Bundy, McGeorge, 1919-1996

Title:

Bundy, McGeorge, 1919-1996

Description:

Bio: McGeorge Bundy (1919-1996) was the national security adviser to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. In 1949 Bundy became a lecturer of government on the Harvard University faculty. He quickly rose to become the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at age thirty-two. Bundy left the university in 1961 to serve as a special assistant for national security at the request of President John F. Kennedy. After the assassination of President Kennedy, Bundy became an advisor to President Lyndon Johnson, whom he counseled to escalate military actions in Vietnam. Bundy left the White House in 1966 to head the Ford Foundation. During his thirteen years at the Ford Foundation, Bundy refocused the organization's efforts on race relations. The next decade he spent teaching history at New York University. During this time Bundy published his Pulitzer-prize-winning book Danger and Survival: Choices About the Bomb and the First Fifty Years, in which he chronicled decisions made about nuclear weaponry. From 1990 to 1993, Bundy chaired the Carnegie Corporation's committee on reducing nuclear danger.

Source:

L-R: McGeorge Bundy, President Lyndon B. Johnson. Oval Office, White House, Washington DC, 8/23/1967. Photo # a4677-20 by Yoichi Okamoto. White House Photo Office collection, LBJ Presidential Library, public domain.

Relation:

LBJ Connection: Special Assistant for National Security Affairs, 1961-1966. Head of National Security staff and coordinated Staff work. Had jurisdiction over Situation Room and Classified Message Center.