David Packard: Hewlett-Packard Co-Founder and Defense Leader
David Packard (September 7, 1912 – March 26, 1996) was an American electrical engineer and co-founder of Hewlett-Packard. He served as president, CEO, and chairman of HP and later as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense under President Nixon.
Early Life and Education
Packard was born in Pueblo, Colorado, the son of Ella Graber and Sperry Sidney Packard, an attorney. At Centennial High School, he showed early interest in science, engineering, sports, and leadership. He earned his B.A. from Stanford University in 1934, where he lettered in football and basketball, joined Phi Beta Kappa, and met both Bill Hewlett and his future wife Lucile Salter. After briefly attending the University of Colorado at Boulder and working for General Electric in Schenectady, New York, he returned to Stanford in 1938 and completed a master’s degree in electrical engineering that same year. He married Lucile Salter in 1938 and had four children: David, Nancy, Susan, and Julie.
Career and Achievements
In 1939, Packard and Hewlett founded Hewlett-Packard in Packard’s garage with an initial investment of $538. The company’s name was determined by a coin flip—HP rather than PH. Their first product, an audio frequency oscillator, sold eight units to Walt Disney Studios for testing equipment used in the film Fantasia. The company grew to become the world’s largest producer of electronic testing and measurement devices, and later a major manufacturer of calculators, computers, and laser and ink jet printers.
Packard served as HP’s first president from 1947 to 1964, then as CEO and chairman from 1964 to 1968. He left the company in 1969 to join the Nixon administration but returned in 1972 as chairman, a position he held until his retirement in 1993. In 1991, he oversaw a major reorganization of HP. At his death in 1996, his stake in the company was worth more than $1 billion. On March 3, 1986, at Packard’s instruction, the domain name HP.com was registered, making it one of the earliest corporate domain names.
Notable Events and Milestones
From 1969 to 1971, Packard served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense under Secretary Melvin Laird. During his tenure, he introduced business resource management concepts to military operations and established the Defense Systems Management College. In 1970, he issued a memorandum containing major reforms, including elimination of Robert McNamara’s Total Package Procurement except in rare cases. Near the end of his service, he authored the “Packard Memo” on military resources and civil disturbances, enacted in February 1972, which addressed exceptions to the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act. He served as president of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences from 1976 to 1981 and as chairman of its board of regents from 1973 to 1982. In the 1970s and 1980s, he remained a prominent White House advisor on defense procurement and served as chairman of The Business Council in 1973 and 1974.
Awards and Honors
Packard received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988. He was a member of the Trilateral Commission and served on the Board of Directors of the Committee on the Present Danger.
Additional Resources
David Packard’s legacy spans both technology and public service, documented extensively in his autobiography “The HP Way” and numerous biographical sources. Readers seeking deeper insight into his life, business philosophy, and defense policy contributions can find comprehensive information through Wikipedia and other historical archives dedicated to technology pioneers and Cold War-era defense officials.
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