Robert Alan McDonald (born June 20, 1953) served as the eighth United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

[5] He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1975 in the top 2% of his class with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering.

[6][7] At West Point he served as the Brigade Adjutant for the Corps of Cadets and was awarded the Silver Medal from the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce.

[7][8] After graduation, he served in the U.S. Army for five years, primarily in the 82nd Airborne Division, attaining the rank of captain,[6] He has completed Jungle, Arctic, and Desert Warfare Training, and has also earned the Ranger Tab, Expert Infantryman Badge, and Senior Parachutist Wings.

[15][16][17] Amid the 2008 economic downturn, investors criticized McDonald for being too attached to P&G traditions, too slow to pursue layoffs and other cuts, and unable to produce new product innovations, particularly compared to his predecessor and replacement A.G.

[18] He resigned from P&G in 2013 following pressure from the company board and activist investors such as Bill Ackman; he was replaced by his predecessor A.G. Lafley, who returned from retirement.

[19][20][21] In 2014, McDonald led a community-based task force to help the city of Cincinnati renovate its Museum Center, which succeeded when Hamilton County passed a tax levy to fund the initiative.

[35] The program expanded Veteran access by focusing on staffing, space, productivity, and VA Community Care while driving down a backlog of disability claims.

[42] When receiving the 2024 Sylvanus Thayer Award from the West Point Association of Graduates, former President Barack Obama stated that McDonald was "one of the best Secretaries of Veterans Affairs this country has ever had".

[54] In July 2020, McDonald was appointed by the George W. Bush Institute as the April and Jay Graham Fellow, where he serves as a member of the Military Service Initiative team.