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
Clayton Spencer
(divorced)
Stephanie DeLeeuw[2]
Relations
Cynthia DeFelice (sister)
Children
2
Education
Yale University (BA)
University of Edinburgh
St John's College, Oxford (DPhil)
Signature
Academic background
Thesis
Hard processes in perturbative QCD (1979)
Doctoral advisor
Christopher Llewellyn Smith
Ash Carter's voice
Ash 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 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.[3]
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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]
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. Carter was author or co-author of eleven books and more than 100 articles on physics, technology, national security, and management.[7]
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^Cite error: The named reference Belfer Center was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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^Cite error: The named reference Defense Open was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference FPRI was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Baldwin Carter, an English teacher. He has three siblings, including children's book author Cynthia DeFelice. As a child he was nicknamed Ash and Stoobie...
until 2017, when he was succeeded by former U.S. Secretary of Defense AshCarter. In the 2017 book Destined for War, Allison coined the phrase Thucydides...
2013 (2013-12-04) – May 1, 2014 (2014-05-01) President Barack Obama Preceded by AshCarter Succeeded by Robert Work Personal details Born (1955-05-26) May 26, 1955...
Deputy Secretary of Defense AshCarter as his fourth Secretary of Defense. On February 12, 2015, the Senate confirmed Carter in a 93–5 vote. The confirmation...
3 years, 341 days Field artillery John M. McHugh Leon Panetta Chuck Hagel AshCarter 39 Milley, MarkGeneral Mark A. Milley (born 1958) 14 August 2015 9 August...
2017 until his death in October 2022, the center was led by director AshCarter, former U.S. Secretary of Defense and co-director Eric Rosenbach, a former...
AshCarter Barack Obama 19 Dunford, JosephGeneral Joseph Dunford (born 1955) 1 October 2015 30 September 2019 3 years, 364 days U.S. Marine Corps Ash...
government officials, delivered remarks. In May 2023, SCSP hosted the AshCarter Exchange on Innovation and National Security attended by senior U.S. defense...
October 6, 2011 – January 20, 2017 President Barack Obama Preceded by AshCarter Succeeded by Ellen Lord Personal details Born (1949-01-26) January 26...
Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and U.S. Defense Secretary AshCarter at the Nevatim Airbase in Israel, 12 December 2016...
is really capable of turning the USA into radioactive ash." U.S. Secretary of Defense AshCarter considered proposing deployment of ground-launched cruise...
occupation specialties. It was not until 2016 that Defense Secretary AshCarter announced that all military occupations would be open to women without...
guard. Along with Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense AshCarter, she is seen as a leading supporter of defensive weapons delivery to Ukraine...
Julia Boorstin Boorstin interviewing U.S. Secretary of Defense AshCarter in July 2015 Born Julia Boorstin Alma mater Princeton University (BA) Employer...
President Donald Trump Deputy Robert O. Work Patrick M. Shanahan Preceded by AshCarter Succeeded by Mark Esper 11th Commander of the United States Central Command...
in preparation for action against the Islamic State. Defense Secretary AshCarter told the 101st Airborne that "The Iraqi and Peshmerga forces you will...
reputation. Hagel continued in post until the confirmation of his successor, AshCarter, in February 2015. In 2019 Hagel funded the annual Hagel Lecture at the...
182 days Chuck Hagel AshCarter Barack Obama 23 Deborah Lee James (born 1958) December 20, 2013 January 20, 2017 3 years, 31 days AshCarter Barack Obama -...
Fighters Michael B. Donley Deborah Lee James Leon Panetta Chuck Hagel AshCarter 21 Goldfein, David LeeGeneral David L. Goldfein (born 1959) 1 July 2016...
attempts to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. Secretary of Defense AshCarter appointed Schmidt as chairman of the DoD Innovation Advisory Board announced...
October 5, 2011 2 years, 235 days Robert Gates Leon Panetta Barack Obama 31 AshCarter October 6, 2011 December 4, 2013 2 years, 58 days Leon Panetta Chuck Hagel...
June 2014 – 10 June 2016 Chuck Hagel AshCarter Brian P. McKeon (acting) 10 June 2016 – 20 January 2017 AshCarter Theresa Whelan (acting) 20 January 2017...
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