Daniel O . Graham Daniel O . Graham ( April 13 , 1925 – December 31 , 1995 ) was a U . S . Army officer . Graham was born in Portland , Oregon and grew up in Medford . He attended college at the United States Military Academy at West Point , the army ' s Command and General Staff College , and graduated in 1946 . He also attended the U . S . Army War College and ultimately rose to the rank of lieutenant general in the United States Army . Graham served in Germany , Korea , and Vietnam and received several decorations including some of the highest the United States military bestows : the Distinguished Service Medal , the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters , and the Distinguished Intelligence Medal during his distinguished 30 year military career . History . From 1963 - 1966 , Graham worked for the CIA in the Office of National Estimates . During the Vietnam war from 1967 - 1968 he was chief of the army ' s military intelligence estimates . Graham served again in the Office of National Estimates during 1968 - 1971 , then served as director of collections for the Defense Intelligence Agency in 1971 . During 1973 - 1974 Graham served as deputy director of the CIA under Director William Colby and from 1974 - 1976 he was the director of the DIA . Ronald Reagan called upon General Graham to be his military advisor for his 1976 and 1980 campaigns . General Graham is a member of the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame . In later years , Graham devoted a lot of time to the research and development of Single - Stage To Orbit ( SSTO ) spacecraft in conjunction with NASA . McDonnell Douglas was awarded a contract to build an SSTO test vehicle on August 16 , 1991 , and named it the DC - X for Delta Clipper Experimental . The name honored the firm ' s successful Thor / Delta rocket and recalled the famous 19th - century commercial clipper ships . The McDonnell Douglas SSTO team saw the Delta Clipper as opening the " space trade routes in the same way that the Yankee Clipper ships opened the sea trade routes . " The needs of the commercial launch industry thus were integral to the thinking of the McDonnell Douglas DC - X team . General Graham envisioned the DC - X as the perfect inexpensive launch and delivery vehicle for his proposed Brilliant Pebbles space - based ballistic missile defense shield . The first test launch of the DC - X was on August 18 , 1993 . The test flight verified flight control systems and vertical landing capabilities and was deemed a success after reaching a 46 m altitude in a 59 second flight . The second flight on 1993 September 11 , 1993 tested ascent and landing mode control and ground effects survey , reaching 92 m in a 66 second flight . The third test flight on September 30 , 1993 demonstrated 180 degree roll and provided aerostability data while reaching 370 m during 57 second flight . Unfortunately , this marked the last test of first series as the vehicle was mothballed when SDIO funding ran out . On June 20 , 1994 , the DC - X rose once again for the first flight of second series after additional SDIO funding was received . Operating with a full propellent load , the flight tested the radar altimeter in control loop and reached an altitude of 870 m during a 136 second flight . Demonstrating an unplanned event on June 27 , 1994 , the DC - X became the first unmanned vehicle to save itself when an in - flight abort occurred after a gaseous hydrogen explosion . The vehicle demonstrated autoland its capabilities after reaching an altitude of 790 meters during a 78 - second flight . After repairs were made , the DC - X continued expansion of the flight envelope on May 16 , 1995 , demonstrating constant angle of attack after reaching an altitude of 1330 m during a 124 second flight . Graham was elated and continued to work closely with the program . Graham would not live to see the full glory of the DC - X program . He died in December 1995 . On Friday , June 7 , 1996 at White Sands , New Mexico , the second series vehicle designated DC - XA was successfully launched . It flew to a height of 485 meters ( 1 , 600 ft ) and then moved horizontally 105 meters ( 350 ft ) before safely landing . After that flight , NASA officials announced that the DC - XA had been renamed the " Clipper Graham . " The next day , June 8 , 1996 , to demonstrate the quick - turnaround capability of the rocket , the Clipper Graham soared into the skies over the old White Sands Missile Range to a height of 3 , 120 meters ( 10 , 300 ft ) and stayed in the air for over two minutes before landing . That flight was the highest and longest the vehicle had ever flown until then . Robert A . Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Graham and eight of the other members of the Citizens ' Advisory Council on National Space Policy . Political activism . Graham was chairman of the American Space Frontier Committee , the Coalition for the Strategic Defense Initiative , and in 1978 he became co - chairman of the Coalition for Peace through Strength . After retiring from the army , Graham ' s goal was to promote a defense against nuclear weapons . The father of seven , said he felt it was unconscionable to fail to protect the American public against nuclear attack . Also , as a student of military history , he was keenly aware that no weapon was abandoned until a defense made the weapon obsolete . In 1981 Graham founded High Frontier , Inc . , a private organization that promotes a kinetic - energy weapons approach to space - based defense with help from members of President Ronald Reagan ' s " Kitchen Cabinet " . According to Graham , he is considered by most to be the actual originator of the Strategic Defense Initiative concept . However , the plan as put forward by Reagan also included an emphasis on directed energy technologies such as lasers and particle beams , in addition to the cheaper , " off the shelf " kinetic energy technologies promoted by Graham and High Frontier . The Strategic Defense Initiative Organization was renamed by President Bill Clinton to the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization on May 13 , 1993 and continues today . He was also a member of the American Freedom Coalition and was vice chairman of the U . S . Council for World Freedom , and served on the advisory board of a Unification Church sponsored anticommunist association , CAUSA - USA . Quote From Ronald Reagan . " As you know , Dan , you and I were talking about missile defense before you set up High Frontier in September of ' 81 . . . You and a small group of dedicated , determined people helped us move the SDI concept over all the roadblocks put up by people of less vision and belief in American capacity . God bless you ! " — President Ronald Reagan , March 1993 Death . He died of prostate cancer at his home in Arlington , Virginia on Sunday , December 31 , 1995 at the age of 70 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors .