William J . Crowe William James Crowe , Jr . ( January 2 , 1925October 18 , 2007 ) was a United States Navy admiral who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H . W . Bush , and as the ambassador to the United Kingdom under President Bill Clinton . Early life and education . Crowe was born in La Grange , Kentucky on January 2 , 1925 . At the beginning of the Great Depression , Crowe ' s father moved the family to Oklahoma City . In June 1946 , Crowe completed a war - accelerated course of study and graduated with the Class of 1947 from the U . S . Naval Academy in Annapolis , Maryland . Career . From 1954 to 1955 , Crowe served as assistant to the naval aide of President Dwight D . Eisenhower . From 1956 to 1958 , Crowe served as executive officer of the submarine . In 1958 , he served as an aide to the deputy chief of naval operations . In 1960 , Crowe took command of , homeported in Charleston , South Carolina , and served as commanding officer of that ship until 1962 . From there , Crowe earned a master ' s degree in education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education , and then , turning down an invitation from Admiral Hyman G . Rickover to enter the Navy ' s nuclear - power course , earned an Master of Arts and a PhD in Political Science at Princeton University . During the Vietnam War he was the senior adviser to the Vietnamese Riverine Force . In 1969 , he returned to service to take command of Submarine Division 31 , homeported in San Diego , California . A long string of assignments followed : On July 10 , 1985 , Crowe was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . He continued to serve as CJCS through the Bush administration until 1989 , when he retired from active duty . He was the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to serve under the provisions of the Goldwater - Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 where he as chairman became ( not the collegial body of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ) , by statute , the principal military adviser to the president , the National Security Council , and the Secretary of Defense . In 1989 , Army General Colin L . Powell replaced him as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . Later life and death . After he retired in October 1989 , Crowe returned to the University of Oklahoma and William J . Crowe chair in geopolitics . Crowe surprised politicians when he endorsed Bill Clinton in the presidential election of 1992 . President Clinton named Crowe chairman of the President ' s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board in 1993 . In 1994 , President Clinton appointed Crowe the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom , and he served in that capacity until 1997 . He sat on the boards of Texaco , Merrill Lynch , Pfizer , Norfolk Southern Corporation , and General Dynamics . He also served on the board of Emergent BioSolutions ( then Bioport ) , a company that provided controversial anthrax vaccinations to the U . S . military in the 1990s . The deal was approved by the Clinton administration , with which Crowe had a previous relationship . At the time of his death , Crowe served as the chairman of the board of Global Options , Inc . , an international risk - management and business solutions company headquartered in Washington , D . C . As he did at the University of Oklahoma in 1990 – 91 , Crowe taught a seminar class on national security at the United States Naval Academy from 2000 to 2007 . In 2004 , Crowe was among 27 retired diplomats and military commanders who publicly said the administration of President George W . Bush did not understand the world and was unable to handle " in either style or substance " the responsibilities of global leadership . Crowe died on October 18 , 2007 , at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland at age 82 because of a heart condition . His funeral was held on October 31 , 2007 , at the Naval Academy chapel ; Bill Clinton spoke . He was buried later that day in the United States Naval Academy Cemetery . Legacy . In 2008 , a fellowship was established in Crowe ' s honor at the University of Kentucky ' s Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce to support a former member of the U . S . armed forces who — like Crowe — is shifting from military to diplomatic service . In 2009 , the International Programs Center at the University of Oklahoma established the Admiral William J . Crowe Jr . Award . This award is presented to an outstanding International and Area Studies ( IAS ) graduate every spring semester . The award recognizes an IAS student who has demonstrated high academic achievement , a commitment to public service , and a desire to pursue a career in global affairs . Personal life . Crowe was married to Shirley Grennell in 1954 . They had three children . Awards and recognition . Crowe was awarded doctor of laws ( LL . D . ) honorary degrees from numerous universities , including University of Liverpool , The George Washington University , and Knox College . In 1989 Crowe appeared in one episode of the TV sitcom " Cheers " ( Season 7 , Episode 17 " Hot Rocks " ) , where he played himself . On 1990 he was the first recipient of the Distinguished Sea Service Award of Naval Order of the United States . In 1993 Crowe published his memoirs in the book " The Line of Fire : From Washington to the Gulf , the Politics and Battles of the New Military " . Crowe received four Defense Distinguished Service Medal s and numerous military decorations from heads of state . In 1998 , the Atatürk Society of America honored Crowe with the " Atatürk Peace and Democracy Award . " Following his retirement from the Navy , he was awarded a 2000 Presidential Medal of Freedom , the United States ' highest civilian honor .