar Towers. Eventually, the Defense Department moved units from Dhahran to more remote areas in Saudi Arabia to provide better protection.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

====Somalia====
[[Operation Gothic Serpent|U.S. involvement in Somalia]], a problem during Aspin's tenure, ended in 1994. Under the protection of [[U.S. Marines]] on ships offshore, the last U.S. forces left Somalia before the end of March, meeting a deadline set earlier by President Clinton. Later, in February 1995, more than 7,000 U.S. troops assisted in removing the remaining UN peacekeepers and weapons from Somalia in a markedly successful operation.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

====Rwanda====
In another mission in [[Africa]] in 1994, the United States became involved in humanitarian efforts in [[Rwanda]]. A [[Rwanda Civil War|civil war]] between two rival ethnic groups, the [[Hutu]] and [[Tutsi]], resulted in widespread death and destruction and the flight of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Rwanda into neighboring countries, including [[Zaire]]. Although not part of the [[United Nations Observer Mission Uganda–Rwanda|UN peacekeeping operation in Rwanda]], the United States provided humanitarian aid in the form of purified water, medicine, site sanitation, and other means. In July the Pentagon sent in aircraft and about 3,000 troops, most of them to Zaire. The U.S. forces also took control of and rebuilt the airport at [[Kigali]], Rwanda's capital, to aid in the distribution of food, medicine, and other supplies. The lack of a U.S. response to the [[Rwandan genocide]] was later considered a major [[foreign policy]] failure of the [[Bill Clinton administration]] by President Clinton<ref>{{cite news|last=Chozick|first=Amy|title=In Africa, Bill Clinton Toils for a Charitable Legacy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/05/us/politics/in-Africa-Bill-Clinton-works-to-leave-a-charitable-legacy.html|page=all|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 4, 2012}}</ref> and was due to fear of repeating the [[Battle of Mogadishu (1993)|Battle of Mogadishu]].<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Ambush in Mogadishu: Transcript|publisher=[[PBS]]|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ambush/etc/script.html}}</ref>

===Accomplishments and resignation===
In January 1996, Perry talked about experiences over the past year in which he never thought a Secretary of Defense would be involved. At the top of the list was witnessing participation of a [[Russian Ground Forces]] brigade in a [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] division in the Bosnian peacekeeping operation. The others—Dayton, Ohio, becoming synonymous with peace in the Balkans; helping the Russian defense minister blow up a [[LGM-30 Minuteman|Minuteman missile silo]] in [[Missouri]]; watching United States and Russian troops training together in [[Kansas]]; welcoming former Warsaw Pact troops in [[Louisiana]]; operating a school at [[Garmisch, Germany]], to teach former Soviet and East European military officers about democracy, budgeting, and testifying to a [[parliament]]; dismantling the military specifications system for acquisition; cutting the ear off a pig in Kazakhstan, and eating rendered [[Oriental Fire-bellied Toad|Manchurian toad]] fat in China. These things, Perry said, demonstrate "just how much the world has changed, just how much our security has changed, just how much the Department of Defense has changed, and just how much my job has changed."<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

Shortly after [[1996 U.S. presidential election|President Clinton's reelection in November 1996]], Perry made known his decision to step down as secretary. He spoke of his growing frustration over working with a Congress so [[Political party|partisan]] that it was harming the military establishment, and said that he did not think the results of the 1996 congressional election would decrease the partisanship. He later explained that his decision to retire was "largely due to the constant strain of sending U.S. military personnel on life-threatening missions."<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Alexander|first1=David|title=The Building: A Biography of the Pentagon|date=3 October 2008|publisher=Voyageur Press|isbn=9780760320877|page=251|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5H-cfwop-jgC&q=largely+due+to+the+constant+strain+of+sending+U.S.+military+personnel+on+life-threatening+missions&pg=PA251}}</ref>

As he left the Pentagon, Perry listed what he thought were his most important accomplishments: establishing effective working relationships with U.S. military leaders; improving the lot of the military, especially enlisted men and women; managing the military drawdown; instituting important acquisition reforms; developing close relationships with many foreign defense ministers; effectively employing military strength and resources in Bosnia, Haiti, Korea, and the Persian Gulf area; dramatically reducing the nuclear legacy of the Cold War; and promoting the Partnership for Peace within NATO. His disappointments included failure to obtain Russian ratification of the [[START II]] treaty; slowness in securing increases in the budget for weapon systems modernization; and the faulty perceptions of the [[Gulf War syndrome|Gulf War illness syndrome]] held by some of the media and much of the public. At a ceremony for Perry in January 1997 General Shalikashvili noted the departing secretary's relationship with the troops. "Surely," Shalikashvili said, "Bill Perry has been the GI's secretary of defense. When asked his greatest accomplishment as secretary, Bill Perry didn't name an operation or a weapons system. He said that his greatest accomplishment was his very strong bond with our men and women in uniform."<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

Perry's career in the Department of Defense actually spanned eight years of profound changes—four years as Undersecretary for Research and Engineering in 1977 to 1981, a year as Deputy Secretary from 1993 to 1994, and three years as Secretary.<ref name="Historical Office William J. Perry" />

==Later career==
===Academia and corporate boards===
After he left the Pentagon, Perry returned to [[San Francisco]] to join the board of Hambrecht and Quist as a senior adviser.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/22/business/ex-defense-chief-to-join-hambrecht-board.html?n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fP%2fPerry%2c%20William%20J%2e|title=Ex-Defense Chief to Join Hambrecht Board|work=New York Times|date=March 22, 1997}}</ref>

[[File:Defense.gov photo essay 080612-F-6684S-293.jpg|thumb|right|Perry at the National Defense University graduation on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., on June 12, 2008.]]
Perry rejoined the faculty at Stanford University, becoming a professor at the [[Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies]], co-director of the Preventive Defense Project at the [[Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation]], and the Michael and Barbara Berberian Professor (emeritus) at [[Stanford University School of Engineering|Stanford's School of Engineering]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=University|first1=© Stanford|last2=Stanford|last3=California 94305|date=2016-06-09|title=Video: William J. Perry on energy, national security and technology|url=https://engineering.stanford.edu/magazine/article/video-william-j-perry-energy-national-security-and-technology|access-date=2021-02-25|website=Stanford School of Engineering|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=University|first1=© Stanford|last2=Stanford|last3=Complaints|first3=California 94305 Copyright|title=William J. Perry|url=https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/people/william_j_perry|access-date=2021-02-25|website=cisac.fsi.stanford.edu|language=en}}</ref>

In 1999, Perry was awarded the [[James A. Van Fleet Award]] by [[The Korea Society]].<ref>{{cite web|title=James A. Van Fleet Award|url=https://www.koreasociety.org/special-events/van-fleet-award|access-date=2021-02-25|website=www.koreasociety.org|language=en-gb}}</ref>

Perry sits on the advisory board of the [[Commonwealth Club of California]]. Perry currently sits on the board of directors for [[Xyleco]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Board of Directory|url=https://www.xyleco.com/board/|access-date=January 9, 2019|publisher=Xyleco|archive-date=January 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107181029/https://www.xyleco.com/board/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Perry joined the financial board of the Thailand-based manufacturing company, Fabrinet in 2008. He was a board member of [[Theranos]], a Silicon Valley biotech company which defrauded more than $700 million from its investors before it collapsed.<ref name="BadBlood">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CcJFDwAAQBAJ|title=Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup|last=Carreyrou|first=John|date=2018|publisher=Knopf Doubleday|isbn=978-1-5247-3166-3|access-date=June 20, 2018|archive-date=February 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208154106/https://books.google.com/books?id=CcJFDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=June 12, 2014|title=A singular board at Theranos|url=http://fortune.com/2014/06/12/theranos-board-directors/|access-date=2015-10-12|publisher=Fortune}}</ref>

On June 17, 2006, Perry gave the featured commencement speech to engineering and science graduates at the [[University of California, Santa Barbara]].<ref>{{cite web|title=UC Santa Barbara to Graduate 4,800 Students This Month|url=https://www.news.ucsb.edu/2006/012141/uc-santa-barbara-graduate-4800-students-month|access-date=2021-02-25|website=The UCSB Current|date=3 June 2006 |language=en}}</ref>

William Perry appeared as an important and influential person in the development of Silicon Valley, in the PBS documentary, ''Silicon Valley: 100 Year Renaissance'' (1998).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Silicon Valley Historical Association |url=https://www.siliconvalleyhistorical.org/ |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=Silicon Valley Historical Association |language=en-US}}</ref>

On October 16, 2008, Perry was awarded the [[Sylvanus Thayer Award]] by the [[United States Military Academy]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Former defense secretary to receive honor at Point|url=https://www.recordonline.com/article/20081016/News/810160318|access-date=2021-02-25|website=recordonline.com|language=en}}</ref>

===Work to eliminate nuclear weapons===
Perry is a founding board member of the [[Nuclear Threat Initiative]], a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to reduce the threat of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. He currently has an emeritus status on the board. Perry is an advisory board member for the [[Partnership for a Secure America]], a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recreating the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy. Perry is currently chair of the Board of Sponsors for the [[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]] and frequently speaks at ''Bulletin'' events. He is a Member of the Supervisory Council of the [[International Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe]]. Perry is also a member of the board of directors of the [[Center for a New American Security]], a Washington, DC–based think tank that specializes in U.S. national security issues. Perry is also on the advisory board of the [[Truman National Security Project]], a progressive leadership institute that trains the next generation of foreign policy and national security leaders.

In March 2006, he was appointed to the [[Iraq Study Group]], a group formed to give advice on the U.S. government's Iraq policy.

[[File:Former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry (13758070063) (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|200px|Perry at a conference in [[Stockholm]] in 2014]]
In 2007, Secretary Perry joined three other eminent statesmen, former Secretaries of State [[George P. Shultz]] and [[Henry Kissinger]], and former Senator [[Sam Nunn]] in calling for the United States to take the lead in reducing and eliminating nuclear weapons. Their op-ed, "A World Free of Nuclear Weapons", published in the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'', reverberated throughout the world, and is one of the key factors that has convinced political leaders and experts internationally that the conditions are in place to achieve that goal.{{Citation needed|reason= Big claim to make with no proof to back it up.|date=March 2021}} The four men published four subsequent op-eds in the ''Wall Street Journal'', including one on March 5, 2013: "Next Steps in Reducing Nuclear Risks: The Pace of Non-Proliferation Work Today Doesn't Match the Urgency of the Threat". They subsequently created the Nuclear Security Project to galvanize global action to reduce urgent nuclear dangers and build support for their vision and the steps to achieve them. The [[Nuclear Threat Initiative]] serves as coordinator of the NSP, in conjunction with Stanford University's Hoover Institution. In 2010, the four produced the documentary [[Nuclear Tipping Point]]. The film is introduced by General [[Colin Powell]], narrated by [[Michael Douglas]] and includes interviews with California Governor [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] and former Soviet President [[Mikhail Gorbachev]].

In 2011, Perry joined a team of former government officials from various countries, formed under the auspices of the Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture [[Hidehiko Yuzaki]] to prepare a plan for the total [[abolition of nuclear weapons]]. This project is titled ''Hiroshima for Global Peace''.<ref>[http://www.pref.hiroshima.lg.jp/page/1307499155481/index.html "A Hiroshima for Global Peace" Plan - Formulation Project (outline of the project)] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121219122108/http://www.pref.hiroshima.lg.jp/page/1307499155481/index.html |date=2012-12-19 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hiroshimapeacemedia.jp/mediacenter/article.php?story=20111108144748873_en|title=Aya Kano, Hiroshima Prefecture's "Global Peace" Plan|access-date=2011-11-22|archive-date=2020-01-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125032451/http://www.hiroshimapeacemedia.jp/mediacenter/article.php?story=20111108144748873_en|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2013, Perry founded the William J. Perry Project<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wjperryproject.org/|title=The William J. Perry Project|website=The William J. Perry Project}}</ref> to seek to promote greater public awareness about nuclear weapons and engage more people in acting to mitigate the growing threat they pose to humanity. The Project is a nonprofit venture supported with funds raised from private individuals and is sponsored by the [[Nuclear Threat Initiative]].<ref name=PerryProject/>

In 2015, Perry published a memoir, ''My Journey at the Nuclear Brink,'' (Stanford Univ. Press), with a foreword by [[George P. Shultz]]. The memoir describes coming of age at the dawn of the nuclear age, and his later roles in managing the nuclear threat.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/07/14/a-stark-nuclear-warning/ |title=A Stark Nuclear Warning |author=Jerry Brown |date=July 14, 2016 |journal=[[The New York Review of Books]] |volume=63 |issue=12 |access-date=July 18, 2016 |author-link=Jerry Brown }}</ref> He warned that: "Today, the danger of some sort of a nuclear catastrophe is greater than it was during the Cold War and most people are blissfully unaware of this danger.”<ref>New York Review of Books, 14 Jul. 2016, [https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/07/14/a-stark-nuclear-warning/ "A Stark Nuclear Warning"]</ref>

On September 30, 2016, the ''[[New York Times]]'' published a Perry opinion editorial advocating, " ... the United States can safely phase out its land-based [[intercontinental ballistic missile]] (ICBM) force ... ".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/opinion/why-its-safe-to-scrap-americas-icbms.html |title=Why It's Safe to Scrap America's ICBMs |date=September 30, 2016 |first=William J. |last=Perry |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |access-date=September 30, 2016}}</ref> Perry believes that ICBM's are turning more into liabilities than assets. Perry says it would save "considerable cost" and would prevent [[accidental nuclear war]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Perry|first=William J.|date=2016-09-30|title=Opinion {{!}} Why It's Safe to Scrap America's ICBMs (Published 2016)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/opinion/why-its-safe-to-scrap-americas-icbms.html|access-date=2020-10-28|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> With regards to an accidental nuclear war, Perry has experienced a false alarm for an incoming missile which later turned out to be a computer error. Perry's experience was 40 years ago but our technology is still not perfect with the recent false alarm in [[2018 Hawaii false missile alert]]. Perry says the major problem with ICBM's are the "non-recall" ability which if these missiles are sent and it turns out to be a false alarm then there's no turning back.

Perry is cited by the website of Los Angeles Congressman [[Ted Lieu]] for supporting legislation proposed by Lieu and U.S. Senator [[Ed Markey]], Democrat from Massachusetts, that would limit President [[Donald Trump]] and future presidents' authority to launch a nuclear first strike against another country by requiring them to first get approval from Congress. The following quotation is attributed to Perry in Congressman Lieu's website: "During my period as Secretary of Defense, I never confronted a situation, or could even imagine a situation, in which I would recommend that the President make a first strike with nuclear weapons—understanding that such an action, whatever the provocation, would likely bring about the end of civilization. I believe that the legislation proposed by Congressman Lieu and Senator Markey recognizes that terrible reality. Certainly, a decision that momentous for all of civilization should have the kind of checks and balances on Executive powers called for by our Constitution."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://lieu.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-lieu-senator-markey-introduce-restricting-first-use-nuclear |title = Congressman Lieu & Senator Markey Introduce the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act|date = 2016-09-27}}</ref>

Perry was profiled in the [[Radiolab]] episode [[List of Radiolab episodes#Season 15 (2017)|Nukes]] in 2017. He argued for the need for checks and balances for a nuclear strike by the U.S.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nukes: The Broadcast {{!}} Radiolab|url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/episodes/nukes-broadcast|access-date=2021-03-31|website=WNYC Studios|language=en}}</ref>

=== Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies (CHDS) ===
On April 2, 2013, the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies (CHDS) was officially renamed the [[William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies]] (The Perry Center) in recognition of its founder, the 19th U.S. Secretary of Defense, Dr. William J. Perry. This change honored his role in establishing the center, which originated from the first Defense Ministerial of the Americas in 1995, when Perry promoted regional defense cooperation and the training of civilians in security matters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Center |url=https://wjpcenter.org/about/the-center/ |access-date=2025-02-03 |website=William J. Perry Center |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Books ===

With Tom Collina of the [[Ploughshares Fund]], Perry wrote the book ''The Button: The New Nuclear Arms Race and Presidential Power from Truman to Trump''.<ref>{{cite Q|Q102046116}}<!-- The Button: The new nuclear arms race and presidential power from Truman to Trump -->.</ref> This book concludes with a ten-point plan for nuclear weapons safety:

# End presidential sole nuclear authority.<ref>pp. 208-209.</ref>
# Prohibit launch on warning.<ref>pp. 209-210.</ref>
# [[No first use|Prohibit first use]].<ref>p. 210</ref>
# Retire all [[Intercontinental ballistic missile|ICBMs]] and scale back the nuclear rebuild.<ref>pp. 210-213.</ref>
# Save [[New START]] and go farther.<ref>pp 213-214.</ref>
# Limit [[Missile defense|strategic missile defenses]].<ref>pp. 214-215.</ref>
# Don't wait for [[Treaty|treaties]].<ref>pp.215-216.</ref>
# Engage diplomatically with [[North Korea]] and [[Iran]].<ref>pp. 216-217.</ref>
# Bring the bomb into the new mass movement.<ref>pp. 217-218.</ref>
# Elect a committed [[President of the United States|president]].<ref>pp. 218ff.</ref>

===Other political activities===
Perry, along with all other living former secretaries of defense, ten in total, published a ''Washington Post'' op-ed piece in January 2021 telling President Donald Trump not to involve the military in determining the outcome of the 2020 elections.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/former-defense-secretaries-rebuke-trump-election/2021/01/03/1c708f64-4de5-11eb-b2e8-3339e73d9da2_story.html|title=All 10 living former defense secretaries: Involving the military in election disputes would cross into dangerous territory|access-date=January 3, 2021|date=January 3, 2021|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Honors==
* {{flag|United States}}: [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], with Distinction, 1997.<ref name="stanfordalumni">[http://www.stanfordalumni.org/learningtravel/travelstudy/tsFacultyDetails.html?content-inst-id=114394&content_instance_id=114394 Perry bio].</ref>
* {{flag|Poland}}: [[Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland]], 1996 [http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/DetailsServlet?id=WMP19970140139 Postanowienie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 13 grudnia 1996 r. o nadaniu orderu.].
* {{flag|Croatia}}: [[Grand Order of King Dmitar Zvonimir]] 1998.<ref>116 - 3.9.1998 Narodne novine (Croatian)">[http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/269276.html].</ref>
* {{flag|United Kingdom}}: [[Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire]], 1998.<ref name="stanfordalumni"/>
* {{flag|Japan}}: [[Order of the Rising Sun|Grand Cordon, Order of the Rising Sun]], 2002.<ref name="stanfordalumni"/>
* {{flag|France}}: [[Ordre National du Merite]].<ref>Spoke.com: [http://www.spoke.com/info/p6uhiWc/WilliamPerry Perry bio].</ref>

==See also==
* [[Timeline of United States and China relations 1995-1997|Timeline of United States and China relations 1995–1997]]

==Further reading==
* M.E. Sarotte. 2019. "[https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/full/10.1162/isec_a_00353 How to Enlarge NATO: The Debate inside the Clinton Administration, 1993–95]." International Security, Volume 44, Issue 1

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Include-USGov|agency=Office of the Secretary of Defense|article=William J. Perry|url=https://history.defense.gov/Multimedia/Biographies/Article-View/Article/571282/william-j-perry/}}
* {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040603194052/http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/secdef_histories/bios/perry.htm |title=DoD biography |date=3 June 2004}}
* {{MathGenealogy|89256}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|William Perry}}
* [http://www.wjperryproject.org/ Official site, William J Perry Project]
* {{C-SPAN|10768}}
* [http://edcorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?author=238 Lessons in Leadership] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629032422/http://edcorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?author=238 |date=2008-06-29 }}, podcast of William Perry speaking at Stanford University

{{s-start}}
{{s-gov}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Malcolm R. Currie]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering]]|years=1977–1981}}
{{s-aft|after=Richard DeLauer}}
|-
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Donald J. Atwood Jr.]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[United States Deputy Secretary of Defense]]|years=1993–1994}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John M. Deutch]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Les Aspin]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[United States Secretary of Defense]]|years=1994–1997}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William Cohen]]}}
|-
{{s-prec|usa}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Hazel R. O'Leary]]|as=Former U.S. Cabinet Member}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[United States order of precedence|Order of precedence of the United States]]<br>''{{small|as Former U.S. Cabinet Member}}''|years=}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Robert Rubin]]|as=Former U.S. Cabinet Member}}
{{S-end}}

{{ISG}}
{{USSecDef}}
{{USDepSecDef}}
{{National Reconnaissance Office}}
{{Clinton cabinet}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, William}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American politicians]]
[[Category:American Unitarian Universalists]]
[[Category:Atlantic Council]]
[[Category:Carnegie Mellon University alumni]]
[[Category:Carter administration personnel]]
[[Category:Clinton administration cabinet members]]
[[Category:Culver Academies alumni]]
[[Category:Eberly College of Science alumni]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:People from Vandergrift, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Sword (United States)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Ordre national du Mérite]]
[[Category:Stanford University alumni]]
[[Category:Stanford University Department of Management Science and Engineering faculty]]
[[Category:Theranos people]]
[[Category:United States Army officers]]
[[Category:United States deputy secretaries of defense]]
[[Category:United States secretaries of defense]]