John Lehman | |
|---|---|
.JPEG) Lehman in 1982 | |
| 65thUnited States Secretary of the Navy | |
| In office February 5, 1981 – April 10, 1987 | |
| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Edward Hidalgo |
| Succeeded by | Jim Webb |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Francis Lehman Jr. (1942-09-14)September 14, 1942 (age 83) Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Residence(s) | Bucks County, Pennsylvania Manhattan,New York, U.S. |
| Education | Saint Joseph's University (BS) Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (MA) University of Pennsylvania (MA,PhD) |
| Website | Official website |
John Francis Lehman Jr. (born September 14, 1942) is an Americanprivate equity investor and writer who wassecretary of the Navy (1981–1987) during theReagan administration in which he promoted the creation of a600-ship navy.[1]
Lehman is on the board of trustees for the thinktankForeign Policy Research Institute (FPRI).[2] Lehman was also, from 2003 to 2004, a member of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, commonly called the9/11 Commission, and signed policy letters produced by theProject for the New American Century. He was also an advisor to SenatorJohn McCain for the 2008 presidential race,[3] and for SenatorMitt Romney in his 2012 bid.[4]
Lehman was born inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Constance (Cruice) and John Francis Lehman, an industrial engineer and decoratedUS Navy veteran (Lieutenant Commander).[5] He graduated fromLa Salle College High School and received aB.S. ininternational relations fromSaint Joseph's University in 1964, gained aB.A. fromGonville and Caius College, Cambridge (laterelevated to a M.A.), and went on to earn aM.A. andPh.D. from theUniversity of Pennsylvania.
He is a first cousin once removed ofGrace Kelly (Princess Grace of Monaco), and is Chairman of thePrincess Grace Foundation-USA, a public charity established after Princess Grace's death to support emerging artists in film, dance, and theater. He led the American delegation to the funeral ofPrince Rainier. He and his family live inBucks County, Pennsylvania, and inManhattan. He is a long-time Republican.
Lehman was in theU.S. Air Force Reserve for three years in Cambridge and in 1968 left the Air Force Reserve and joined theUnited States Naval Reserve as anensign. He later rose to the rank ofcommander as anaval flight officer on theA-6 Intruder as a bombardier/navigator.[6] He was on the staff of theNational Security Council underHenry Kissinger.[7]
In 1977, Lehman founded the Abington Corporation, a consulting company with clients including defense companies such asNorthrop Corporation. He remained its president and director until 1981, when he was appointed byRonald Reagan to be Secretary of the Navy.[8]
As the 65th secretary, appointed by Reagan in 1981, Lehman launched the idea of building a "600-ship navy". He became Secretary of the Navy at 38, a young age of which he was conscious in his dealing with admirals. He was unique in still being a commander in the Naval Reserve and on active flight status while he was secretary. He developed a strategic concept to counter the threat of Soviet incursion into Western Europe known as the "Lehman Doctrine". The plan called for a military response to any Soviet invasion in Europe by attacking and invading the Soviet Far East along the Pacific, a much less-defended front. Forces would sever theTrans-Siberian Railway and fight westward towardMoscow.
As a naval aviator, Lehman was a massive supporter ofaircraft carrier power. His works as a lobbyist and author in the 1970s led him naturally to support a resurgence of US naval aviation under Reagan. His support for the 600-ship navy and promotion of the US Maritime Strategy are hallmarks of that, as are his reactivation of the fourIowa-classbattleships. Both the carriers and the battleships were to announce the United States' overcoming of recent Soviet potential superiority by being capable of taking a war to the Soviet Union's doorstep.
According toHedrick Smith in his bookThe Power Game, Lehman lost a fight atthe Pentagon with thedeputy secretary of defense,W. Paul Thayer, over reducing the number of future aircraft carriers planned. Lehman immediately went to theWhite House, which was unaware of Thayer's decision, and obtained a press release, declaring that Reagan had named two of the shipsUSS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) andUSS George Washington (CVN-73), which implied that Reagan had endorsed the 600-ship navy. Lehman was also instrumental in the forced retirement (from retired-retained status) of the Director of Naval Reactors (DNR), AdmiralHyman G. Rickover.[9]
Lehman sided withGeneral Dynamics after it had falsified inspection records to hide welding flaws onsubmarines and pushed a settlement that paid over 600 million dollars for what Rickover called shoddy work.[10]
Lehman reportedly engaged in a sexual act with astripper in front of 50 to 100 spectators in a hospitality suite at theTailhook Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1986,[11] and had been seen cavorting with strippers at earlier Tailhook conventions.[12] In the Department of Defense Inspector General investigation report on the 1991 Tailhook convention, Lehman is not mentioned by name in reference to the 1986 incident. When asked about the incident on May 26, 1996, byABC Television journalistsSam Donaldson andCokie Roberts, Lehman responded, "I have to say that the description is far more lurid than the fact."
Lehman resigned as SECNAV in 1987. He was then promoted to the rank ofcaptain in the US Naval Reserve in 1989 and later retired from the US Navy as a reserve officer in that rank after 30 years of service. On October 13, 2020, the US Navy announced that it was naming the nextArleigh Burke-classdestroyer after him. TheUSS John F. Lehman is under construction.
Lehman was a former investment banker withUBS AG,Paine Webber, and the president of Abington Corporation.[13] As of 2020[update], Lehman is chairman of the privateequity investment firm J. F. Lehman and Company, as well as chairman of theHawaii Superferry. Lehman is chairman of the board of OAO Technology Solutions Inc. He is also an honorary member of theFirst Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry. As of 2005[update], he is a member of a number of influential conservative Americanthink tanks, including theProject for the New American Century,The Heritage Foundation, theForeign Policy Research Institute, theCenter for Security Policy and theCommittee on the Present Danger.
After his work in the9/11 Commission in 2002, there was increased speculation that Lehman might be named to a chief security post within the Bush administration. Positions suggested includedDirector of Central Intelligence,Director of National Intelligence and secretary of defense whenDonald Rumsfeld stepped down.[citation needed] During the2008 presidential election, Lehman was named a possible secretary of defense in the case of aJohn McCain victory over the winning Democratic nominee,Barack Obama.[14]
He is currently[when?] the chairman of thePrincess Grace Foundation-USA and is a director of the OpSail Foundation. He is also a member of the board of overseers of the School of Engineering at theUniversity of Pennsylvania, and is a trustee ofLa Salle College High School.[15] He has been on the board of directors of theBall Corporation since 1987. Lehman is also an advisory board member for thePartnership for a Secure America, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recreating the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy.
On June 26, 2012, Lehman revealed to the staff of theUnited States Naval Institute and in a speech given inPortsmouth,United Kingdom, the Reagan administration secretly offered the use of the amphibious assault helicopter carrierIwo Jima as a replacement in case either of the two British carriers, theHermes and theInvincible, had been damaged or destroyed during the 1982Falklands War.[16] That revelation made headlines in theUnited Kingdom but, except for the US Naval Institute, not in the United States.[17]
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| Preceded by | United States Secretary of the Navy 1981–1987 | Succeeded by |
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