Frank Carlucci Frank Carlucci Frank Charles Carlucci III (October 18, 1930 – June 3, 2018) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the United States Secretary of Defense from 1987 to 1989 in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. Carlucci served in a variety of senior-level governmental positions, including Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity in the Richard Nixon administration, Deputy Director of the CIA in the Jimmy Carter administration, and Deputy Secretary of Defense and National Security Advisor in the Reagan administration. Carlucci was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the son of Roxanne (née Bacon) and Frank Charles Carlucci,
United States Secretary of Defense the Cabinet and by law a member of the National Security Council. Secretary of Defense is a statutory office, and the general provision in provides that the Secretary of Defense has "authority, direction and control over the Department of Defense", and is further designated by the same statute as "the principal assistant to the President in all matters relating to the Department of Defense". Ensuring civilian control of the military, an individual may not be appointed as Secretary of Defense within seven years after relief from active duty as a commissioned officer of a regular (i.e., non-reserve) component of an