National Security Advisor for Vice President Gerald Ford
What position did John Otho Marsh Jr. take from Aug 1974 to 1977?
John Otho Marsh Jr . John Otho Marsh Jr . ( August 7 , 1926 – February 4 , 2019 ) was an American politician and an adjunct professor at George Mason University School of Law . He served as the United States Secretary of the Army from 1981 to 1989 , and as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia from 1963 to 1971 . Early life . Marsh was born in Winchester , Virginia . He graduated from Harrisonburg High School in Harrisonburg , Virginia . He enlisted in the United States Army in 1944 , during World War II , and was selected at age eighteen for Infantry Officer Candidate School ( OCS ) graduating as a second lieutenant of infantry in November 1945 , then assigned to the Army of Occupation of Germany where he served from 1946 to 1947 . He was a member of the United States Army Reserve from 1947 to 1951 . Marsh graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1951 , where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity . He entered the Army National Guard in Virginia in 1951 and graduated from the Armys Airborne School in 1964 . He retired from the army in 1976 with the rank of lieutenant colonel . Career . Meanwhile , in 1952 , Marsh was admitted to the Virginia Bar , and started practicing law in Strasburg , Virginia , where he served as town judge . From 1954 to 1962 , he was the town attorney in New Market , Virginia . United States Representative . He served in the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat from Virginia from 1963 to 1971 . He fought in the Vietnam War for a month without telling his fellow soldiers he was a Congressman . Marsh was the last Democrat to represent this district , which stretched from Winchester through Harrisonburg to Charlottesville . The district , which was the home district of Senators Harry Byrd Sr . and Jr. , had been moving away from its Southern Democratic roots for some time ; residents had been splitting their tickets since the 1930s even as it continued to elect conservative Democrats like Marsh . As proof of how rapidly the district was trending away from the Democrats , in his first run for the seat , Marsh only defeated Republican challenger J . Kenneth Robinson by 598 votes . Following Marshs retirement , Robinson , who by this time represented much of the districts western portion ( including the Byrds home ) in the Senate of Virginia , won the seat easily , and the 7th would be held by Republicans until it was dismantled in 1993 . Proving just how Republican this district now was , a Democrat would not cross the 40 percent mark again for 48 years , until Abigail Spanberger reclaimed the seat for the Democrats in 2018 . Ford cabinet . In 1973 , he was appointed as United States Assistant Secretary of Defense , and in January 1974 , as National Security Advisor for Vice President Gerald Ford . Under President Ford , he became Counselor to the President and held Cabinet rank . He was seen as one of Fords top advisers alongside Henry Kissinger , Donald Rumsfeld and Philip W . Buchen . United States Secretary of the Army . From 1981 to 1989 , he served as the United States Secretary of the Army under President Ronald Reagan . Marsh presided over the rebuilding of the United States Army through increases for the Army Departments budget by 30% . He supported the enhancement of special operations forces in the wake of the Operation Eagle Claw in 1979 . Marsh was involved in persuading Congress to support the deployment of the Pershing II missile system to Germany . The Pershing II deployment is usually cited as the primary reason the Soviet Union agreed to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty . At eight years and six months , Marshs tenure of the position made him the longest serving Army Secretary . Of his tenure as the Secretary of the Army , Marsh said I didnt become Secretary of the Army to go around hangdog and half ashamed , apologizing for the United States Army in Vietnam , because it needed no apologies . Later career . Marsh was then selected to serve as Chairman of the Reserve Forces Policy Board , a position he held from 1989 until 1994 . He later served as Chairman and interim CEO of Novavax , Inc. , a pharmaceutical company . He subsequently sat on its board of directors . Marsh was a confidant of Dick Cheney when the latter was Vice President . From 1998 to 1999 , Marsh was Visiting Professor of Ethics at the Virginia Military Institute , and Adjunct Professor of Law at The College of William & Mary from 1999 to 2000 . At the time of his death in 2019 he was teaching a course on Technology , Terrorism and National Security Law at George Mason University . In 2007 , when patient conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center had become a national concern , Marsh and former Secretary of the Army Togo West were appointed by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to an independent review panel tasked to investigate medical and leadership failures . Among the panels many recommendations was to close the aging facility and relocate medical services to what was then the National Naval Medical Center located in Bethesda , Maryland . Marsh was also a member of the Markle Foundation . The John O . Marsh Institute for Government and Public Policy at Shenandoah University is named for him . Personal life . Marsh lived in his hometown of Winchester , Virginia , with his wife ; they had three children and seven grandchildren . He died on February 4 , 2019 , of complications from congestive heart failure in Raphine , Virginia , at the age of 92 . Marshs son , John Rob Otho Marsh III ( born October 20 , 1955 ) , joined the U.S . Army in 1974 and served until 1996 at the rank of Major . Rob was known as medic in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu , he and SFC Don Hutchinson were trying to save the mortally wounded MSG Timothy Griz Martin , Rob was gravely wounded by a mortar attack on October 6 that killed Sgt . 1st Class Matt Rierson . Rob received the Legion of Merit , two Bronze Stars , Purple Heart , the Defense Meritorious Service Medal and the Army Meritorious Service Medal . Rob is now a clinic doctor in Middlebrook , Virginia .