Crowe, William J., Jr. 1925-2007 (William James Crowe, Jr.)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born January 2, 1925, in La Grange, KY; died of cardiac arrest, October 18, 2007, in Bethesda, MD. Naval officer, national military leader, diplomat, educator, business manager, and author. Crowe (pronounced to rhyme with "now") served the U.S. Navy for more than forty years, retiring as a four-star admiral in 1989, without ever being fully accepted, it seems, by his naval colleagues. He was highly respected by almost everyone else he encountered, both in the United States and abroad. Crowe was appointed chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by President Ronald Reagan in 1985, bypassing the usual promotion process that would have included a stint as commander of his branch of service, or at least the command of a substantial fleet. In fact, Crowe had only briefly commanded one minor ship at sea, the diesel submarine Trout, and he was reportedly more popular among the other military branches than within his own. His alleged nonconformity was apparently not a trait that the Navy admired at the time. Yet Crowe's position as chair of the joint chiefs enabled him to combine his military training with a flair for diplomacy that served his country well during the declining years of the Cold War, when he was faced with sensitive situations involving Libya, Iran, and the Persian Gulf, including the accidental U.S. bombing of a civilian airliner over the Persian Gulf in 1988. He also negotiated a successful deal with his Soviet counterpart that would decrease the likelihood of accidental military confrontations with the U.S.S.R. Crowe declined an offer to continue his service under President George H.W. Bush and retired from the Navy in 1989. He then surprised some observers by accepting an appointment from President Bill Clinton as chair of the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, and he was the U.S. ambassador to the British Isles from 1994 to 1997. After that Crowe taught classes at the University of Oklahoma and the U.S. Naval Academy, and he took charge of BioPort, the only U.S.-licensed manufacturer of vaccines for the prevention of anthrax and rabies. If he had been somewhat of a maverick in his military career, Crowe cast off all the reins in retirement. He became outspoken and voluble in his criticism of U.S. political and military policy, from the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military to his perception of President George W. Bush's utter incompetence as a global leader. His patriotism and effectiveness as a leader remained untarnished, however. Crowe's service to his country earned him many military decorations, including a Legion of Merit and an Air Medal. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Clinton in 2000. Crowe related his life story in the autobiography The Line of Fire: From Washington to the Gulf, the Politics and Battles of the New Military.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

BOOKS

Crowe, William J., Jr., and David Chanoff, The Line of Fire: From Washington to the Gulf, the Politics and Battles of the New Military, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1993.

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, October 19, 2007, p. B11.

New York Times, October 19, 2007, p. C14.

Times (London, England), p. 62.

Washington Post, October 19, 2007, p. B6.