William James Perry (born 1927) became President Clinton's second secretary of defense after the resignation of Les Aspin. A Washington insider, Perry was the second technocrat to hold this significant government position.

William James Perry was born October 11, 1927, in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, the son of a grocer, Edward Martin Perry, and Mabelle Estelle (Dunlop) Perry. He excelled in mathematics and music, playing piano in a swing band.

Perry entered the U.S. Army in 1946 and served as a surveyor in the Corps of Engineers in Japan and Okinawa for a year. On December 29, 1947, he married Leonilla Mary Green, with whom he had five children: David Carter, William Wick, Rebecca Lynn, Robin Lee, and Mark Lloyd. Despite family responsibilities, Leonilla Perry eventually became a certified public accountant, formerly associated with the firm of Hemming and Morse in San Mateo, while Perry became a mathematician. He graduated with a B.A. (1949) and...