BOSTON-(MaraviPost)-The Former Defense secretary of US government Ashton Carter, who served under former President Barack Obama, had died shortly after suffering a heart attack.
Carter’s family made the announcement on Tuesday, October 25, in a statement describing the fallen hero’s death as too sudden.
Carter, who went to Yale University and was a Rhodes scholar, joined the Department of Defense under former President Bill Clinton. He served as under secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics from 2009 to 2011 and deputy secretary of defense from 2011 to 2013, Reuters reported.
In December 2014, he was nominated to replace Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense and was confirmed, 93-5, by the Senate in February 2015.
He joined the Belfer Center at Harvard University’s Kennedy School after leaving the government, serving as its director the past five years. He had taught at the Kennedy School in the 1980s, prior to joining the U.S. government.
He oversaw the Defense Department’s weapons purchases from 2009 to 2011 when he led a major restructuring of the F-35 fighter jet program, Reuters reported.
Carter also made significant changes to the Department of Defense (DoD) in the country such as the opening all military occupations to women without exception for the first time. About 10% of positions were still closed to women at the time of the announcement in 2016.
In his tribute, President Joe Biden, who swore in Carter as defense secretary while he was vice president, called him “a great American of the utmost integrity.”
The former president Barack Obama, in his eulogy described Carter’s greatest legacy as a lesson to the young people that he taught, mentored, and inspired to protect the nation and wield power wisely.
Ashton Carte is survived by his wife, Stephanie, and his children, Ava and Will.
