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.[8][9]
He has three siblings, including children's book author Cynthia DeFelice. As a child he was nicknamed Ash and Stoobie.[10][9]
Carter was raised in Abington, Pennsylvania, on Wheatsheaf Lane.[11] At age eleven, working at his first job at a Philadelphia car wash, he was fired for "wise-mouthing the owner."[12][13]
Education
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.[11][14] He was inducted into Abington Senior High School's Hall of Fame in 1989.[15]
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.[18] 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.[18]
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.[27] He also led the development and production of thousands of mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles, and other acquisitions.[27] He instituted "Better Buying Power," seeking smarter and leaner purchasing.[27] 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.[26][27][32] He was confirmed by Senate voice vote for both positions.[33]
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.[34] His Pentagon arms-control responsibilities included matters involving the START II, ABM, CFE, and other arms-control treaties.[35]
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.[38]
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.[39] He also opined that the threats posed by Iran were as serious as those posed by the ISIL forces.[38][39] He said he was not in favor of increasing the rate of prisoner releases from Guantanamo Bay.[40]
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[37][41] and sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden on February 17.[42]
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.[43]
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.[44]
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.[45]
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.[46] In June 2016, Carter announced that transgender individuals would be allowed to join and openly serve in the military.[47]
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.[49] From 1998 to 2000, he was deputy to William J. Perry at the North Korea Policy Review and traveled with him to Pyongyang.[28] 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.[50] 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.[51]
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.[48]
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.[52] Carter served as an independent director on the General Electric board of directors from 2020 until his death.[53]
Carter at the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea
Carter, William Perry and former secretary of state George Shultz, October 12, 2012
Carter meeting Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, July 21, 2015
Positions
Views on Iran
Carter's views on Iran had been perceived as hawkish.[58] 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.[58] Carter had supported diplomacy with Iran and written about methods of containing a nuclear-armed Tehran.[59]
Support for military interventions
Carter meeting with Mohammed bin Salman and his advisor Ahmad Asiri in 2016Carter departing from the Pentagon on his last day in office
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.[64]
Personal life
Carter was married to Stephanie DeLeeuw Carter.[2] He had been previously married to Clayton Spencer, the eighth president of Bates College, with whom he had two children, Ava and Will.[65]
Carter died from a heart attack at his home in Boston, on October 24, 2022, at age 68.[66][67]
In addition to authoring numerous articles, scientific publications, government studies, and Congressional testimonies, Carter co-edited and co-authored 11 books: