McDonald, Robert A., 1953-

<p>Robert Alan McDonald was born on June 20, 1953, in Gary, Indiana, and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a degree in engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1975 and earned an MBA from the University of Utah in 1978. McDonald has maintained close ties to West Point, and he and his wife, Diane, founded the biennial McDonald Cadet Leadership Conference held at West Point. The conference pairs students with global leaders to develop leadership and critical thinking skills and apply them to world problems.</p>

<p>McDonald served five years in the Army and attained the rank of Captain. He served with the 82nd Airborne Division; completed Jungle, Arctic, and Desert Warfare training; and earned the Ranger tab, the Expert Infantryman Badge, and Senior Parachutist wings. McDonald spent much of his career at The Procter and Gamble Company, joining it in 1980. He served as chief operating officer, chief executive officer, and president of the company, before retiring in 2013.</p>

<p>Secretary McDonald was sworn in as the eighth Secretary of Veterans Affairs on July 30, 2014. He took over the Department of Veterans Affairs during a rocky period in its history after veterans had suffered from long wait times for treatment and inadequate services. President Obama pointed to McDonald’s management experience to help reform the department.</p>

<p>Robert Alan McDonald (born June 20, 1953) served as the eighth United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs. He is the retired chairman, president, and CEO of Procter &amp; Gamble. In 2014 he became Secretary of Veterans Affairs.</p>

<p>McDonald was born on June 20, 1953, in Gary, Indiana, and grew up in Chicago. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering. At West Point he served as the Brigade Adjutant for the Corps of Cadets and was awarded the Silver Medal from the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Army for five years, primarily in the 82nd Airborne Division, attaining the rank of Captain, and earned an MBA from the University of Utah in 1978. Upon leaving the military he received the Meritorious Service Medal.</p>

<p>McDonald joined Procter &amp; Gamble in 1980. He served as a brand manager for Tide from 1984–1986. In 1989 he transferred to Toronto to lead P&amp;G's Canadian Laundry business, and moved to the Philippines as General Manager in 1991. In 1995 he became Vice President, Laundry &amp; Cleaning Products Asia, and relocated to Japan. A year later in 1996, McDonald became President, Japan Operations, and in 1999, President, Northeast Asia. Two years later he moved to Brussels as President, Global Fabric Care and later President, Global Fabric &amp; Home Care. He was appointed Vice Chairman, Global Operations in 2004 and appointed Chief Operating Officer in July 2007. McDonald became President and Chief Executive on July 1, 2009. He assumed the Chairman of the Board role January 1, 2010.</p>

<p>During his tenure, investors criticized McDonald for being too loyal to P&amp;G traditions, being too slow to pursue layoffs and other cuts, and being unable to produce new product innovations, particularly compared to his predecessor and replacement A.G. Lafley.[8] He resigned from P&amp;G on June 30, 2013, following pressure from the company board and activist investors such as Bill Ackman; he was replaced by his predecessor A.G. Lafley, who returned from retirement.</p>

<p>In 2014 McDonald led a community-based task force to help the city of Cincinnati renovate its Museum Center. As a result of this work, the Hamilton County Commissioners added a tax levy known as Issue 8 to the ballot in the fall of 2014 which passed, adding an additional sales tax to assist in paying for the renovations.</p>

<p>McDonald is on the boards of RallyPoint, Quotient Technology, and Partnership for Public Service. McDonald is the founder of the McDonald Conference for Leaders of Character.</p>

<p>McDonald succeeded Eric Shinseki, who resigned on May 30, 2014, due to the Veterans Health Administration scandal of 2014.</p>

<p>On July 7, 2014, U.S. President Obama nominated McDonald to the Cabinet position of United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs.</p>

<p>Obama cited McDonald's business background with P&amp;G and experience revitalizing organizations in his decision. Obama said, "[W]hat especially makes Bob the right choice to lead the VA now is his three decades of experience in building and managing one of the world's most recognized companies, Procter &amp; Gamble. The VA is not a business, but it is one of our largest departments... And the workload at the VHA alone is enormous..." Obama added, "Bob is an expert at making organizations better. In his career he's taken over struggling business units... putting an end to what doesn't work; adopting the best practices that do; restructuring, introducing innovations, making operations more efficient and effective. In short, he's about delivering better results."</p>

<p>McDonald was approved by the United States Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the full Senate by unanimous vote.</p>

<p>One of McDonald's first decisions in September 2014 was to increase salaries for physicians and dentists to close the pay gap with the private sector and to make VA an employer of choice. McDonald personally visited several medical schools to recruit new medical personnel in the early months of his tenure at VA. As of June 2015, VA had increased onboard staff by more 12,000 including over 1,000 physicians, 2,700 nurses, and 4,600 other select critical occupations.</p>

<p>McDonald opposed privatization of the VA. "I`ve never met a veteran who wants to privatize the VA," McDonald said. Privatization advocates usually have a stake in privatization, he said. The private sector couldn't absorb the 9 million veterans, with all their comorbidities, in the VA system. The VA trains 70% of the doctors in the country, and has relationships with 1,800 medical schools. Veteran's groups wanted McDonald to stay, but after a long delay, president Donald Trump replaced him with David Shulkin, who also opposed privatization, and was also replaced.</p>

<p>On February 23, 2015, McDonald admitted he misspoke trying to engage a homeless veteran on January 30, 2015, about his serving in the U.S. Army Special Forces, a conversation that was recorded by a CBS television news crew accompanying him during a nationwide count of homeless veterans. "I have no excuse, I was not in the special forces" he told The Huffington Post, which first broke the story. The Huffington Post reported that "special operations forces" includes the Army Rangers and that McDonald "completed Army Ranger training and took courses in jungle, arctic and desert warfare. He qualified as a senior parachutist and airborne jumpmaster, and was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division until he resigned his commission in 1980. While he earned a Ranger tab designating him as a graduate of Ranger School, he never served in a Ranger battalion or any other special operations unit."</p>

<p>On May 23, 2016, Secretary McDonald stated that Disney does not measure wait times at its amusement parks, arguing that VA wait times are not an important measure. This statement was viewed as both insensitive to patients and incorrect, as Disney does measure wait times. He apologized the next day.</p>