J. William Middendorf
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John William Middendorf II (born September 22, 1924) was a U.S. diplomat.
Middendorf served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946, fighting in the Pacific Theater of World War II. He became ambassador to the Netherlands from 1969 to 1973, and served as Secretary of the Navy from 1974 to 1976. He later served as U.S. ambassador to Organization of American States from 1981 to 1985, and as ambassador to the European Community from 1985 to 1987. During his time as the secretary of the navy, he oversaw the creation of the Marine Corps Marathon, and the trophy for the winner is named in his honor. He was one of the architects of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
He later became the chairman of the Defense Forum Foundation, and he was awarded the Maritime Security Lifetime Excellence Award in 2002. He is a trustee of the Heritage Foundation, and is on the board of directors of the International Republican Institute. He made headlines in 2004 for openly questioning John Kerry's military service in the Vietnam War.
Middendorf recently published a book describing his work with the Goldwater campaign. "Glorious Disaster: Barry Goldwater's Presidential Campaign And the Origins of the Conservative Movement" details how Goldwater's campaign became the foundation of the modern conservative movement.
