It is with great sadness that the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, and its sister organization Council for a Livable World, acknowledge and mourn the loss of Lt. General Robert Gard, who had served as Chairman Emeritus of the Center’s Board of Directors since 2015 after many decades of offering his expertise in various capacities.
Gard had a celebrated military career, serving in the Korean and Vietnam wars, and helping manage the Pentagon Papers that revealed the systematic cover-up of U.S. military atrocities in Vietnam. After his retirement from the military, he began a career in academia, followed by a stint as a national security consultant, including with the Center. He became the Center’s Senior Military Fellow, then served on the board and became chairman, all while offering guidance that helped the Center become the organization it is today.
John Isaacs, Council for a Livable World’s former executive director who worked closely with General Gard, said that Gard had the knowledge, expertise and battle experience and worked with Secretary of Defenses Robert McNamara and Clark Clifford to avoid a nuclear holocaust that was always in the background with the enmity between the United States and the Soviet Union. Gard was both easy to work with and very credible.
“General Gard was a good man and a strong advocate for nuclear restraint,” said John Tierney, Executive Director. “My thoughts are with his loved ones and the undoubtedly thousands of people whose careers and lives he touched. We will miss his kindness, wisdom and candor.”
