William J Crowe

Early life and education

Crowe was born in La Grange, Kentucky, on January 2, 1925. 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.

Career

From 1954 to 1955, Crowe 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 (SS-565). In 1958, he served as an aide to the deputy chief of naval operations. In 1960, Crowe took command of USS Trout (SS-566), 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 the Stanford Graduate School of Education, and then, turning down an invitation from Admiral Hyman G. Rickover to enter the Navy's nuclear-power program, earned an M.A. and a PhD in Political Science at Princeton University. During the Vietnam War he was the senior adviser 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, Crowe was appointed 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 active duty. He was the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to serve under the provisions of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 where he as chairman became (not the collegial body of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), by statute, the principal military adviser to the president, the National Security Council, and the Secretary of Defense. In 1989, Army General Colin L. Powell succeeded him as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Later life and death

After 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 chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board in 1993. In 1994, President Clinton appointed Crowe the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and he served in that capacity until 1997.

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 U.S. military in the 1990s. The deal was approved by the Clinton administration, with which Crowe had a previous relationship. At the time of his death, Crowe served as the chairman of the board of Global Options, Inc., an international risk-management and business solutions company headquartered in Washington, D.C.

As he did at the University of Oklahoma in 1990–91, Crowe taught a seminar class on national security at the United States Naval Academy from 2000 to 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.

Crowe died on October 18, 2007, at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland at age 82 because of a heart condition. His funeral was held on October 31, 2007, at the Naval Academy chapel; Bill Clinton spoke. He was buried later that day in the United States Naval Academy Cemetery. As of 2015, he is the only deceased former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to not be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Legacy

In 2008, a fellowship was established in Crowe's honor at the University of Kentucky's Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce to support a former member of the U.S. 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 who has demonstrated high academic achievement, a commitment to public service, and a desire to pursue a career in global affairs. Also in 2009, the Xbox/ PS2 game, Heroes of the Pacific, was released. The main character's name is also William Crowe, though whether or not this was inspired by the real-life Crowe is unknown.

Personal life

Crowe was married to Shirley Grennell in 1954. They had three children.

Dates of rank

Awards and recognition

Crowe 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 (Season 7, Episode 17 "Hot Rocks"), where he played himself.

On 1990 he was the first recipient of the Distinguished Sea Service Award of Naval Order of the United States.

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." Following his retirement from the Navy, he was awarded a 2000 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor.

Awards and decorations

Pop culture

Crowe portrayed himself on the TV show Cheers (S-7 E-17 "Hot Rocks"). At the time he was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.