Aspin, Les. The Aspin Papers: Sanctions, Diplomacy, and War in the Persian Gulf. Foreword by Stanton H. Burnett. Significant Issues Series, Vol. 13, No. 2. Washington: The Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1991.
ASPIN, Leslie
About this object
1938–1995
Biography
ASPIN, Leslie, a Representative from Wisconsin; born in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wis., July 21, 1938; attended Milwaukee public schools; B.A., Yale University, 1960; M.A., Oxford University, England, 1962; Ph.D., economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1965; assistant professor of economics, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis., 1969-1970; economic adviser to the Secretary of Defense while serving in United States Army, 1966-1968; served in the United States Army, captain, 1966-1968; staff member to United States Senator William Proxmire in 1960, and was his campaign director in 1964 for reelection; staff assistant to Walter Heller, chairman of President Kennedy's Council of Economic Advisers, 1963; unsuccessful candidate for the office of Wisconsin State Treasurer, 1968; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-second and to the eleven succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1971, until his resignation January 20, 1993, to become Secretary of Defense in the Cabinet of President William J. Clinton and served as Secretary of Defense until his resignation on January 20, 1994; chairman, Committee on Armed Services (Ninety-ninth through One Hundred Second Congresses); professor of international policy, Washington Center for Government, Marquette University; chair of the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and of the Commission on the Roles and Capabilities of the United States Intelligence Community from August 1994 until his death in Washington, D.C. on May 21, 1995; interment in Wisconsin Memorial Park, Brookfield, Wis.
View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
[ Top ]External Research Collections
The Joint Archives of Holland
Hope College
Holland, MI
Papers:
September 1972, 1 audio tape.
The tape covers a campaign symposium with Senator Peter Dominick and Leslie Aspin discussing "The American Presidency and the 1972 Election" and "The Work of the Congress."
Wisconsin Historical Society
Archives Division
Madison, WI
Papers:
1970-1994, 75 cubic feet.
The papers of Leslie Aspin reflect his special interest and expertise in military and defense issues, issues of concern to his constituents, and his life as a politician, including his many campaigns for re-election. The papers consist of mailings (Wisconsin, Defense, and "Dear Colleagues"), articles and speeches, schedules, weekly reports, voting records and legislative profiles, campaign-related materials (including photographs), press releases, videotapes, sound recordings, and project files which include constituent correspondence, subject files on local and national issues, and briefing books. These files contain documentation on the Chrysler plant closing and other economic issues in Kenosha, Beloit, Janesville, and Racine. There are also three volumes of public statements made by Leslie Aspin while he was Secretary of Defense. Portions of this collection are available only on microfilm. The collection is currently unprocessed.
Papers:
In the Lowell L. Klessig Papers, 1968-1982, 1.8 cubic feet.
Correspondents include Leslie Aspin.
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Bibliography / Further Reading
___. Challenges to Values-based Military Intervention (SuDoc Y 3.P 31:2 P 31/9). Washington: U.S. Institute of Peace, 1995.
___. Congress and the Future of the U.S. Military. Irvine, Ca.: Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies, University of California at Irvine, [1992].
___. "Defense Budget and Foreign Policy: The Role of Congress." Daedalus 104 (Summer 1975): 155-74.
___. "Games the Pentagon Plays." Foreign Policy 11 (Summer 1973): 80-92.
___. "Parliamentary Control of Defence: the American Example." Survival 15 (July 1973): 166-70.
___. "The Power of Procedure." In Congress and Arms Control, edited by Alan Platt and Lawrence D. Weiler, pp. 43-57. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1978.
___. "Putting Soviet Power in Perspective." AEI Defense Review 2 (1978): 2-14.
___. "A View From Capitol Hill." In Who Defends America?: Race, Sex, and Class in the Armed Forces. Edited by Edwin Dorn. Washington: Joint Center for Political Studies Press, 1989.
___. "What Are the Russians Up to?" International Security 3 (Summer 1978): 30-54.
___. "Why Doesn't Congress do Something?" Foreign Policy 15 (Summer 1974): 70-82.
___. "Reinstatement Under the National Labor Relations Act," Ph. D. Diss., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1966.
Aspin, Les and Jack Kemp. How Much Defense Spending is Enough? Washington: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1976.
___. Realities of Soviet Power: Two Views. Washington: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1978.
Aspin, Les and Loren D. Estleman. Any Man's Death. New York: Mysterious Press, 1986.
Aspin, Les, William Dickinson, Lee Aspin, and Bill Dickinson. Defense for a New Era: Lessons of the Persian Gulf War (An Ausa Book). Herndon, Va.: Brasseys, Inc., 1992.
Aspin, Les, with Trevor Aspinall. I, Kovaks. London: Everest Books Ltd, 1975.
Aspin, Les, with William Dickinson. Defense For A New Era: Lessons of the Persian Gulf War. Washington: Brassey's, Inc., 1992.
Auster, Bruce B. "Caught in the Crossfire: Les Aspin is Learning that the Middle Ground is Often Vulnerable." U.S. News & World Report (6 December 1993), 30(3).
Bartel, Richard D. "A Nation Without a Defense Policy. (interview of Les Aspin)." Challenge (July-August 1986), 18(7).
Brooks, Peter and Peter Osterlund. "The Real Les Aspin Story." National Review (19 December 1986), 41(3).
Cobb, Jean. "Institutional Investment. (Les Aspin established Aspin Procurement Institute to help Wisconsin companies get government defense business)." Common Cause Magazine (September-October 1989), 10(1).
Isaacs, John. "The Fall and Rise of Les Aspin." Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (April 1987), 4(2).
___. "Will Aspin Sink or Swim?" Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (November 1985), 8(2).
Italia, Bob. The Secretary of Defense through Les Aspin. [Edited by Rosemary Wallner]. Edina, Minn.: Abdo & Daughters; Minneapolis, Minn.: Distributed by Rockbottom Books, 1993.
Mann, Paul. "Aspin Expected to Push Policy Role, Budget Scrutiny." Aviation Week & Space Technology (14 January 1985), 16(3).
Morrison, David C. "Battered Behemoth." National Journal (19 June 1993), 1508(5).
Ralph Nader Congress Project. Citizens Look at Congress: Les Aspin, Democratic Representative from Wisconsin. Washington, D. C.: Grossman Publishers, 1972.
Starr, Barbara. "US Defense Secretary Les Aspin Heads the DoD at a Time When it is Facing a New Set of Responsibilities." Jane's Defence Weekly (11 September 1993), 48(1).
"Taking the offense on defense." Time (29 April 1985), 50(1).
Willenson, Kim. "Aspin: man in the middle." Newsweek (1 April 1985), 31(1).