born July 21,
1938
Milwaukee,
Wisconsin
died May 21,
1995 (
stroke)
Washington, DC
The social issues to be addressed during his stand as Defense Secretary were many, including the issue of
gays in the armed services and the role of
women in
combat. His answers to these issues satisfied few.
The "
don't ask, don't tell" policy did little to further the cause of ending discrimination against
homosexuals, one of the many promises made by Clinton during his
campaign. The "
don't ask, don't tell" policy stated that a service person would not be discriminated against or denied enlistment for their
sexual orientation and prohibits the use of military investigations to determine the sexual preferences of those in the
military. however, it left in place old rules which allow for a person to removed from service for taking part in
acts of
homosexuality (on or off base).
In regards to
women in
combat roles, Aspin revised military policies to allow women to
compete for roles in combat
aircraft and to open more naval ships to women. Some don't think this was enough of an inroad for
women, and some think it was too much. All in all, few were satisfied.
On December 15,
1993,
Bill Clinton made official the resignation of Les Aspin, Jr. as
Secretary of Defense. The reason for his resignation were given as "personal". Some believe that he stepped down due to his health problems and some think he was asked to step down by President Clinton due to his failure to act on issues in somalia (Aspin turned down General
Colin Powell's request for tanks and military vehicles to help stop a
civil war in
somalia. shortly after this refusal, 18 US soldiers were killed and 3 US helicopters were shot down). Aspin stayed in office until February 3,
1994, when
William J. Perry was sworn in.
Just under a year later, Aspin died shortly after having a
stroke at
Georgetown University Hospital.
references: www.defenselink.mil, www.brittanica.com, www.biography.com