Forrestal, James Vincent definition of Forrestal, James Vincent in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Forrestal, James Vincent (fôr`ĭstôl', fŏr`–), 1892–1949, U.S. secretary of the navy (1944–47) and secretary of defense (1947–49), b. Beacon, N.Y. He was a naval aviator in World War I and later began (1923) a career as an investment banker. He was appointed administrative assistant to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (June, 1940), under secretary of the navy (Aug., 1940), and secretary of the navy (1944) as successor to Frank Knox. With the reorganization of the War and the Navy departments, he became the first secretary of defense (see Defense, United States Department of Defense, United States Department of, executive department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and military affairs.
..... Click the link for more information. ). Illness forced his resignation, and he later committed suicide.

Bibliography

See study by C. Simpson (1967); biography by T. Hoopes and D. Brinkley (1992).