[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 19, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S2323]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE DEATH OF ROSWELL GILPATRIC

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I was greatly saddened to hear of the 
death of Roswell Gilpatric this past Friday. As Deputy Secretary of 
Defense during President Kennedy's administration, he provided wise 
counsel throughout those thousand days--and especially during times of 
great crisis.
  At the height of the Cuban missile crisis, when the crucial decision 
had to be made on what course of action to take--an air strike or a 
blockade--Roswell Gilpatric spoke up. His experience and wisdom led him 
to say to President Kennedy that, ``Essentially, this is a choice 
between limited action and unlimited action, and most of us think that 
it is better to start with limited action.'' At a very difficult 
moment, President Kennedy's respect for Ros Gilpatric's good judgment 
helped to reinforce his own instincts that it would be best to start 
with a course of limited action. We now know what officials did not 
know then--that the consequences of an air strike could have triggered 
a nuclear exchange, the results being too terrible to imagine.
  Ted Sorensen said that Roswell Gilpatric was an ``indispensable'' man 
in the administration of President Kennedy, as his impact in the Cuban 
missile crisis illustrates. He was also valuable in his effort to help 
Secretary of Defense McNamara reorganize the Defense Department's 
management and command staffs. His intelligence, resourcefulness, and 
easygoing manner made him a man who could be depended on to handle 
great responsibility with grace, dignity, and diplomacy. His entire 
life was an example of that.
  Roswell Gilpatric, a native of New York, attended Yale University. He 
graduated with honors as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and went on to Yale 
Law School where he became an editor of the Law Journal. After his 
graduation in 1931, he joined the law firm of Cravath, Swain & Moore 
where he rose to become a partner, and later presiding partner, from 
1966 until his retirement in 1977. During these years he also made time 
for public service, first, as Undersecretary of the Air Force from 1951 
to 1953, and then as a member of the New Frontier, assisting President 
Kennedy. After his public service in Washington, he returned to New 
York and became a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and 
eventually its chairman.
  From the beginning of his service as Deputy Secretary of Defense, Ros 
Gilpatric was a valued advisor to my brother. As the years passed, he 
provided warm friendship and loyal support to all of us in the Kennedy 
family, and especially to Jackie after the loss of President Kennedy. 
They shared an interest in the arts and worked together on many causes 
in his capacity as a trustee of NYU's Institute of Fine Arts, the New 
York Public Library, and the Metropolitan Museum.
  Vicki joins me in expressing our deepest sympathy to his wife Mimi 
and his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. I know that 
they take comfort and pride in his outstanding contributions to the 
Nation and New York. Roswell Gilpatric served his community and his 
country with great caring, commitment, and distinction. President 
Kennedy paid him his highest compliment when said of him what we all 
say now--Roswell Gilpatric made a difference.

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