J. William Middendorf

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J. William Middendorf
ORE
John William Middendorf (1969).jpg
Middendorf in 1969
United States Ambassador
to the European Union
In office
July 12, 1985 –February 1, 1987

Shortly after taking office in 1969, President Richard Nixon appointed Middendorf as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands. Middendorf served in this position until June 1973.

After returning to the U.S., he became Under Secretary of the Navy; not long after, Secretary John Warner moved on to become head of the Bicentennial Commission, and Middendorf was told he could expect promotion to Secretary. However, when his nomination seemed to be stalled, he discovered that Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger had a candidate of his own (information that Schlesinger had not shared with Middendorf). Whereupon, Middendorf paid a personal call on many of the senators he had worked with while he was Treasurer of the Republican Party—and soon enough he had been nominated and confirmed as Secretary of the Navy, serving until the end of the administration of President Gerald Ford. As he would later write, "Life is relationships. Politics is compromise."

During his tenure and again using his legislative contacts, Middendorf helped increase the Navy budget by 60 percent while the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force budgets remained relatively flat. Programs he championed included the Ohio-class submarine and the companion Trident missile, the Aegis surface-launched missile system (which became the Navy's longest-running construction program; the 100th Aegis-equipped ship was delivered to the U.S. Navy in 2009 and systems are now in service with five allied navies). He also championed the F/A-18 Hornet carrier-based fighter attack aircraft—which Middendorf arranged to have dubbed "Hornet," as a tribute to his Revolutionary War ancestor merchant-shipping Captain William Stone, who donated two ships to the fledgling Navy which were then renamed "Wasp" and "Hornet." Those names survived many years and many ships, but as the fleet began to shrink and as ship-naming became more political—i.e., breaking the old rules and naming ships after living politicians—there weren't enough new candidates for traditional names.

Incoming President Jimmy Carter invited Middendorf to stay on as Secretary of the Navy; however, as Middendorf noted in his 2011 memoir Potomac Fever, he told the President-elect "that it was the best job in government and therefore an insecure post for a Republican in a Democratic administration." During the Carter presidency, Middendorf was back in the private sector, as President and Chief Executive Officer of Financial General Bankshares (which he re-organized and renamed First American Bank). Next, he headed the CIA transition team (1980) for incoming President Ronald Reagan and was then named Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the Organization of American States (OAS), with the rank of Ambassador. He served in the post until 1984, when he accepted appointment as U. S. Representative to the European Community (known today as the European Union) serving until 1987.

Other pursuits and interests

In 2006, Middendorf published a book describing his work with the Goldwater campaign. Glorious Disaster: Barry Goldwater's Presidential Campaign and the Origins of the Conservative Movement details how Goldwater's campaign became the foundation of the modern Conservative movement. [6]

In 2011, he published his autobiography, Potomac Fever. [7]

He is a prolific composer of symphonies (including the Holland Symphony, presented to Queen Juliana of the Netherlands on the 25th anniversary of her ascension to the throne) and 100 marches for ships of the U.S. Navy.

Ambassador Middendorf is a member of the board of directors of the International Republican Institute. [8] He is a member of the board of trustees for The Heritage Foundation, an influential Washington, D.C.–based public policy research institute. [9]

He is also a member of the Rhode Island Society of the Sons of the Revolution and the Naval Order of the United States.

Middendorf studied stained glass production with Dutch-born expert Joep Nicolas. He is on the board of the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture.

Family

Middendorf was married to Isabelle Paine Middendorf. They had a daughter, Frances, and a son, John. [10]

Honors and awards

Domestic decorations and medals

Foreign orders, decorations and medals

Other awards

Middendorf has received the "Edwin Franko Goldman Award" from the American Bandmasters Association and is a member of the American Society of Composers and Performers (ASCAP). Other honors include:

Honorary degrees

Bibliography

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References

  1. ↑ Charles Stuart Kennedy, "Ambassador J. William Middendorf, II", The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training; Foreign Affairs Oral History Project; July 28, 1993; accessed 2024.10.31.
  2. ↑ Middlesex School Alumni Directory, 2005.
  3. ↑ Frank Lennon, "From Pearl Harbor to Beijing: Middendorf's journey through major historical events", The Providence Journal, April 15, 2024; accessed 2024.10.31.
  4. ↑ "Keynote Address on the 75th Anniversary of NROTC at Holy Cross". College of the Holy Cross. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  5. 1 2 "The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR J. WILLIAM MIDDENDORF, II" (PDF). Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. 28 July 1993. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 June 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  6. ↑ Middendorf, John William. A Glorious Disaster: Barry Goldwater's Presidential Campaign and the Origins of the Conservative Movement. New York: Basic Books, 2006. ISBN   0465045731
  7. ↑ Middendorf, John William. Potomac Fever: A Memoir of Politics and Public Service. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press, 2011. ISBN   9781591145370
  8. ↑ International Republican Institute web site, accessed July 16, 2010. Archived April 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ Heritage Foundation Board of Trustees, heritage.org Archived 2010-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ "John William Middendorf IV, 64", Arizona Daily Sun, June 27, 2024.
Government offices
Preceded by Under Secretary of the Navy
August 3, 1973 – June 20, 1974		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Secretary of the Navy
April 8, 1974 – January 20, 1977		Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to the Netherlands
July 9, 1969 – June 10, 1973		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States
1981–1985		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Ambassador to the European Union
1985–1987		Succeeded by
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