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Admiral William James Crowe, Jr. (January 2, 1925 – October 18, 2007) was a United States Navy Admiral who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, and as the ambassador to the United Kingdom under President Bill Clinton.
[edit] BiographyCrowe was born in La Grange, Kentucky. At the beginning of the Great Depression, Crowe's father moved the family to Oklahoma City. In June 1946, Crowe completed a war-accelerated course of study and graduated with the Class of 1947 from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. From 1954 to 1955, he served as assistant to the Naval Aide of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. From 1956 to 1958, Crowe served as executive Officer of the submarine USS Wahoo. In 1958, he served as an aide to the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations. In 1960, Crowe took command of USS Trout, homeported in Charleston, South Carolina, and served as Commanding Officer of that ship until 1962. From there, Crowe earned a master's degree in education at Stanford University, and then, turning down an invitation from Admiral Hyman G. Rickover to enter the Navy's nuclear-power course,[1] earned an M.A. and a Ph.D in Political Science at Princeton University. During the Vietnam War he was the senior advisor to the Vietnamese Riverine Force. In 1969, he returned to service to take command of Submarine Division 31, homeported in San Diego, California. A long string of assignments followed:
On July 10, 1985, William Crowe was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to serve as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He continued to serve as CJCS through the Bush administration until 1989 when he retired from the Navy. He was the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to benefit from the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 where he became, by statute, the principal military adviser to the President of the United States and the seniormost officer in the entire military establishment (across all the U.S. military branches). In 1989, his successor, Army General Colin L. Powell, replaced him as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. [edit] After military retirementAfter he retired in October 1989, Crowe returned to the University of Oklahoma and William J. Crowe Chair in Geopolitics. Crowe surprised politicians when he endorsed Bill Clinton in the presidential election of 1992. President Clinton named Crowe the Chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board in 1993. In 1994, President Clinton appointed Crowe United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and he served in that capacity until 1997. William Crowe was married to Shirley Grinel in 1954. They had three children. He sat on the Boards of Texaco, Merrill Lynch, Pfizer, Norfolk Southern Corporation and General Dynamics. He also served on the board of Emergent BioSolutions (then Bioport), a company that provided controversial Anthrax Vaccinations to the US Military in the 1990s. The deal was approved by the Clinton administration, which Crowe had a previous relationship with. At the time of his death, Crowe served as the Chairman of the Board of Visitors for the International Programs Center of the University of Oklahoma. He also served as an advisory board member for GlobalOptions, Inc., an international risk management and business solutions company headquartered in Washington, D.C.. As he did at the University of Oklahoma in 1990-1991, Crowe taught a seminar class on National Security at the United States Naval Academy in 2007. In 2004, Crowe was among 27 retired diplomats and military commanders who publicly said the administration of President George W. Bush did not understand the world and was unable to handle "in either style or substance" the responsibilities of global leadership.[2] Crowe died on October 18, 2007 at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland at age 82 because of a heart condition.[3] His funeral was held on 31 October 2007 at the Naval Academy Chapel; Bill Clinton spoke. He was buried later that day in the United States Naval Academy Cemetery. In 2008 a fellowship was established in his honor at the University of Kentucky's Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce to support a former member of the United States armed forces who—like Crowe—is shifting from military to diplomatic service. In 2009 the International Programs Center at the University of Oklahoma established the Admiral William J. Crowe, Jr. Award. This award is presented to an outstanding International and Area Studies (IAS) graduate every spring semester. The Award recognizes an IAS student that has demonstrated high academic achievement, a commitment to public service and a desire to pursue a career in global affairs. [edit] Awards and recognitionCrowe was awarded Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) honorary degrees from numerous universities, including University of Liverpool, The George Washington University, and Knox College. In 1989, Crowe appeared in one episode of the TV sitcom Cheers (Series 7, Episode 17 "Hot Rocks"), where he played himself.[4] In 1993, Crowe published his memoirs in the book, The Line of Fire: From Washington to the Gulf, the Politics and Battles of the New Military. Crowe received four Defense Distinguished Service Medals and numerous military decorations from heads of state. In 1998, the Atatürk Society of America honored Crowe with the "Atatürk Peace and Democracy Award."[5] Following his retirement from the Navy, he was awarded a 2000 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor.[6] [edit] Military awards
[edit] See also[edit] References
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Categories: 1925 births | 2007 deaths | Joint Chiefs of Staff | Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | United States ambassadors to the United Kingdom | United States Navy admirals | United States Naval Academy graduates | Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients | Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United States) | Recipients of the Legion of Merit | Recipients of the Bronze Star Medal | Recipients of the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry | American military personnel of the Vietnam War | People from Oldham County, Kentucky | Deaths from cardiovascular disease | Burials at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery | Recipients of the Air Medal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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