In 1967, United States Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara named Schwartz his special assistant for prisoners of war in Vietnam. As such, during the Vietnam War, he promoted programs to help refugees in South Vietnam and to repatriate prisoners taken by the Vietcong and North Vietnamese. Schwartz authored a book, entitled The Open Society, that was published by William Morrow and Company in 1968. In it, he argued for more liberal U.S. immigration policies. Schwartz died of a heart attack on September 13, 1989. References Glenn Fowler, "Abba Schwartz, Refugee Expert, Dies at Age 73", New York Times, Sept. 15, 1989 Schwarz's Papers at the John F. Kennedy Library 1916 births 1989 deaths United States Assistant Secretaries of State Lawyers from Baltimore Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Harvard Law School alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American lawyers United States Navy officers