Background
Forrestal, Michael Vincent was born on November 26, 1927 in New York City. Son of James Vincent and Josephine (Ogden) Forrestal.
Forrestal, Michael Vincent was born on November 26, 1927 in New York City. Son of James Vincent and Josephine (Ogden) Forrestal.
Student, Princeton University, 1949; Bachelor of Laws, Harvard University, 1953.
He was seen as a pivotal figure in the changing of United States. foreign policy, including recommending support for the coup d"état that deposed the first president of South Vietnam, Ngô Đình Diệm. Following the arrest and assassination of Diệm, which was backed by the Central Intelligence Agency, General Dương Văn Minh assumed the presidency in November, 1963. The negative repercussions from the coup and the John F. Kennedy assassination, which occurred later in the month, led to Forrestal"s retirement from government service in 1965.
Speculation at the time suggested that he left the White House because of his decreasing influence in the administration of Kennedy"s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson.
Other than his political life, Forrestal was a senior partner in Shearman & Sterling and a legal advisor to the state-owned Algerian oil company, Sonatrach during the 1970s. Forrestal also had a role in the German-based Allied Control Council and the United States.–Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics Trade and Economic Council.
Forrestal was born in New York City on November 26, 1927 to James Forrestal and Josephine Forrestal. His father served as Secretary of the Navy before becoming the first Secretary of Defense in 1947.
In 1946 Michael Forrestal graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy.
He received a commission in the United States Navy, and was appointed an assistant naval attaché in Moscow under West. Averell Harriman, the Ambassador to the Soviet Union. He later served as secretary of the Quadripartite Naval Directorate, part of the post-World World War II Allied Control Council that administered Berlin. From 1948 to 1950 he was deputy director of the East-West Trade Division of the United States. European Cooperation Administration.
Forrestal attended Princeton University, and completed his law degree at Harvard Law School in 1953.
He practiced with the New York City firm of Shearman & Sterling, and became a partner in 1960. By 1978 he had become the firm"s senior partner.
Forrestal was a longtime trustee of Phillips Exeter Academy and served as the board"s president Forrestal died in New York City on January 11, 1989.
He suffered an aneurysm while chairing a meeting of the Lincoln Center board of trustees.
Chairman Metropolitan Opera Guild, 1965-1970. Board directors, treasurer Metropolitan Opera Association, from 1967, National Opera Institute, 1971-1980. Executive secretary advisory committee Kennedy Institute Politics, Harvard University, 1967-1982.
Trustee Institute Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, from 1970. Trustee Phillips Exeter Academy, from 1979, president board trustees, from 1981. Member American Bar Association, Association Bar City New York, American Arbitration Association (director 1980-1983), Council Foreign Relations.
Clubs: Racquet and Tennis (New York City), Links (New York City). Metropolitan (Washington). Travellers (Paris, France).