Former Secretary of Defense Under Obama Dies at 68 After Suffering “Sudden Cardiac Event”

Ash Carter, Secretary of Defense under Barack Obama, died Monday night after suffering a “sudden cardiac event.”

He was 68.

“It is with deep and profound sadness that the family of former Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter shares that Secretary Carter passed away Monday evening in Boston after a sudden cardiac event at the age of 68,” his family said.

“[He] devoted his professional life to the national security of the United States and teaching students about international affairs. He was a beloved husband, father, mentor, and friend. His sudden loss will be felt by all who knew him.”

Douglas Elmendorf, the dean of the Harvard Kennedy School, called Carter’s death “so sudden and so devastating.”

“The United States and the world know Ash Carter for his lifelong efforts to serve this country, to defend the best values of this country, and to build a safer world for all people,” he wrote in a message to faculty, students and staff.

Ash Carter, who served as secretary of defense in the final two years of the Obama administration and opened military jobs to women and ended a ban on transgender people serving in the military, has died at age 68. https://t.co/GEuVNdoRCq

— The Associated Press (@AP) October 25, 2022

CBS News reported:

Carter’s career in government service spanned more than three decades under presidents from both parties across five administrations. In December 2015, when announcing that combat roles in the military would be open to women, Carter said the armed forces “must continue to benefit from the best people America has to offer. In the 21st century, that requires drawing strength from the broadest possible pool of talent.”

Months later, when announcing that transgender people would be allowed to openly serve in the military, he declared that “Americans who want to serve and can meet our standards should be afforded the opportunity to compete to do so.”

Before taking the helm of the Pentagon as defense secretary, he served as deputy secretary of defense and under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. He also held numerous roles in the private sector and at academic institutions, including as a senior executive at the Markle Foundation and senior partner at Global Technology Partners, and adviser on global affairs to Goldman Sachs.

For more than a decade he was a professor of science and international affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School. Carter also served as a physics professor at Oxford University.

From MSNBC: