J. William Middendorf

William Middendorf
Middendorf in 1969
United States Ambassador to the European Union
In office July 12, 1985 – February 1, 1987
President	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	George S. Vest
Succeeded by	Alfred H. Kingon
10th United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States
In office July 1, 1981 – June 20, 1985
President	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Gale W. McGee
Succeeded by	Richard T. McCormack
62nd United States Secretary of the Navy
In office April 8, 1974 – January 20, 1977
President	Richard Nixon Gerald Ford
Preceded by	John Warner
Succeeded by	W. Graham Claytor Jr.
Under Secretary of the Navy
In office August 3, 1973 – June 20, 1974
President	Richard Nixon
Preceded by	Frank P. Sanders
Succeeded by	David S. Potter
United States Ambassador to the Netherlands
In office July 9, 1969 – June 10, 1973
President	Richard Nixon
Preceded by	William R. Tyler
Succeeded by	Kingdon Gould Jr.
Personal details
Born	John William Middendorf II (1924-09-22)September 22, 1924 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Died	October 24, 2025(2025-10-24) (aged 101) Fall River, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Isabelle Paine
Children	2, including John
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1944–1946
Battles/wars	World War II

John William Middendorf II (September 22, 1924 – October 24, 2025) was an American diplomat who was the 62nd Secretary of the Navy from 1974 to 1977 and the United States Ambassador to the European Union from 1985 to 1987. He wrote books and articles on politics, security, and history.

Early life

John William Middendorf II was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on September 22, 1924. He attended Gilman School and Middlesex School, where he was on the rowing team. He graduated in 1943. He was 17 when the attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II.

Education and military service

Middendorf received a Bachelor of Naval Science (BNS) degree from College of the Holy Cross in 1945. In World War II, he served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946 as engineer officer and navigator aboard USS LCS(L) 53. He was discharged from the Navy in 1946.^{[citation needed]}

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College in 1947, where he was a member of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals and the Owl Club. He also graduated from New York University's Graduate School of Business Administration, receiving an MBA degree in 1954.

Early career

Middendorf became an investment banker and in 1963 in partnership with Austen Colgate formed his own company, Middendorf, Colgate and Company (with a seat on the New York Stock Exchange). An early member of Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign, he served as treasurer of that campaign, and continued to have the same duties with the Republican National Committee from 1965 to 1969.^{[citation needed]}

Government service

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."^{[citation needed]}

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.

In 2011, he published his autobiography, Potomac Fever.

He composed eight symphonies (including the Holland Symphony, presented to Queen Juliana of the Netherlands on the 25th anniversary of her ascension to the throne) and numerous marches for Navy and Marine Corps bands.

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

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

Personal life and death

Middendorf married Isabelle Paine. They had a daughter, Frances, and a son, John. He died in Fall River, Massachusetts, on October 24, 2025, at the age of 101.

Honors and awards

Domestic decorations and medals

• Superior Honor Award, U.S. Department of State, 1974
• Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, 1975; bronze palm (second award), 1976
• Navy Distinguished Public Service Award, 1976
• American Campaign Medal
• Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two battle stars
• World War II Victory Medal
• Navy Occupation Medal with "ASIA" clasp
• China Service Medal

Foreign orders, decorations and medals

• Grand Officer of Order of Orange-Nassau, The Netherlands, 1985
• Order of the Arab Republic of Egypt – Rank A (highest foreign decoration) by President Sadat
• Grand Officer of the Order of Naval Merit – Republic of Brazil, 1974
• Naval Distinguished Service Medal, Brazil, 1976

Other awards

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

• Hudson River Museum Honoree, Hudson River Museum, 2009
• Maritime Security Lifetime Excellence Award, 2002
• Arleigh Burke Award – Navy League of the United States, 1998
• Ludwig von Mises Free Market Award – 1985
• Distinguished Service Award, Purdue University Band
• Gold Medal, The Netherlands Society of the Sons of American Revolution
• Medal of Honor, Midwest National Band and Orchestra Association
• Alumnus of the Year, New York University Graduate School of Business
• Association of Harvard Clubs of American Award (Music) (Keogh Award)
• NYU Eugene Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service (1989)
• American Friends of Turkey Leadership Award, 1989
• Presidential Physical Fitness Award, 1990
• Distinguished Patriot Award, SAR of State of New York, 1975
• Award of Merit, Art League of Virginia (Portrait of Del), 1996
• U.S. Olympic Committee Gold Shield Award
• Gold Medal, Holland Society of New York, 1996
• American Bandmasters Association Edwin Franko Goldman Award
• American Music Award, Harvard Clubs

Honorary degrees

• Troy State University – Doctor of Law
• School of the Ozarks – Doctor of Letters
• American Christian College – Doctor of Letters
• Francisco Marroquin University – Doctor of Social Sciences

Bibliography

• J. William Middendorf II (October 23, 2006). A Glorious Disaster: Barry Goldwater's Presidential Campaign and the Origins of the Conservative Movement. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-04573-0. https://archive.org/details/gloriousdisaster00midd. 
• J. William Middendorf II (October 15, 2020). The Great Nightfall: How We Win The New Cold War. Heritage Harbor Foundation. ISBN 978-0917012112. https://www.thegreatnightfall.com/. Retrieved October 17, 2020. 

External links

• 2942202/ J. William Middendorf at the Internet Movie Database
• American paintings & historical prints from the Middendorf collection, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF)
• Lars Larson Interview – Is the next Cold War on the horizon? (2020)