Andrew Jackson Goodpaster (February 12, 1915 – May 16, 2005) was an
AmericanArmyGeneral. He served as
NATO's
Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR), from July 1, 1969, and Commander in Chief of the
United States European Command (CINCEUR) from May 5, 1969, until his retirement December 17, 1974.[1] As such, he was the commander of all NATO (SACEUR) and United States (CINCEUR) military forces stationed in Europe and the surrounding regions.
During
World War II, Goodpaster commanded the 48th Combat Engineer Battalion in
North Africa and
Italy. He was awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross, the
Silver Star, and two
Purple Hearts for his service in World War II. His combat experience was cut short in January 1944, when he was severely wounded and sent back to the United States to recover. After his wounds had healed, he was assigned to the War Planning Office under General Marshall, where he served the duration of the war.
Goodpaster was seen by many as the quintessential "soldier-scholar."[2] He received a Ph.D. in politics from
Princeton University in 1950 after completing a doctoral dissertation titled "National technology and international politics."[3] He later received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Princeton in 1979. Princeton says he earned degrees in civil engineering and politics.[4]
Key assignments
Staff Secretary and Defense Liaison Officer to President Eisenhower (1954–1961)
Advisor to the Administrations of Presidents
Johnson (1963–1969),
Nixon (1969–1974), and
Carter (1977–1981)
Commander of the San Francisco District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
In 1981, when Goodpaster retired for the second time, being advanced back to four-star rank. He stayed active in retirement serving on various boards and working on his own memoirs. He died at age 90 at
Walter Reed Army Medical Center and is interred at
Arlington National Cemetery.[6][7]
Advocacy for the elimination of nuclear weapons
In his later years, Goodpaster was vocal in advocating the reduction of nuclear weapons. Later his position evolved to advocating for elimination of all nuclear weapons. In September 1994, he commented, "Increasingly, nuclear weapons are seen to constitute a nuisance and a danger rather than a benefit or a source of strength."[8] In 1996, along with General
Lee Butler and Rear Admiral
Eugene Carroll, Goodpaster co-authored a statement for the
Global Security Institute advocating the complete elimination of nuclear weapons due to their danger and lack of military utility.[9]
He served as a trustee and a chairman of the
George C. Marshall Foundation, which established the Andrew J. Goodpaster Award to honor, "American business leaders, politicians, military leaders and others who have served our nation in exemplary ways, who, like General Goodpaster, have exhibited great courage, selfless service, patriotism and leadership in their lives and careers."[10] Among the recipients have been
John P. Jumper,
Raymond T. Odierno,
Gordon R. Sullivan, and
Brent Scowcroft.
For many years in retirement, Goodpaster was a trustee of
St. Mary's College of Maryland, playing important roles in advancing the school to national prominence. A building on the school's campus, Goodpaster Hall, is named in his honor.[11]
Awards
In January 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower awarded Goodpaster the
Distinguished Service Medal for his work in the position of Staff Secretary to the President of the United States, and as Liaison Officer of the Department of Defense to the White House, 1954–1961, “for distinguished service in a position of grave responsibility.” This award was mistakenly identified in the original press release as the Medal of Freedom. Goodpaster was actually awarded the Distinguished Service Medal at this ceremony—the press release is in error. Goodpaster's copy of the press release has the words "Medal of Freedom" lined out, and "Distinguished Service Medal" written over it. As a serving US Army officer at the time, Goodpaster could not have received the Medal of Freedom, a civilian award. Eisenhower mentioned that he was amazed that the award had been kept a surprise; Goodpaster later joked that if he had known about it, the paperwork would have been correct.[12]
In 1984, President
Ronald Reagan awarded Goodpaster the
Presidential Medal of Freedom “for his contributions in the field of international affairs.” This was the first and only award of this medal to Goodpaster.[14]
Note - During and after World War II officers with temporary commissions were commissioned in the
Army of the United States (AUS) whereas permanent commissions were in the United States Army (i.e. the
Regular Army).
Works
Listed in reverse chronological order of date published:
Goodpaster, Andrew J. and Rossides, Eugene. Greece's Pivotal Role in World War II and Its Importance to the U.S. Today. Washington, D.C.: American Hellenic Institute Foundation, 2001.
Goodpaster, Andrew J. When Diplomacy Is Not Enough: Managing Multinational Military Interventions: A Report To The Carnegie Commission On Preventing Deadly Conflict. New York: Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict, 1996.
Goodpaster, Andrew J. Gorbachev and the Future of East-West Security: A Response for the Mid-Term. Atlantic Council of the United States Occasional paper, April 1989.
Goodpaster, Andrew J. et al. U. S. Policy Toward the Soviet Union. A Long-Term Western Perspective, 1987–2000. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, Lanham, MD, 1988.
National Security and Détente. Foreword by General Andrew J. Goodpaster with contributions by faculty members of the U.S. Army War College. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, Apollo Editions, 1987.
Goodpaster, Andrew J. Strengthening Conventional Deterrence in Europe: A Program for the 1980s. Westview Special Studies in International Security (
ISBN0813370787). Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1985.
Goodpaster, Andrew J. and Elliot, Lloyd. Toward a Consensus on Military Service – Report of the Atlantic Council's Working Group on Military Service. Tarrytown, New York: Pergamon Press, 1982.
Goodpaster, Andrew J. For the Common Defense. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 1977.
Goodpaster, Andrew J. Civil-Military Relations: Studies in defense policy. Washington, D.C.:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1977.
Goodpaster, Andrew J. and Huntington, Samuel P. Civil-Military Relations. University of Nebraska Press, Omaha:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Washington D.C., 1977.
Goodpaster, General Andrew J. SHAPE and Allied Command Europe In the Service of Peace and Security. 1973.
^Original citation and the corrected press release are in the Andrew J. Goodpaster Collection, Charleston, SC. Goodpaster himself was the original source for the information about the mistake and his statements were corroborated by John S. D. Eisenhower, who read the citation at the ceremony in 1961. Goodpaster's DD-214 and other official documents make no mention of the Medal of Freedom during his military career and he never wore it on his uniform. The Medal of Freedom referenced by the press release is not the current incarnation of the award; the earlier version, created by Harry Truman, was of a lower order of precedence than the Distinguished Service Medal and specific to civilian personnel. See item 3,
Executive Order 9586, 10 Fed. Reg. 8523 (July 10, 1945) and item 3,
Executive Order 10336, 17 Fed. Reg. 2957 (April 5, 1952).
Nelson, C. Richard. The Life and Work of General Andrew J. Goodpaster: Best Practices in National Security Affairs. Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.
ISBN978-1442272286.
Pickett, William B. (2003). "General Andrew Jackson Goodpaster: Managing National Security". In Anderson, David L. (ed.). The Human Tradition in America Since 1945. Wilmington, Del.: SR Books. pp. 25–46.
ISBN978-0842029438.