J. William Middendorf

John William Middendorf ( born September 22, 1924 in Baltimore, Maryland ) is a former American diplomat and politician ( Republican), who served from 1974 to 1977 as Secretary of State of the United States Navy.

Middendorf, who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, his academic career began in Worcester, where he graduated in 1945 as Bachelor of Naval Science at the College of the Holy Cross; two years later, he received his Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College. In 1954 he graduated then a Master of Business Administration from New York University.

In advance of the 1964 presidential election, he was part of the campaign team of Republican candidate Barry Goldwater and served as its treasurer. He later wrote a book about this time. In " Glorious Disaster: Barry Goldwater 's Presidential Campaign And the Origins of the Conservative Movement ," he shows how the decisive defeat of the senator from Arizona was used against the Democratic incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson as the foundation for the rise of the conservative movement in the United States.

From 1965 to 1969, Middendorf treasurer of the Republican National Committee, before President Richard Nixon appointed him ambassador to the Netherlands, where he remained until 1973. After his return to the United States he was first Under Secretary of Navy Office of Defense; In 1974 he took over the office of the Secretary of the Navy, which had owned until 1947 Cabinet rank. During this time, the Marine Corps Marathon was launched, a road running between Arlington and Washington, the winner will receive a trophy named after Middendorf.

After he had worked 1977-1981 in banking, 1981, he was Permanent Representative of the United States with the rank of Ambassador to the Organization of American States. He was one of the architects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ). Since 1989 he is member of the Board of Trustees of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington.