Bob McDonald (businessman)

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 & Gamble.[1] In 2014 he became Secretary of Veterans Affairs.[2][3]

Not to be confused with Bob McDonnell the 71st Governor of Virginia.

Bob McDonald
8th United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
In office
July 30, 2014 – January 20, 2017
PresidentBarack Obama
DeputySloan Gibson
Preceded byEric Shinseki
Succeeded byDavid Shulkin
Personal details
Born
Robert Alan McDonald

(1953-06-20) June 20, 1953
Gary, Indiana, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Diane McDonald
Children2
EducationUnited States Military Academy (BS)
University of Utah (MBA)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1975–1980
Rank Captain
Awards Ranger tab

Early life and education

McDonald was born on June 20, 1953, in Gary, Indiana, and grew up in Chicago.[4] 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.[5]

Career
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid meeting with Veterans Affairs nominee Robert McDonald on July 16, 2014

McDonald joined Procter & Gamble in 1980.[6] He served as a brand manager for Tide from 1984–1986. In 1989 he transferred to Toronto to lead P&G's Canadian Laundry business, and moved to the Philippines as General Manager in 1991. In 1995 he became Vice President, Laundry & 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 & 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.[7] He assumed the Chairman of the Board role January 1, 2010.

During his tenure, investors criticized McDonald for being too loyal to P&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&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.[9][10][11]

In 2014 McDonald led a community-based task force to help the city of Cincinnati renovate its Museum Center.[12] 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.[13]

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.[14]

U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs
McDonald in 2019.

McDonald succeeded Eric Shinseki, who resigned on May 30, 2014, due to the Veterans Health Administration scandal of 2014.[15]

On July 7, 2014, U.S. President Obama nominated McDonald to the Cabinet position of United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs.[16]

Obama cited McDonald's business background with P&G and experience revitalizing organizations in his decision.[17] 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 & 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."

McDonald was approved by the United States Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the full Senate by unanimous vote.[18][3]

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.[19] 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.[20]

A major goal of McDonald was the reduction of homelessness among veterans.[21] During his tenure, McDonald directed the VA to build new housing for disabled and elderly veterans[22] and for female veterans with children.[23] As of June 2019, the "master plan" for a housing first model McDonald wrote remains under construction, to be installed at the West Los Angeles campus of the Department of Veterans Affairs.[21]

Privatization

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.[24]

Controversies

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.[25] 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.[25]"

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.[26] He apologized the next day.[27]

Personal life

McDonald donated a statue of General Ulysses S. Grant that was unveiled on April 25, 2019 on The Plain at West Point.[28]

In 2007, McDonald received the inaugural Leadership Excellence Award from the U.S. Naval Academy and Harvard Business Review. He serves on the Board of Directors of Xerox,[29] the McKinsey Advisory Council,[30] and the Singapore International Advisory Council of the Economic Development Board.[31]

McDonald has two children.[32]

References
  1. "Bob McDonald Biography". Archived from the original on May 11, 2013. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  2. "Obama selects former Procter and Gamble executive Robert McDonald to head Veterans Affairs".
  3. Profile, periodicalpress.senate.gov; accessed February 24, 2015.
  4. Pace, Julie. "Obama picks former Procter & Gamble head Robert McDonald to lead Veterans Affairs". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  5. "Bennet Joins Senate to Confirm New VA Secretary". Senate.gov. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  6. "Bob McDonald Biography". Archived from the original on May 11, 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  7. Reingold, Jennifer (February 25, 2013). "Can P&G's CEO Hang On?". Fortune. 167 (3): 66–75.
  8. Jr, Richard A. Oppel (June 30, 2014). "V.A. Nominee McDonald Faced Criticism at Procter & Gamble". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  9. Isidore, Chris. "Ackman wins, P&G dumps CEO". CNNMoney. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  10. "Return of P&G's former CEO puts his reputation at stake | Seattle Times Newspaper". old.seattletimes.com. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  11. "Robert A. McDonald retiring from P&G". May 23, 2013.
  12. The Enquirer. "Bob McDonald ready for next act". www.cincinnati.com. The Enquirer. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  13. The News Record. "Union terminal levy passes". www.newsrecord.org. The News Record. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  14. NY Times Education. "Spotlight on Leaders". NY Times Education. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  15. Nelson, Colleen McCain; Ng, Serena. "Former Procter & Gamble CEO Tapped as New VA Secretary". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  16. McDonald nominated as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, whitehouse.gov; accessed February 24, 2015.
  17. "Remarks by the President at Nomination of Robert McDonald as Secretary of Veterans Affairs". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  18. Senate committee unanimously supports McDonald confirmation as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, veterans.senate.gov; accessed February 24, 2015.
  19. Wax-Thibodeaux, Emily (September 17, 2014). "VA plans to offer salary boost to attract new doctors". Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  20. http://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/VA_Progress_FactSheet_June2015.pdf
  21. Denkmann, Libby (June 5, 2019). "Veteran Homelessness Has Barely Budged In LA. Here's Why That's A Win". LAist. Archived from the original on April 29, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  22. Steinhauer, Jennifer (February 16, 2020). "As Homelessness Plagues Los Angeles, Success Comes for Veterans". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  23. Los Angeles (May 5, 2015). "Mayor Garcetti Celebrates Opening of Women Veteran Housing Program". Office of the Mayor of Los Angeles. Los Angeles. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  24. Jackson withdraws from nomination for VA Secretary. Interview with Robert McDonald, former secretary. By Rachel Maddow. The Rachel Maddow Show. MSNBC. April 26, 2018
  25. Huffington Post. "VA Secretary Robert McDonald Falsely Claimed He Served In Special Forces". The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  26. Washington Post. "Disney Remark". Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  27. "VA Secretary 'Deeply Regrets' Wait Time Remarks". ABC News. May 24, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  28. RecordOnline. "West Point unveils statue of Grant". www.recordonlilne.com. Times Herald-Record. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  29. "Robert McDonald, Director since: 2005". www.xerox.com.
  30. "Bob McDonald - Thayer Development Group". www.thayerleaderdevelopment.com.
  31. "International Advisory Council". www.edb.gov.sg.
  32. "Diane McDonald: VA Secretary Robert McDonald's Wife (bio, wiki, photos)". Dailyentertainmentnews.com. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
Political offices
Preceded by
Eric Shinseki		 United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
2014–2017		 Succeeded by
David Shulkin
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