William Perry, MD, JD, is the seventh Secretary of Defense and former chairman of the Department of Defense. He was appointed to that position on May 26, 1997. He was born in Los Angeles and grew up in El Paso, Texas. He received a B.S
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degree from the University of Texas and an M.D. degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Dr.
Perry received his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1968 and was admitted to practice law before the Supreme Court of California in 1969. In 1971, he entered federal service as a staff member at the Department of Defense in Washington, D.C., where he worked on national security issues until 1974 when he was appointed by President Richard Nixon to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, a position he held until 1977. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter nominated Dr.
Perry to be the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. He held that office until July 16, 1981 when Carter nominated him to be Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under Reagan administration appointee Anthony L. Celebrezze III.
In February 1982 Dr. Perry became Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality under President Ronald Reagan administration appointee William Ruckelshaus II, a position he held until 1985 when Reagan nominated him for Secretary for Health and Human Services under George Bush's administration appointment William Bennett III. Dr.
Perry was sworn into office by Vice President George H W Bush on February 5, 1985, and held that office until January 20, 1989 when he resigned to join a private law practice in Washington D.C.. In 1991 Dr. Perry became a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University where he has consulted on national security affairs."