Bud Nance | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Deputy National Security Advisor | |
| In office January 21, 1981 – January 20, 1982 | |
| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | David L. Aaron |
| Succeeded by | Robert McFarlane |
| National Security Advisor | |
| Acting November 30, 1981 – January 4, 1982 | |
| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Richard V. Allen |
| Succeeded by | William P. Clark Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | James Wilson Nance (1921-08-20)August 20, 1921 Monroe, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | May 11, 1999(1999-05-11) (aged 77) Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Education | North Carolina State University United States Naval Academy (BS) George Washington University (MA) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1941-1979 |
| Rank | Rear Admiral |
| Commands | USSRaleigh USSForrestal |
| Battles/wars | World War II • Battle of Iwo Jima • Battle of Okinawa Korean War Vietnam War |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Medal (2) Legion of Merit |
James Wilson "Bud" Nance (August 20, 1921 – May 11, 1999) was aUnited States Navy officer who was the 10thDeputy National Security Advisor from 1981 to 1982, also briefly the actingNational Security Advisor. A childhood friend of SenatorJesse Helms, he later worked as a Congressional aide.[1]
James Wilson Nance was born inMonroe, North Carolina, on August 20, 1921.[2] He grew up two blocks away from a youngJesse Helms, born two months after him.[3] The two were lifelong friends, and played in the school band together withSkipper Bowles atMonroe High School: Helms played the tuba; Bowles, the trumpet; and Nance, the clarinet.[4] After high school, Nance attendedNorth Carolina State University and theUnited States Naval Academy inAnnapolis, Maryland, graduating in 1944.[1] He later graduated fromGeorge Washington University with a Master of Arts in international relations.[5]
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Following his graduation from Annapolis, Nance was commissioned as an ensign into theUnited States Navy later that year;[6] he saw service inWorld War II, serving onUSSNorth Carolina,[4] and fighting at theBattle of Iwo Jima, as he later reminded ambassadors regarding hardship pay for service inhardship posts.[7]
After the war, he became anaval aviator in 1946,[5] and tested jets for the Navy until the end of the 1950s,[8] flying withJohn Glenn andAlan Shepard; he also served in theKorean War and in theVietnam War.[4]
Between Korea and Vietnam, he was seconded to theRoyal Navy, serving aboardHMSBulwark, as a pilot, in the mid-1950s. On his return to the United States, in 1956, he tested theDouglas A-3 Skywarrior and its landing capabilities onUSSForrestal.[5]
In the 1960s, he commanded a carrier squadron,[8] and, from December 1968 to late 1969, USSForrestal.[9] During his time as skipper,Forrestal suffered a minor fire atNorfolk Navy Yard that injured eight.[10]
In 1970, he was attached to theNational Military Command Center, as the deputy director,[11] before becoming an aide to GeneralAlexander Haig later in the decade, during Haig's time asSupreme Allied Commander Europe.[8] He capped his naval career at the Pentagon, as assistant vice chief of naval operations.[11]
After retiring from the Navy on January 1, 1979, with the rank ofrear admiral, Nance became a consultant for the Saudi Arabian government, reorganizing theRoyal Saudi Navy. He also was a consultant for theUnited States Senate, helping Helms with the proposedSALT II treaties.[4]
Nance was sworn in asDeputy National Security Advisor on January 21, 1981, with the start of PresidentRonald Reagan's term.[12]
At the time, theUnited States National Security Council underRichard V. Allen, theNational Security Advisor, was split into four, with Major GeneralRobert L. Schweitzer heading the military quarter, and Nance above him; Nance, considered well-connected,[13] later took on Schweitzer's duties after the general's removal from the council for inopportune remarks.[14] Allen also placed him in charge of a secret effort,Operation Golden Eagle, to resolve theVietnam War POW/MIA issue by finding and releasing any men held: the first attempt failed, a second attempt was delayed, and further action was scrapped by the end of the year,[15] by which point Allen was out of the White House.
On November 29, 1981, Nance was named acting National Security Advisor,[16] after Allen took a leave of absence due to improper conduct.[17] He entered into his duties the next morning, sending President Reagan hisdaily brief.[11]
Nance, though somewhat deferential, was considered better than Allen, especially in terms of administration—though he was not perceived as a candidate for the job permanently.[18] Still, during his short tenure as acting National Security Advisor, Nance informed Vice PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush about the imposition ofmartial law in Poland,[19] and helped the Reagan administration draft a response to it.[20] He also hiredOliver North andJohn Poindexter, among others.[3]
With Allen's resignation and replacement withWilliam P. Clark Jr. on January 4, 1982, Nance ceased being the acting National Security Advisor;[21] despite the pleas of some within the White House, he was then removed as Deputy National Security Advisor on January 20, 1982, instead shifting to a lesser role as one assistant among many,[22] thoughLarry Speakes claimed that he was put in charge of certain special projects.[23]
In March 1982, he was moved out of national security entirely, and appointed the director of thePrivate Sector Survey on Cost Control, led byJ. Peter Grace.[24]
Nance soon returned to the private sector, working for theBoeing Military Airplane Company;[1] and supporting Helms,[25] even paying his filing fee in1990.[26]
In late 1991, the senator coaxed his friend out of retirement,[7] appointing him as the minority staff director for theUnited States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in January 1992, replacingJames P. Lucier and removing other aides.[27] With theRepublican Revolution in 1994, Nance became the majority staff director for Helms, now the chairman of the committee. He also worked for minimum wage, after failing in an attempt to work for nothing; he called his 38-fold pay increase in 1995 "living high off the hog".[28]
As his old friend and fellow conservative,[3] Nance had the rare ability to persuade the obstinate and obstructionist Helms to support certain measures, such as theSTART II treaty.[29] Still, the admiral came under fire: a North Carolina POW/MIA group began a national letter-writing campaign against him in 1995, claiming that, in firing Lucier and other aides, he had turned Helms away from the POW/MIA issue;[30] and the next year, whenRuth Marcus ofThe Washington Post revealed that theJesse Helms Center, of which Nance was a board member, received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the governments ofTaiwan andKuwait, as well as fromR. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company,United States Tobacco Company andMilliken & Company.[31]
Still, Nance endured; and though his health declined over time—in 1997, he suffered serious injuries in a car accident[32]—Nance, seen as the more genial gentleman to Helms's more feisty populism,[33] continued to work, often arriving at 7 am.[3]
Nance died on May 11, 1999, from complications frommyelodysplasia, at theNational Institutes of Health campus inBethesda, Maryland.[7] A few hours before his death, Senator Helms had tearfully requested prayers for Nance from his fellow senators;[34] their tributes took up 13 whole pages of theCongressional Record. He was later replaced as staff director byStephen Biegun.[35]
He is buried atArlington National Cemetery.[36]
Nance was survived by his wife, Mary Lyda and his four children.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Deputy National Security Advisor 1981–1982 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National Security Advisor Acting 1981–1982 | Succeeded by |
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| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
