David O . Cooke David O . " Doc " Cooke ( August 31 , 1920 – June 22 , 2002 ) was a United States Department of Defense civilian administrator who served under twelve Secretaries of Defense over a period of 45 years . Often called the " Mayor of the Pentagon " , Cooke was the department ' s highest - ranking career civil servant as Director of Administration and Management , and as Director of Washington Headquarters Services . He was also responsible for administering the oath of office for many key department officials . Early life . Cooke was born in Buffalo , New York in 1920 . He graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1941 , and earned his masters degree from the State University of New York at Albany in 1942 . He served in the United States Navy during World War II and later earned his law degree from The George Washington University in 1951 . That year , he went back on active duty and served in a number of posts until he retired as a Navy captain in 1968 . Government career . Cooke had a federal government career of more than 45 years in the Pentagon from 1957 to 2002 . Notable positions he served in include Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Administration from 1971 to 1988 , Director of the Washington Headquarters Services since 1977 , and Director of Administration and Management in the Office of the Secretary of Defense since 1988 . Cooke was involved with Defense Department management issues since 1958 , when he served on Defense Secretary Neil McElroy ' s task force on Department of Defense reorganization . He served under Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and helped institute changes in departmental management . Following his Navy retirement , Cooke headed the Department ' s Office of Organizational and Management Planning , a job that evolved into his final post . In this position , Cooke was responsible for the physical plant and personnel administration of the Pentagon . His responsibilities for security , maintenance , and operations in the building earned him the title " Mayor . " Death and legacy . On June 22 , 2002 , Cooke died from injuries that were a result of a car accident on June 6 . He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia , overlooking the Pentagon . His wife of 52 years , Marion McDonald Cooke , died in 1999 . The couple had raised three children , Michele C . Sutton of Springfield , David Cooke and Lot Cooke , both of Fairfax . He also had two grandchildren at the time of his death . Elizabeth M . Cooke , who was born in 2000 , and David B . Cooke who was born in 2002 a week before Cooke ' s death ( both children from David O . Cooke Jr . ) . In 2005 , the " David O . Cooke Excellence in Public Administration Award " was established in Cooke ' s honor to recognize a DoD employee with three to 10 years of federal service who occupies a non - managerial position and exhibits great potential as a future federal executive . Recognitions . Cooke received numerous awards for his work . He received the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award seven times . He also received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service and the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service two times . Both medals are rarely awarded to career civil servants . Other awards included the NAACP Benjamin L . Hooks Distinguished Service Award ( 1994 ) ; the Government Executive Leadership Award ( 1995 ) ; the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award ( 1995 ) ; the National Public Service Award ( 1997 ) ; the President ' s Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service ( 1998 ) ; the John O . Marsh Public Service Award ( 2000 ) ; the Senior Executives Association Board of Directors Award ( 2001 ) ; and the American Society for Public Administration Elmer B . Staats Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Service ( 2002 ) .