Melvin Laird

Melvin Laird is an American politician and writer who served as Richard Nixon's Secretary of Defense from 1969-1973. He is referenced in The Year Santa Got Lost.

History
When Mr. Mailman told his toys a story about Santa that he reads from a book. He told them that Santa was in an awful pickle - beatniks had given drugs to the reindeer and they were "no darn good". So Santa placed a call to Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird.