Who is Robert S. Lovett from The Best and the Brightest and what is their importance?

Robert S. Lovett is the man that Joseph P. Kennedy wanted his son to appoint as Secretary of State. Lovett was a well-respected statesman and financier who is a link to previous eras. He was born in Huntsville, Texas in 1895. His father had been a counsel for Harriman's Union Pacific Railroad. He attended Yale and was the commander of the first U.S. Naval Air Squadron in World War I. He married Adele Brown and went to work for her father's investment banking firm where he began as a clerk and worked his way up to partner. He helped negotiate the Brown Bros. merger with Harriman. Lovett became interested in foreign affairs and joined the Council on Foreign Relations which lead to government work. He worked with the Secretary of War and the Chief of Staff during World War II. In 1947 Lovett was named as the successor to Dean Acheson as Undersecretary of State and in 1950 he was named as Secretary of Defense.