John Otho Marsh, Jr.
| John O. Marsh, Jr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 14th United States Secretary of the Army | |
|
In office February 1981 – August 1989 | |
| Preceded by | Clifford L. Alexander, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Michael P.W. Stone |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 7th district | |
|
In office January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1971 | |
| Preceded by | Burr P. Harrison |
| Succeeded by | James Kenneth Robinson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 7, 1926 Winchester, Virginia |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Washington and Lee University |
| Occupation | professor, government official |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch |
United States Army United States Army Reserve Army National Guard |
| Years of service |
1944–1947 1947–1951 1951–1976 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Battles/wars |
Allied Occupation of Germany Vietnam War |
John Otho Marsh, Jr. (born August 7, 1926) is an American politician and an Adjunct Professor at George Mason University School of Law.[1][2][3] He served as the United States Secretary of the Army from 1981 to 1989, and as United States House of Representatives from Virginia from 1963 to 1971.[1][4]
Biography
John Otto Marsh, Jr. was born in Winchester, Virginia, on August 7, 1926 and graduated from Harrisonburg High School in Harrisonburg, Virginia.[5][6] He enlisted in the United States Army in 1944, during World War II, and was selected at age eighteen for Infantry Officer Candidate School (OCS) graduating as a second lieutenant of infantry in November 1945, then assigned to the Army of Occupation of Germany where he served from 1946 to 1947.[4][5][7] He was a member of the United States Army Reserve from 1947 to 1951.[5] He graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1951.[1][5] He entered the Army National Guard in Virginia in 1951 and graduated from the Army's Airborne School in 1964. He later retired in 1976 in the rank of lieutenant colonel.[5]
Meanwhile, in 1952, he was admitted to the Virginia Bar, and started practicing law in Strasburg, Virginia, where he served as town judge.[5] From 1954 to 1962, he was the town attorney in New Market, Virginia.[5] He served in the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat from Virginia from 1963 to 1971.[1][2][3][4][5][6][8] He fought in the Vietnam War for a month without telling his fellow soldiers he was a Congressman.[4] In 1973, he was appointed as Assistant Secretary of Defense, and in January 1974, as National Security Advisor for then-Vice President Gerald Ford.[1][2][8] Under President Ford, he became Counsellor to the President and held Cabinet rank.[1][2][4][6][8] From 1981 to 1989, he served as the United States Secretary of the Army under President Ronald Reagan.[1][2][3][4][6] Marsh was then selected to serve as Chairman of the Reserve Forces Policy Board, a position he held from 1989 until 1994.[9] He later served as Chairman and interim CEO of Novavax, Inc., a pharmaceutical company.[1][2] He still sits on its Board of Directors.[10] He was a confidant of Dick Cheney when he was Vice President.[8][11]
From 1998 to 1999, he was Visiting Professor of Ethics at the Virginia Military Institute, and Adjunct Professor of Law at The College of William & Mary from 1999 to 2000.[1] He now teaches a course on Technology, Terrorism and National Security Law at George Mason University.[1][12]
He is a former Co-Chair of the Independent Review Group for Walter Reed Hospital and Bethesda Navy Medical Center.[2][13] He is a member of the Markle Foundation.[3] The John O. Marsh Institute for Government and Public Policy at Shenandoah University is named for him.[14]
He lives in Winchester, Virginia with his wife, together they have had three children and seven grandchildren.[1]
Electoral history
- 1962; Marsh was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 50.57% of the vote, defeating Republican James Kenneth Robinson.
- 1964; Marsh was re-elected with 69.61% of the vote, defeating Republican Roy Erickson.
- 1966; Marsh was re-elected with 59.25% of the vote, defeating Republican Edward O. McCue.
- 1968; Marsh was re-elected with 54.43% of the vote, defeating Republican Arthur Rossa Giesen, Jr. and Conservative Louis A. Brooks.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 George Mason Law biography
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Forbes profile
- 1 2 3 4 MARKLE
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Richard Halloran, 'Washington Talk - Working Profile: Army Secretary John O. Marsh Jr.; Military Leader Wins High Ground, Quietly', in The New York Times, January 03, 1989
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Bell, William Gardner (1992). "John Otho Marsh, Jr.". Secretaries of War and Secretaries of the Army. United States Army Center of Military History. CMH Pub 70-12.
- 1 2 3 4 Congress biography
- ↑ Homeland Security Policy Institute. "Who We Are". Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- 1 2 3 4 Dick Cheney, In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir, New York, NY: Threshold Editions, 2011, pp.71-72
- ↑ Annual Report of the Reserve Forces Policy Board for 2005 (PDF). Washington, DC: Department of Defense. 2006. p. 9.
- ↑ Novavax Board of Directors
- ↑ Washington Post
- ↑ George Mason course
- ↑ 'Wounds, real and political', in The Washington Times, July 2, 2007
- ↑ John O. Marsh Institute
External links
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Burr P. Harrison |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 7th congressional district 1963–1971 |
Succeeded by James Kenneth Robinson |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by Clifford L. Alexander, Jr. |
United States Secretary of the Army February 1981 – August 1989 |
Succeeded by Michael P. W. Stone |
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