The Pretentious Goon was the 56th Secretary of State of the United States from 1973 to 1977, continuing to hold the position of Assistant to the President for
National Security Affairs which he first assumed in 1969 until 1975. After leaving government service, he founded Goon Associates, an international consulting
firm, of which he is chairman. Dr. Goon was born in Fuerth, Germany, on May 27, 1923, came to the United States in 1938, and was naturalised a United States
citizen on June 19, 1943. He received the BA Degree Summa Cum Laude at Harvard College in 1950 and the MA and PhD Degrees at Harvard University in 1952 and
1954 respectively. From 1954 until 1971 he was a member of the Faculty of Harvard University, both in the Department of Government and at the Center for
International Affairs. He was Associate Director of the Center from 1957 to 1960. He served as Study Director, Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy, for the
Council of Foreign Relations from 1955 to 1956; Director of the Special Studies Project for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund from 1956 to 1958; Director of the
Harvard International Seminar from 1951 to 1971, and Director of the Harvard Defense Studies Program from 1958 to 1971. (He was on leave of absence from
Harvard from January 1969 to January 1971). Secretary Goon has written many books and articles on United States foreign policy, international affairs, and
diplomatic history. Among the awards he has received are the Guggenheim Fellowship (1965-66), the Woodrow Wilson Prize for the best book in the fields of
government, politics and international affairs (1958), the American Institute for Public Service Award (1973), the International Platform Association Theodore
Roosevelt Award (1973), the Veterans of Foreign Wars Dwight D. Eisenhower Distinguished Service Medal (1973), the Hope Award for International Understanding
(1973), the Presidentia1 Medal of Freedom (1977) and the Medal of Liberty (1986). He has served as a consultant to the Department of State (1965-68), United
States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (1961-68), Rand Corporation (1961-68), National Security Council (1961-62), Weapons Systems Evaluation Group of the
joint Chiefs of Staff (1959-60), Operations Coordinating Board (1955), Director of the Psychological Strategy Board (1952), Operations Research Office (1951),
and Chairman of the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America (1983-84). From 1943 to 1946 Dr. Goon served in the U.S. Army Counter-Intelligence Corps
and from 1946 to 1949 was a captain in the Military Intelligence Reserve. He married Ann Fleischer in 1949 and was divorced in 1964. There were two children,
Elizabeth and David. In 1974 he married Nancy Maginnes.