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After leaving the government in 1950 Clifford practiced law in Washington, but continued to advise the White House occasionally. In 1960 he was a member of President-elect Kennedy's Committee on the Defense Establishment, headed by Stuart Symington. In May 1961 Kennedy appointed him to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, which he chaired beginning in April 1963. After President Johnson entered office, Clifford served frequently as an unofficial counselor and sometimes undertook short-term official duties, including a trip with General Maxwell Taylor in 1967 to Vietnam and other countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Clifford estimated that in the year prior to his appointment as secretary of defense he had spent about half of his time advising the president and the other half with his law firm.
After leaving the government in 1950 Clifford practiced law in Washington, but continued to advise the White House occasionally. In 1960 he was a member of President-elect Kennedy's Committee on the Defense Establishment, headed by Stuart Symington. In May 1961 Kennedy appointed him to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, which he chaired beginning in April 1963. After President Johnson entered office, Clifford served frequently as an unofficial counselor and sometimes undertook short-term official duties, including a trip with General Maxwell Taylor in 1967 to Vietnam and other countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Clifford estimated that in the year prior to his appointment as secretary of defense he had spent about half of his time advising the president and the other half with his law firm.
==Johnson administration==
==1960s==
Clifford's law firm had been hired in the early sixties by the duPonts of [[Delaware]], when they were ordered to get
rid o{ their [[General Motors]] stock because of antitrust implications. This meant that, unless Congress passed extraordinary legislation of forgiveness, the family faced a tax liability of more than $1 billion. According to Bill
Greider in the ''[[Washington Post]]'', Clifford was hired "to guide their argument through the inner branches of the executive branch. . . . Clifford, who was advising [[President Kennedy]] on foreign intelligence matters then, arranged
some appointments for the folks from Wilmington-private audiences with the Treasury sdcretary, the [[Attorney General]], the Deputy Attorney General, the Assistant Attorney General for Anti-Trust, and the General Counsel of the Treasury."
The arguments were apparently persuasive because the US Justice Department, which had previously opposed special tax consideration for antitrust violators, let it be known that in this case it would make an exception. Before long, with administration approval, Congress passed a law slashing the potential tax liability of the duPonts by approximately $650 million.
Two years later Clifford's closeness to Johnson apparently did him little harm when the duPont ttx matter again came up. The lawyer helped negotiate a favorable interpretation of the 1962 settlement-one that saved the du Ponts (who probably considered it petty cash) at least $56 million in taxes.
Clifford was appointed by U.S. President [[Lyndon Johnson]] Secretary of Defense at the height of Johnson's escalation of the [[Vietnam conflict]] upon termination of Secretary [[Robert McNamara]]. Clifford recites in a PBS documentary on the Vietnam War that he had "turned against the war" shortly after Johnson appointed him Defense Secretary.<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/series/pt_06.html ''Vietnam: A Television History''], (1983). Transcript retrieved from PBS.org 13 July 2007.</ref>
Clifford was appointed by U.S. President [[Lyndon Johnson]] Secretary of Defense at the height of Johnson's escalation of the [[Vietnam conflict]] upon termination of Secretary [[Robert McNamara]]. Clifford recites in a PBS documentary on the Vietnam War that he had "turned against the war" shortly after Johnson appointed him Defense Secretary.<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/series/pt_06.html ''Vietnam: A Television History''], (1983). Transcript retrieved from PBS.org 13 July 2007.</ref>