Robert Ten Broeck Stevens (July 31, 1899January 31, 1983) was an American businessman and former chairman of J. P. Stevens and Company, which was one of the most established textile manufacturing plants in the US. He served as the Secretary of the Army between February 4, 1953, until July 21, 1955. Biography Stevens was born on July 31, 1899, in Fanwood, New Jersey to John Peters Stevens and Edna Ten Broeck. He attended Phillips Academy and graduated in 1917. After serving as a second lieutenant in the field artillery in World War I he attended and graduated from Yale University. He became president of J.P. Stevens and Company in 1929. It is now part of a conglomerate—WestPoint Home. In 1941, Stevens attended a civilian course at the Army Command and General Staff School. In 1942, he was recalled to active duty in the Quartermaster Corps as a lieutenant colonel. Promoted to colonel, he served in the United States during most of World War II except for a temporary assignment in Europe, returning to civilian life in 1945. He served as chairman of The Business Council, then known as the Business Advisory Council for the United States Department of Commerce in 1951 and 1952. On January 29, 1953, Stevens was nominated to be Secretary of the Army by President Dwight Eisenhower and appeared for a hearing before the Senate Committee on Armed Services that same day. After confirmation, he came into conflict with Senator Joseph McCarthy over a series of issues that ultimately led to the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954. In the fall of 1953, McCarthy began an investigation into the United States Army Signal Corps laboratory at Fort Monmouth. McCarthy's aggressive questioning of army personnel was damaging to morale, but failed to reveal any sign of the "dangerous spies" that McCarthy alleged to exist. Next McCarthy investigated the case of Irving Peress, an Army dentist who had refused to answer questions in a loyalty-review questionnaire. As various officers, scientists and other army staff were subjected to McCarthy's often abusive questioning, Stevens was criticized for capitulating to many of McCarthy's demands and not supporting his men. Concurrent with these events, McCarthy's chief counsel, Roy Cohn, had been pressuring the army, including Stevens, to give preferential treatment to his friend G. David Schine, who had recently been drafted. The Army-McCarthy hearings were held to investigate the Army's charge that McCarthy and Cohn