John O. Marsh Jr. | |
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| 14thUnited States Secretary of the Army | |
| In office January 30, 1981 – August 14, 1989 | |
| President | Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Clifford Alexander Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Michael P. W. Stone |
| Counselor to the President | |
| In office August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977 Serving with Robert Hartmann,Rogers Morton | |
| President | Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | Anne Armstrong Dean Burch Kenneth Rush |
| Succeeded by | Edwin Meese (1981) |
| Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs | |
| In office April 17, 1973 – February 15, 1974 | |
| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | Rady A. Johnson |
| Succeeded by | John M. Maury |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's7th district | |
| In office January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1971 | |
| Preceded by | Burr Harrison |
| Succeeded by | Kenneth Robinson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1926-08-07)August 7, 1926 Winchester, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | February 4, 2019(2019-02-04) (aged 92) Raphine, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic (Before 1980s) Republican (1980s–2019) |
| Education | Washington and Lee University (LLB) |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1944–1947 (Active) 1947–1951 (Reserve) 1951–1976 (Guard) |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Unit | United States Army Reserve Army National Guard |
| Battles/wars | Allied-occupied Germany Vietnam War |
John Otho Marsh Jr. (August 7, 1926 – February 4, 2019) was an American politician and an adjunct professor atGeorge Mason University School of Law.[1][2][3] He served as theUnited States Secretary of the Army from 1981 to 1989, and as a member of theUnited States House of Representatives fromVirginia from 1963 to 1971.[1][4]
Marsh was born inWinchester,Virginia. He graduated fromHarrisonburg High School inHarrisonburg, Virginia.[5][6] He enlisted in theUnited States Army in 1944, duringWorld 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 ofGermany where he served from 1946 to 1947.[4][5][7] He was a member of theUnited States Army Reserve from 1947 to 1951.[5]
Marsh graduated fromWashington and Lee University in 1951, where he was a member ofPhi Kappa Psi fraternity.[1][5][8] He entered theArmy National Guard in Virginia in 1951 and graduated from the Army'sAirborne School in 1964.[9] He retired from the army in 1976 with the rank oflieutenant colonel.[5]
Meanwhile, in 1952, Marsh was admitted to the Virginia Bar, and started practicing law inStrasburg, Virginia, where he served as town judge.[5] From 1954 to 1962, he was the town attorney inNew Market, Virginia.[5]
He served in theUnited States House of Representatives as aDemocrat fromVirginia from 1963 to 1971.[1][2][3][4][5][6][10] He fought in theVietnam War for a month without telling his fellow soldiers he was a Congressman.[4]
Marsh was the last Democrat to represent this district, which stretched fromWinchester throughHarrisonburg toCharlottesville. The district, which was the home district of SenatorsHarry Byrd Sr. andJr., had been moving away from its Southern Democratic roots for some time; residents had been splitting their tickets since the 1930s even as it continued to elect conservative Democrats like Marsh. As proof of how rapidly the district was trending away from the Democrats, in his first run for the seat, Marsh only defeated Republican challengerJ. Kenneth Robinson by 598 votes.
Following Marsh's retirement, Robinson, who by this time represented much of the district's western portion (including the Byrds' home) in theSenate of Virginia, won the seat easily, and the 7th would be held by Republicans until it was dismantled in 1993. Proving just how Republican this district now was, Marsh would be the last Democrat to win even 40 percent of the district's vote before it was dismantled.
In 1973, he was appointed asUnited States Assistant Secretary of Defense, and in January 1974, as National Security Advisor for Vice PresidentGerald Ford.[1][2][10] Under President Ford, he becameCounselor to the President and held Cabinet rank.[1][2][4][6][10] He was seen as one of Ford's top advisers alongsideHenry Kissinger,Donald Rumsfeld andPhilip W. Buchen.[11]
From 1981 to 1989, he served as theUnited States Secretary of the Army under PresidentRonald Reagan.[1][2][3][4][6]
Of his tenure as the Secretary of the Army, Marsh said "I didn't become Secretary of the Army to go around hangdog and half ashamed, apologizing for the United States Army in Vietnam, because it needed no apologies."[9]
Marsh was then selected to serve as chairman of theReserve Forces Policy Board, a position he held from 1989 until 1994.[12] He later served as chairman and interim CEO ofNovavax, Inc., a pharmaceutical company.[1][2] He subsequently sat on its board of directors.[13]
Marsh was a confidant ofDick Cheney when the latter was vice president.[10][14]
From 1998 to 1999, Marsh was visiting professor of ethics at theVirginia Military Institute, and adjunct professor of law atThe College of William & Mary from 1999 to 2000.[1] At the time of his death in 2019 he was teaching a course on technology, terrorism and national security law at George Mason University.[1][15]
In 2007, when patient conditions atWalter Reed Army Medical Center had become a national concern, Marsh and former Secretary of the ArmyTogo West were appointed by Secretary of DefenseRobert Gates to an independent review panel tasked to investigate medical and leadership failures. Among the panel's many recommendations was to close the aging facility and relocate medical services to what was then theNational Naval Medical Center located inBethesda, Maryland.[9][2][16]
Marsh was also a member of theMarkle Foundation.[3] The John O. Marsh Institute for Government and Public Policy atShenandoah University is named for him.[17]
Marsh lived in his hometown of Winchester, Virginia, with his wife; they had three children and seven grandchildren.[1] His son, John "Rob", served as a U.S. Army medic during the1993 Battle of Mogadishu and received theLegion of Merit, twoBronze Stars,Purple Heart, theDefense Meritorious Service Medal and theArmy Meritorious Service Medal.[18]
Marsh Jr. died on February 4, 2019, of complications fromcongestive heart failure inRaphine, Virginia, at the age of 92.[19]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's 7th congressional district 1963–1971 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs 1973–1974 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Counselor to the President 1974–1977 Served alongside:Robert T. Hartmann,Rogers Morton | Succeeded by Ed Meese (1981) |
| Preceded by | ||
| Preceded by | ||
| Preceded by Percy Pierre (Acting) | United States Secretary of the Army 1981–1989 | Succeeded by |
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