Ex-Defense Secretary Aspin Dies After Suffering Stroke : Politics: Former Wisconsin congressman was a key architect of U.S. military policy for decades. Clinton praises his ‘selfless service.’

Les Aspin, the former Wisconsin congressman who served as President Clinton’s first secretary of defense, died Sunday after suffering a massive stroke. He was 56.

Death came at 7:55 p.m. Sunday at Georgetown University Medical Center, where Aspin had been admitted on Saturday. Physicians initially had expected him to make a good recovery, but his condition deteriorated rapidly.

Almost totally absorbed in his work, Aspin was a key architect of U.S. defense policy for decades, first as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and, beginning in January, 1993, as secretary of defense.

President Clinton, who appointed him to head the Pentagon and draft a strategy for the post-Cold War military, issued a statement praising his accomplishments and “selfless service.”

“No one knew better than he how Washington works,” Clinton said. “But he never thought of it as a game for its own sake. He was here to make a difference.”

Fascinated by government from the start, Aspin came to Washington in 1960 to work on the staff of Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis.). He later served on the staff of President John F. Kennedy’s Council of Economic Advisers.

In the Army during the Vietnam War, he served as one of the whiz kids hired by Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara to analyze weapon systems. He was elected to Congress in 1970 and became Armed Services chairman in 1985.

A maverick throughout his career, Aspin made a name for himself early on by challenging the Pentagon on a host of key issues, from spending programs to long-range strategy.

He lost his committee chairmanship briefly in 1987 after liberals objected to his support of requests by President Ronald Reagan for more MX missiles and aid for Nicaraguan rebels. But he regained it in two weeks.

His major achievement as defense secretary was to complete what he later dubbed the “bottom-up review,” a detailed assessment of defense strategy that called on the military to be prepared to fight two big regional wars at once.

He also brokered a compromise with Congress after lawmakers objected to Clinton’s initial plan to lift the ban on gays in the military. And he broadened opportunities for women in the military by allowing them to serve in combat jobs.

Aspin ran into trouble, however, when U.S. military intervention in Somalia turned sour, ending in a firefight in which 18 Army Rangers lost their lives. He resigned in December, 1993, in response to growing criticism from Congress.

Clinton later tapped him to head a bipartisan panel to review the nation’s intelligence agencies.

Saturday’s stroke was only the latest in a series of health problems. In March, 1993, Aspin was hospitalized for heart problems, and surgeons installed a pacemaker to prevent further weakening.

A Washington workaholic, Aspin was famous for putting in 14-hour days and 6 1/2-day weeks, arriving at the Pentagon early in the morning and ending the day at obligatory meetings and social functions.

He was a jocular man with a wry sense of humor, and he enjoyed talking about key issues and examining all sides of a problem.

Aspin was born in Milwaukee. He earned a master’s degree in economics from Oxford University, then went on to receive a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Aspin’s cardiologist, David Perle, said the secretary’s former wife and his brother were with him when he died.