An AP Wire photo of Deputy Secretary of Defense Thomas Gates, Jr. arriving at Camp David by car on Sept. 26, 1959 for talks between
President Dwight Eisenhower and Russia's Premier Krushchev.

Thomas Gates., Jr. served as the Under Secretary of the Navy 1953-1957, Secretary of the Navy 1957-1959, Deputy Secretary of Defense 1959, Secretary of Defense 1959-1961. Gates retired from office on January 20, 1961. Some regarded him as the first of a new breed of Secretaries of Defense who would take a much more active approach to management evidenced by his regular meetings with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and establishment of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff. He also served as Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing 1976-1977.  The warship USS Thomas S. Gates (CG-51) was a Ticonderoga-class Cruiser commissioned August 22, 1987 and named in honor of the Secretary of Defense.  In a break from normal naming conventions for the Ticonderoga class cruisers, Thomas S. Gates is the only vessel of the class to be named after a person; all of the other cruisers are named after notable events in American military history.   The photo caption reads:

THURMONT, MD., SEPT. 26th DEFENSE SECRETARY ARRIVES FOR CONFERENCE - Deputy Secretary of Defense Thomas Gates, Jr. arrives at Camp David today to take part in the talks between President Eisenhower and Russia's Premier Khrushchev. Conference between the two world leaders started last night upon their arrival at the Presdent's mountain-top retreat by helicopter from Washington. They are scheduled to remain at the camp until tomorrow morning.