Former defense secretary Weinberger dies

Caspar Weinberger, defense secretary under the Reagan administration and central figure in the Iran-Contra scandal, has died at the age of 88.

Weinberger died about 5 a.m. in a hospital near his home in Mount Desert, Maine, his family said. He had recently been treated for pneumonia.

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Weinberger performed with gusto the task of persuading Congress to spend over $1 trillion on arms in Reagan’s first term and billions more after that.

He also steadfastly opposed concessions to Moscow in arms-control negotiations advocated by Secretary of State George Shultz and other more moderate members of the Cabinet.

He made himself unpopular with many lawmakers by his unbending, often contentious push for funds for arms and for Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative — a program, commonly known as "Star Wars," to develop a land- and space-based shield against incoming ballistic missiles.

He was Secretary of the defense while I was active duty, and his unwavering support of Reagan’s policies and vision had a lot to do with the eventual success of the cold war and the fall of communism.

Rest In Peace Cap.