Ash Carter

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Ashton Baldwin Carter (September 24, 1954 – October 24, 2022) was an American government official and academic who served as the 25th United States secretary of defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of the Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School.<ref name="Belfer Center"/>

Carter began his career as a physicist. After a brief experience as an analyst for the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, he switched careers to public policy. He joined the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1984 and became chair of the International & Global Affairs faculty.<ref name="Belfer Center Profile"/> Carter served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy during President Clinton's first term, from 1993 to 1996, responsible for policy regarding the former Soviet states, strategic affairs, and nuclear weapons.

During President Obama's first term, he served first as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics and then Deputy Secretary of Defense until December 2013. In February 2015, he replaced Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense and served until the end of the Obama administration.<ref name="Historical Office"/> During his tenure, he ended 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.<ref name="Defense Open"/>

For his service to national security, Carter had on five occasions been awarded the DOD Distinguished Public Service Medal. He had also received the CJCS Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award, and the Defense Intelligence Medal for his contributions to intelligence. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025 by President Joe Biden.<ref name=PMF>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Carter was author or co-author of eleven books and more than 100 articles on physics, technology, national security, and management.<ref name=FPRI/>

Early lifeEdit

Ashton Baldwin Carter was born on September 24, 1954, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father is William Stanley Carter Jr., a World War II veteran, United States Navy neurologist and psychiatrist, and department chairman at Abington Memorial Hospital for 30 years. His mother is Anne Baldwin Carter, an English teacher.<ref name=philly1994/><ref name="english"/>

He has three siblings, including children's book author Cynthia DeFelice. As a child he was nicknamed Ash and Stoobie.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="english"/>

Carter was raised in Abington, Pennsylvania, on Wheatsheaf Lane.<ref name="philly.com"/> At age eleven, working at his first job at a Philadelphia car wash, he was fired for "wise-mouthing the owner."<ref name=wlsam/><ref name="harvard.edu3"/>

EducationEdit

Carter was educated at Highland Elementary School (class of 1966) and at Abington 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.<ref name="philly.com"/><ref name=abington/> He was inducted into Abington Senior High School's Hall of Fame in 1989.<ref name=myfoxphilly/>

Carter attended the University of Edinburgh in Scotland in 1975.<ref name="cnnlibrary"/> In 1976, Carter completed his Bachelor of Arts (BA) in his double-major of physics and medieval history at Yale College, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa.<ref name=abcnews/> His senior thesis, "Quarks, Charm and the Psi Particle", was published in Yale Scientific in 1975.<ref name=abcnews /><ref name=allgov/> He was also an experimental research associate at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in 1975 (where he worked on quark research) and at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1976.<ref name="harvard.edu3"/><ref name="harvard.edu1"/>

Carter then became a Rhodes Scholar and studied at the University of Oxford. He received his Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in theoretical physics on Hard processes in perturbative QCD in 1979 and was supervised by Christopher Llewellyn Smith.<ref name="harvard.edu3"/><ref name=thesis/> He was a member of St John's College, Oxford.<ref name=rhodeshouse/>

Carter was subsequently a postdoctoral fellow research associate in theoretical physics at Rockefeller University from 1979 to 1980, studying time-reversal invariance and dynamical symmetry breaking.<ref name="harvard.edu1"/><ref name="auto1"/><ref name="harvard.edu4"/> He coauthored two papers on CP violations in B meson decays with A. I. Sanda, which were used as one of theoretical basis to build B factories.<ref name=Bfactory/><ref name=PRL1980/><ref name=PRD1981/>

Carter was then a research fellow at the MIT 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.<ref name="harvard.edu1"/><ref name="auto1"/><ref name="harvard.edu4"/>

Academic careerEdit

Carter taught at Harvard University, as an assistant professor from 1984 to 1986, associate professor from 1986 to 1988, professor and associate director of the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government from 1988 to 1990, and director of the center from 1990 to 1993.<ref name="harvard.edu1"/> At the Kennedy School, he became chair of the International and Global Affairs faculty and Ford Foundation Professor of Science and International Affairs. He concurrently was co-director of the Preventive Defense Project of Harvard and Stanford Universities.<ref name="harvard.edu1"/>

Early Department of Defense careerEdit

File:President of the United States Barack Obama delivers a press brief along with Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and General Martin Dempsey.jpg

From left, Carter, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, and President Barack Obama in 2012

File:Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter arrives in Herat, Afghanistan 130914-D-NI589-465.jpg

Carter arrives in Herat, Afghanistan, in 2013

From 1993 to 1996, Carter served as assistant secretary of defense for international security policy during President Bill Clinton's first term.<ref name="harvard.edu2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="defense.gov1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was responsible for strategic affairs, including dealing with the threat of weapons of mass destruction elsewhere in the world, nuclear weapons policy (including overseeing the U.S. nuclear arsenal and missile defenses), the 1994 Nuclear Posture Review, the Agreed Framework signed in 1994 which froze North Korea's plutonium-producing nuclear reactor program,<ref name=frontline-2003 /> the 1995 extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> the negotiation of the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and the multibillion-dollar Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program and Project Sapphire that removed all nuclear weapons from Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus.<ref name="defense.gov1" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="house.gov">"Ashton B. Carter; Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics" Template:Webarchive, US House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations</ref> Carter directed military planning during the 1994 crisis over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.<ref name=frontline-2003>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 of NATO's High Level Group.<ref name="harvard.edu3"/> He was also responsible for the Counter proliferation Initiative, control of sensitive U.S. exports, and negotiations that led to the deployment of Russian troops as part of the Bosnia Peace Plan Implementation Force.<ref name="house.gov"/>

From April 2009 to October 2011, Carter was Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, with responsibility for DOD's procurement reform and innovation agenda and completion of procurements such as the KC-46 tanker.<ref name="defense.gov1" /> He also led the development and production of thousands of mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles, and other acquisitions.<ref name="defense.gov1" /> He instituted "Better Buying Power", seeking smarter and leaner purchasing.<ref name="defense.gov1" /> From October 2011 to December 2013, Carter was Deputy 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.<ref name="harvard.edu2"/><ref name="defense.gov1" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was confirmed by Senate voice vote for both positions.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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 the budget sequestration in 2013. Carter noted that The Shift to Asia was principally an economic matter with new security implications. India, Australia, and New Zealand were mentioned as forthcoming security partners.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His Pentagon arms-control responsibilities included matters involving the START II, ABM, CFE, and other arms-control treaties.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Secretary of Defense (2015–2017)Edit

Nomination and confirmationEdit

File:Ash Carter official portrait.jpg

Carter's official portrait

Carter was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the 25th United States secretary of defense on December 5, 2014.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=SenateUP>Template:Cite news</ref>

In his nomination hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, he said he was "very much inclined" to increase U.S. military aid to Ukraine.<ref name="dionnissenbaum">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Speaking on the Middle East, he said the U.S. must militarily ensure a "lasting defeat" of Islamic State (ISIL) forces in Iraq and Syria.<ref name="losangelestimes">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He also opined that the threats posed by Iran were as serious as those posed by the ISIL forces.<ref name="dionnissenbaum"/><ref name="losangelestimes"/> He said he was not in favor of increasing the rate of prisoner releases from Guantanamo Bay.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Carter was approved unanimously on February 1, 2015, by the Senate Armed Services Committee. He was confirmed by the Senate on February 12 by a vote of 93–5<ref name=SenateUP/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden on February 17.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

TenureEdit

File:Vice President Joe Biden swears in Ash Carter as the 25th defense secretary as Carter's wife, Stephanie, looks on during a private ceremony at the White House ID17009.jpg

Vice President Joe Biden swears in Ash Carter as the 25th defense secretary as Carter's wife, Stephanie, looks on during a private ceremony at the White House.

In May 2015, Carter warned the People's Republic of China to halt its rapid island-building in the South China Sea.<ref>"Defense secretary's warning to China: U.S. military won't change operations Template:Webarchive". The Washington Post. May 27, 2015.</ref>

In October 2015, Carter condemned Russian air strikes against ISIL and other rebel groups in Syria. 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 its military intervention in Syria in the form of reprisal attacks and casualties.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In January 2016, at Carter's direction, the Department of Defense opened all military roles to women, overriding a request by the Marine Corps to continue to exempt women from certain positions.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In June 2016, Carter announced that transgender individuals would be allowed to join and openly serve in the military.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Other rolesEdit

From 1990 to 1993, Carter was chairman of the editorial board of International Security. Previously, he held positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and Rockefeller University.<ref name=factsheet>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1997, Carter and former CIA director John M. Deutch co-chaired the Catastrophic Terrorism Study Group which urged greater attention to terrorism. In 1998, Carter, Deutch, and Philip Zelikow (later executive director of the 9/11 Commission) published an article on "catastrophic terrorism" in Foreign Affairs.<ref name="fa-article">Template:Cite magazine</ref> From 1998 to 2000, he was deputy to William J. Perry at the North Korea Policy Review and traveled with him to Pyongyang.<ref name=frontline-2003 /> In 2001–02, he served on the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Science and Technology for Countering Terrorism, and advised on the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="OSDbio">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Carter had been a longtime member of the Defense Science Board and the Defense Policy Board, the principal advisory bodies to the Secretary of Defense. During the Bush administration, he was also a member of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's International Security Advisory Board; co-chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Policy Advisory Group; a consultant to the Defense 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.<ref name=factsheet/>

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 to Goldman Sachs and Mitretek Systems on international affairs and technology matters, and spoke frequently to business and policy audiences.<ref name=policydefense>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Carter served as an independent director on the General Electric board of directors from 2020 until his death.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

He was also a member of the boards of directors of the Mitre Corporation and Mitretek Systems and the advisory boards of MIT Lincoln Laboratory and Draper Laboratory. Carter was also a member of the Aspen Strategy Group, the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Physical Society, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. Carter was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was named as a Fellow in the American Physical Society (Forum on Physics & Society) in 2015.<ref name=factsheet/><ref name=policydefense/>

Carter served as an honorary director on the board of directors at the Atlantic Council.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In April 2021, Carter joined Tanium Board of Directors.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> From 2021, he had been a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2021, Carter joined Shield Capital's board of Strategic Advisors.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Defense.gov photo essay 120726-D-TT977-328.jpg

Carter at the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea
Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter, left, and former Secretary of Defense William Perry listen to former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, right, as he makes a point during a conversation at the No 121013-D-NI589-255.jpg

Carter, William Perry and former secretary of state George Shultz, October 12, 2012
SecDef Carter in Israel 2015 (19912060255).jpg

Carter meeting Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, July 21, 2015

PositionsEdit

Views on IranEdit

Carter's views on Iran had been perceived as hawkish.<ref name="timesofisraelrebecca"/> In 2006, he authored a report for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace advocating use or threat of force to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.<ref name="timesofisraelrebecca"/> Carter had supported diplomacy with Iran and written about methods of containing a nuclear-armed Tehran.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Support for military interventionsEdit

File:160720-D-GO396-470 (28360310301).jpg

Carter meeting with Mohammed bin Salman and his advisor Ahmad Asiri in 2016

File:Ashton Carter departs.jpg

Carter departing from the Pentagon on his last day in office

Carter was a supporter of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, as well as an advocate of "preventative" invasions of North Korea and Iran.<ref>"If Necessary, Strike and Destroy Template:Webarchive". The Washington Post. June 22, 2006</ref><ref>"Interview: Ashton Carter Template:Webarchive". PBS. March 3, 2003.</ref><ref>"Another victory for Bush ". The Baltimore Sun. December 24, 2003</ref> In response to increased tension in Ukraine, Carter considered deployment of ground-launched cruise missiles in Europe that could pre-emptively destroy Russian weapons.<ref>"US could potential deploy missiles in Europe to deter Russia Template:Webarchive". Deutsche Welle. June 5, 2015.</ref>

Military involvement in presidential electionsEdit

In January 2021, Carter, alongside all of the other living former secretaries of defense, published a Washington Post op-ed piece opposing President Donald Trump's summons for military involvement in overturning the 2020 election results, and urging for a peaceful transition of power.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal lifeEdit

Carter was married to Stephanie DeLeeuw Carter.<ref name="cnnlibrary"/> He had been previously married to Clayton Spencer, the eighth president of Bates College, with whom he had two children, Ava and William.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Carter died from a heart attack at his home in Boston, on October 24, 2022, at age 68.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

AwardsEdit

Carter received the Ten Outstanding Young Americans award from the United States Junior Chamber in 1987.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> For his service to national security, Carter was awarded the DOD's highest civilian medal, the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, five times.<ref name="defense.gov">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> For critical liaison efforts with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the geographic combatant commanders, he was awarded the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award in 2013 and the Defense Intelligence Medal for his contributions to intelligence.<ref name="defense.gov"/> On January 4, 2025, Carter was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden.<ref name=PMF/>

WorksEdit

In addition to authoring numerous articles, scientific publications, government studies, and Congressional testimonies, Carter co-edited and co-authored 11 books:

MX Missile Basing (1981)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Ballistic Missile Defense (1984)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Directed Energy Missile Defense in Space (1984)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Managing Nuclear Operations (1987)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Soviet Nuclear Fission: Control of the Nuclear Arsenal in a Disintegrating Soviet Union (1991)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

External linksEdit

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Preventive Defense Project Template:Webarchive
Ashton B. Carter expert profile at the Belfer Center of Harvard University
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Collected columns at Foreign Affairs magazine
Department of Defense biography

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