Ash Carter | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2015 | |
| 25th United States Secretary of Defense | |
| In office February 17, 2015 – January 20, 2017 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Deputy | Robert O. Work |
| Preceded by | Chuck Hagel |
| Succeeded by | Jim Mattis |
| 31st United States Deputy Secretary of Defense | |
| In office October 6, 2011 – December 4, 2013 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Secretary |
|
| Preceded by | William J. Lynn III |
| Succeeded by | Christine Fox (acting) |
| Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics | |
| In office April 27, 2009 – October 5, 2011 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | John J. Young Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Frank Kendall III |
| Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs | |
| In office June 30, 1993 – September 14, 1996 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Stephen Hadley |
| Succeeded by | Jack Dyer Crouch II (2001) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ashton Baldwin Carter (1954-09-24)September 24, 1954 Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | October 24, 2022(2022-10-24) (aged 68) Boston,Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic[1] |
| Spouses |
|
| Relations | Cynthia DeFelice (sister) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | |
| Signature |  |
| Academic background | |
| Thesis | Hard processes in perturbative QCD (1979) |
| Doctoral advisor | Christopher Llewellyn Smith |
Carter announces the opening of all military occupations and positions to women Recorded December 3, 2015 | |
Ashton Baldwin Carter (September 24, 1954 – October 24, 2022) was an American government official and academic who served as the 25thUnited States secretary of defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of theBelfer Center for Science & International Affairs atHarvard Kennedy School.[3]
Carter began his career as aphysicist. After a brief experience as an analyst for theCongressionalOffice of Technology Assessment, he switched careers to public policy. He joined theKennedy School of Government atHarvard University in 1984 and became chair of the International & Global Affairs faculty.[4] Carter served asAssistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy duringPresident Clinton's first term, from 1993 to 1996, responsible for policy regarding the former Soviet states, strategic affairs, and nuclear weapons.
DuringPresident Obama's first term, he served first asUnder Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics and thenDeputy Secretary of Defense until December 2013. In February 2015, he replacedChuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense and served until the end of the Obama administration.[5] During his tenure, heended the ban of transgender officers in the military. In 2016, Carter opened all military occupations and positions to women without exception. This marked the first time in U.S. history that women with the appropriate qualifications would be allowed to serve in military roles such as infantry, armor, reconnaissance, and special operations units.[6]
For his service to national security, Carter had on five occasions been awarded the DODDistinguished Public Service Medal. He had also received theCJCSJoint Distinguished Civilian Service Award, and theDefense Intelligence Medal for his contributions to intelligence. He was posthumously awarded thePresidential Medal of Freedom in 2025 by PresidentJoe Biden.[7] Carter was author or co-author of eleven books and more than 100 articles on physics, technology, national security, and management.[8]
Ashton Baldwin Carter was born on September 24, 1954, inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania. His father is William Stanley Carter Jr., aWorld War II veteran,United States Navy neurologist and psychiatrist, and department chairman atAbington Memorial Hospital for 30 years. His mother is Anne Baldwin Carter, an English teacher.[9][10]
He has three siblings, including children's book authorCynthia DeFelice. As a child he was nicknamed Ash and Stoobie.[11][10]
Carter was raised inAbington, Pennsylvania, on Wheatsheaf Lane.[12] At age eleven, working at his first job at a Philadelphia car wash, he was fired for "wise-mouthing the owner."[13][14]
Carter was educated at Highland Elementary School (class of 1966) and atAbington Senior High School (class of 1972) in Abington. In high school, he was a wrestler, lacrosse player, cross-country runner, and president of the Honor Society.[12][15] He was inducted into Abington Senior High School's Hall of Fame in 1989.[16]
Carter attended theUniversity of Edinburgh in Scotland in 1975.[2] In 1976, Carter completed hisBachelor of Arts (BA) in his double-major ofphysics andmedieval history atYale College,summa cum laude,Phi Beta Kappa.[17] His senior thesis, "Quarks, Charm and the Psi Particle", was published in theYale Scientific Magazine in 1975.[17][18] He was also an experimental research associate atFermi National Accelerator Laboratory in 1975 (where he worked onquark research) and atBrookhaven National Laboratory in 1976.[14][19]
Carter then became aRhodes Scholar and studied at theUniversity of Oxford. He received hisDoctor of Philosophy (DPhil) intheoretical physics onHard processes in perturbative QCD in 1979 and was supervised byChristopher Llewellyn Smith.[14][20] He was a member ofSt John's College, Oxford.[21]
Carter was subsequently a postdoctoral fellow research associate in theoretical physics atRockefeller University from 1979 to 1980, studyingtime-reversal invariance anddynamical symmetry breaking.[19][22][23] He coauthored two papers onCP violations inB meson decays withA. I. Sanda, which were used as one of theoretical basis to buildB factories.[24][25][26]
Carter was then aresearch fellow at theMIT Center for International Studies from 1982 to 1984, during which time he wrote a public report assessing that the Reagan-proposed "Star Wars" initiative could not protect the U.S. from a Soviet nuclear attack.[19][22][23]
Carter taught atHarvard University, as an assistant professor from 1984 to 1986, associate professor from 1986 to 1988, professor and associate director of theCenter for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University'sJohn F. Kennedy School of Government from 1988 to 1990, and director of the center from 1990 to 1993.[19] At the Kennedy School, he became chair of the International and Global Affairs faculty andFord Foundation Professor of Science and International Affairs. He concurrently was co-director of the Preventive Defense Project of Harvard andStanford Universities.[19]
From 1993 to 1996, Carter served asassistant secretary of defense for international security policy during President Bill Clinton's first term.[27][28] He was responsible for strategic affairs, including dealing with the threat ofweapons of mass destruction elsewhere in the world, nuclear weapons policy (including overseeing the U.S. nuclear arsenal and missile defenses), the 1994Nuclear Posture Review, theAgreed Framework signed in 1994 which frozeNorth Korea'splutonium-producingnuclear reactor program,[29] the 1995 extension of theNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,[30] the negotiation of the 1996Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and the multibillion-dollarNunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program andProject Sapphire that removed allnuclear weapons fromUkraine,Kazakhstan, andBelarus.[28][31][32] Carter directed military planning during the1994 crisis overNorth Korea's nuclear weapons program.[29] In addition, he was responsible for dealing with the establishment of defense and intelligence relationships with former Soviet countries in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and its nuclear arsenal, and was chairman ofNATO's High Level Group.[14] He was also responsible for theCounter proliferation Initiative, control of sensitive U.S. exports, and negotiations that led to the deployment of Russian troops as part of theBosnia Peace PlanImplementation Force.[32]
From April 2009 to October 2011, Carter wasUnder Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, with responsibility for DOD's procurement reform and innovation agenda and completion of procurements such as theKC-46 tanker.[28] He also led the development and production of thousands of mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles, and other acquisitions.[28] He instituted "Better Buying Power", seeking smarter and leaner purchasing.[28] From October 2011 to December 2013, Carter wasDeputy Secretary of Defense, serving as the DOD's chief operating officer, overseeing the department's annual budget and its three million civilian and military personnel, steering strategy and budget through sequester, and directing the reform of DOD's national security export controls.[27][28][33] He was confirmed by Senatevoice vote for both positions.[34]
In an April 4, 2013, speech, he affirmed that the 'Shift to Asia' initiative of President Obama was a priority that would not be affected by thebudget sequestration in 2013. Carter noted thatThe Shift to Asia was principally an economic matter with new security implications. India, Australia, and New Zealand were mentioned as forthcoming security partners.[35] His Pentagon arms-control responsibilities included matters involving theSTART II,ABM, CFE, and other arms-control treaties.[36]
Carter was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the 25thUnited States secretary of defense on December 5, 2014.[37][38]
In his nomination hearing before theSenate Armed Services Committee, he said he was "very much inclined" to increase U.S. military aid to Ukraine.[39] Speaking on the Middle East, he said the U.S. must militarily ensure a "lasting defeat" ofIslamic State (ISIL) forces inIraq andSyria.[40] He also opined that the threats posed byIran were as serious as those posed by the ISIL forces.[39][40] He said he was not in favor of increasing the rate of prisoner releases fromGuantanamo Bay.[41]
Carter was approved unanimously on February 1, 2015, by theSenate Armed Services Committee. He was confirmed by the Senate on February 12 by a vote of 93–5[38][42] and sworn in by Vice PresidentJoe Biden on February 17.[43]
In May 2015, Carter warned thePeople's Republic of China to halt its rapid island-building in theSouth China Sea.[44]
In October 2015, Carter condemned Russian air strikes against ISIL and other rebel groups inSyria. On October 8, 2015, Carter, speaking at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, said he believed Russia would soon start paying the price for itsmilitary intervention in Syria in the form of reprisal attacks and casualties.[45]
A controversy arose in December 2015 when it was revealed that Carter had used a personal email account while conducting official business as Secretary of Defense.[46]
In January 2016, at Carter's direction, the Department of Defense opened all military roles to women, overriding a request by theMarine Corps to continue to exempt women from certain positions.[47] In June 2016, Carter announced thattransgender individuals would be allowed to join and openly serve in the military.[48]
From 1990 to 1993, Carter was chairman of the editorial board ofInternational Security. Previously, he held positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, theCongressional Office of Technology Assessment, andRockefeller University.[49]
In 1997, Carter and former CIA directorJohn M. Deutch co-chaired the Catastrophic Terrorism Study Group which urged greater attention to terrorism. In 1998, Carter, Deutch, andPhilip Zelikow (later executive director of the 9/11 Commission) published an article on "catastrophic terrorism" inForeign Affairs.[50] From 1998 to 2000, he was deputy toWilliam J. Perry at the North Korea Policy Review and traveled with him toPyongyang.[29] In 2001–02, he served on theNational Academy of Sciences Committee on Science and Technology for Countering Terrorism, and advised on the creation of theDepartment of Homeland Security.[51] Carter was also co-director of the Preventive Defense Project, which designs and promotes security policies aimed at preventing the emergence of major new threats to the United States.[52]
Carter had been a longtime member of theDefense Science Board and theDefense Policy Board, the principal advisory bodies to the Secretary of Defense. During the Bush administration, he was also a member of Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice's International Security Advisory Board; co-chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Policy Advisory Group; a consultant to theDefense Science Board; a member of the National Missile Defense White Team, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on International Security and Arms Control. He had testified frequently before the armed services, foreign relations, and homeland security committees of both houses of Congress.[49]
In addition to his public service, Carter was a senior partner at Global Technology Partners, focused on advising investment firms in technology and defense. He was a consultant toGoldman Sachs andMitretek Systems on international affairs and technology matters, and spoke frequently to business and policy audiences.[53] Carter served as an independent director on theGeneral Electric board of directors from 2020 until his death.[54]
He was also a member of the boards of directors of theMitre Corporation andMitretek Systems and the advisory boards ofMIT Lincoln Laboratory andDraper Laboratory. Carter was also a member of theAspen Strategy Group, theCouncil on Foreign Relations, theAmerican Physical Society, theInternational Institute for Strategic Studies, and theNational Committee on U.S.-China Relations. Carter was elected a fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was named as a Fellow in theAmerican Physical Society (Forum on Physics & Society) in 2015.[49][53]
Carter served as an honorary director on the board of directors at theAtlantic Council.[55] In April 2021, Carter joinedTanium Board of Directors.[56] From 2021, he had been a member of thePresident's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).[57] In 2021, Carter joined Shield Capital's board of Strategic Advisors.[58]
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Carter's views onIran had been perceived as hawkish.[59] In 2006, he authored a report for theCarnegie Endowment for International Peace advocating use or threat of force to prevent Iran from obtainingnuclear weapons.[59] Carter had supported diplomacy with Iran and written about methods of containing a nuclear-armed Tehran.[60]
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Carter was a supporter of the2003 invasion of Iraq, as well as an advocate of "preventative" invasions ofNorth Korea andIran.[61][62][63] In response to increased tension inUkraine, Carter considered deployment ofground-launched cruise missiles in Europe that could pre-emptively destroy Russian weapons.[64]
In January 2021, Carter, alongside all of the other living former secretaries of defense, published aWashington Post op-ed piece opposing PresidentDonald Trump's summons for military involvement in overturning the 2020 election results, and urging for a peaceful transition of power.[65]
Carter was married to Stephanie DeLeeuw Carter.[2] He had been previously married toClayton Spencer, the eighth president ofBates College, with whom he had two children, Ava and William.[66]
Carter died from aheart attack at his home in Boston, on October 24, 2022, at age 68.[67][68]
Carter received theTen Outstanding Young Americans award from theUnited States Junior Chamber in 1987.[69] For his service to national security, Carter was awarded the DOD's highest civilian medal, theDepartment of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, five times.[70] For critical liaison efforts with the chairman of theJoint Chiefs of Staff and the geographic combatant commanders, he was awarded theChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award in 2013 and theDefense Intelligence Medal for his contributions to intelligence.[70] On January 4, 2025, Carter was posthumously awarded thePresidential Medal of Freedom by PresidentJoe Biden.[7]
In addition to authoring numerous articles, scientific publications, government studies, and Congressional testimonies, Carter co-edited and co-authored 11 books:
Mr. Carter is a Democrat but not one of the core Obama loyalists, a group that includes Ms. Rice and Denis R. McDonough, the White House chief of staff.
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| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs 1993–1996 | Vacant Title next held by Jack Dyer Crouch II |
| Preceded by | Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics 2009–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Deputy Secretary of Defense 2011–2013 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of Defense 2015–2017 | Succeeded by |
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