James Thomas Lynn, who succeeded George W. Romney as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Richard Nixon administration, and who continued in that post under Gerald R. Ford, died in Maryland on Monday at the age of 83. With his passing, seven of the twenty-eight men who served in President Nixon’s Cabinet are now living: Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, George P. Shultz, Melvin R. Laird, James Schlesinger, Peter G. Peterson, Frederick Dent, and James D. Hodgson.
A lengthy obituary of Mr. Lynn, who also served as President Ford’s Director of the Office of Management and the Budget, appeared in Tuesday’s Washington Post. For some reason, the paper’s editors chose to illustrate it with a photo of him, in his OMB days, holding up a huge organizational chart, his face almost completely obscured. Here is a portrait photo from the Ford Presidential Library’s site.
The Post’s obituary describes his work at HUD in these words:
As HUD secretary from 1973 to 1975, Mr. Lynn helped formulate a landmark multi-billion-dollar community development and housing program that consolidated and improved existing federal subsidies for low- and moderate-income families.
He also helped create an anti-bias provision in the bill that outlawed racial and sexual discrimination in the way the federal funding was disbursed.
After his service in government, Mr. Lynn served as president and chairman of the insurance company Aetna and also headed the James Brady Presidential Foundation.
“A great patriot and a great friend,” commented Tod Hullin, Nixon Foundation board member who worked on HUD issues as a member of RN’s Domestic Council. “He will be missed.”
Sec. Lynn’s memorial will be on Saturday, December 18 at 2pm:
St. John Episcopal Church Norwood Parish
6701 Wisconsin Ave., Chevy Chase, MD 20816.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of James T. Lynn to Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington at www.bgcgw.org or PAW Rescue, Greenbelt, MD at www.paw-rescue.org.