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Richard Neustadt served as adviser to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he worked for the Bureau of the Budget and then joined the White House staff as an Administrative Adviser.  Mr. Neustadt advised President Kennedy on staff appointments and undertook a major study of the cancellation of the Skybolt Project, an air-to-ground missile which, prior to 1963, was thought to be the most effective means of demonstrating U.S. nuclear power.  He played a vital role in the development of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, helping to shape the school’s curriculum and directing the Institute of Politics from 1966-1971.

1919

Born, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1939

A.B., University of California, Berkeley

1941

M.A., Harvard University

1941-1942

Assistant Economist, Office of Price Administration

1942-1946

Lieutenant, U.S. Navy

1946-1950

Assistant to Director, Bureau of the Budget

1950-1953

Special assistant, White House Staff

1951

Ph.D., Harvard University

1953-1954

Assistant Professor of Government, Cornell University

1954-1965

Professor of Government, Columbia University

1956

Staff member, Democratic Platform Committee

1957

Visiting Professor, Princeton University

1959-1968

Consultant, Senate Subcommittee on National Policy Machinery; Senate Subcommittee on National Security Staffing and Operations

1960

Member and Consultant, Democratic Platform Committee

1960-1961

Consultant to President-elect Kennedy

1961-1970

Consultant, Bureau of the Budget

1962

Consultant, Ford Foundation

1962-1968

Consultant, Atomic Energy Commission

1962-1969

Consultant, Department of State

1964

Consultant, Rand Corporation

1965-1989

Professor of Government, Harvard University

1965-1975

Associate Dean, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

1966-1971

Director, Institute of Politics, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

1972

Chairman, Democratic Platform Committee

2003

Died, London, England

Author

 

Presidential Power: The Politics of Leadership from FDR to Carter, 1960

 

Alliance Politics, 1970

 

The Epidemic That Never Was, 1983

 

Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decision-makers (with Ernest R. May), 1986

 

Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents: The Politics of Leadership from Roosevelt to Reagan, 1990

 

Report to JFK: The Skybolt Crisis in Perspective, 1999

 

Preparing to Be President: The Memos of Richard E. Neustadt, 2000

 

See also Archives and Manuscripts; Richard Neustadt, 1919-2003 .

 
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