James Thomas Lynn (February 27, 1927December 6, 2010) was an American cabinet officer and government official. He served as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1973 until 1975 and as the director of the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

from 1975 until 1977.

Early life

Lynn was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...

, on February 27, 1927, to Frederick Robert Lynn and Dorthea Estelle Lynn (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Petersen). In 1948, he graduated

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

from Western Reserve University (now known as

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

), and in 1951 graduated magna cum laude from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each c ...

. At Harvard Law School Lynn was the case editor of the ''

Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 ...

''.

Career

President Nixon meeting with economic advisors and Cabinet members - NARA - 194579

He worked for Jones, Day, Cockley and Reavis, Cleveland's biggest law firm, became a partner in 1960 and was there until 1969, when he was named

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

for the

Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for busi ...

. In 1971, he became

Under Secretary of Commerce A United States Under Secretary of Commerce is one of several positions in the United States Department of Commerce, serving under the United States Secretary of Commerce. History In June 1939, Edward J. Noble was appointed the first Under Secreta ...

. President Nixon appointed Lynn to serve as the

U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development The United States secretary of housing and urban development (or HUD secretary) is the head of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, a member of the president's Cabinet, and thirteenth in the presidential line of succ ...

from February 2, 1973 until February 5, 1975. President Gerald R. Ford appointed him to director of the

from February 10, 1975 until January 20, 1977.

Later life

Lynn joined the board of Aetna in the 1970s and served as its president and chairman in the 1980s. From 1978 to 1983, Lynn was head of the Federal City Council, a group of business, civic, education, and other leaders interested in economic development in Washington, D.C.; Lynn was also general counsel for the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in ...

in 1979 and the president of the James S. Brady Presidential Foundation in the early 1980s. In the 1990s, Lynn served on the Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy as well as on the boards of

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfize ...

and TRW. Lynn was also co-chair of the

Business Roundtable The Business Roundtable (BRT) is a nonprofit lobbyist association based in Washington, D.C. whose members are chief executive officers of major United States companies. Unlike the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, whose members are entire businesses, B ...

, was selected for the President's Commission to Study Capital Budgeting and most recently served on the

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) is a non-profit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C. that addresses federal budget and fiscal issues. It was founded in 1981 by former United States Representatives Robert G ...

. Lynn was an honorary trustee of the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...

Personal life

Lynn married the former Joan Miller on June 5, 1954. They had two daughters and one son: Marjorie Wilson, J. Peter Lynn and Sarah Hechler. He died of a massive

stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...

at his home in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which ...

, on December 6, 2010.

References

American President. James T. Lynn (1974–1975): Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
URL accessed on December 28, 2010.

URL accessed on November 11, 2005. * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynn, James T. 1927 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American politicians Case Western Reserve University alumni Directors of the Office of Management and Budget Ford administration cabinet members Harvard Law School alumni Nixon administration cabinet members Politicians from Cleveland United States Under Secretaries of Commerce United States Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development