John Otho Marsh , Jr . John Otho Marsh , Jr . ( born August 7 , 1926 ) is 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 United States House of Representatives from Virginia from 1963 to 1971 . Biography . John Otto Marsh , Jr . was born in Winchester , Virginia , on August 7 , 1926 and 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 . He graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1951 . He entered the Army National Guard in Virginia in 1951 and graduated from the Army ' s Airborne Infantry School in 1964 . Meanwhile , in 1952 , he 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 . 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 . In 1973 , he was appointed as Assistant Secretary of Defense , and in January 1974 , as National Security Advisor for then - Vice President Gerald Ford . Under President Ford , he became Counsellor to the President and held Cabinet rank . From 1981 to 1989 , he served as the United States Secretary of the Army under President Ronald Reagan . 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 , a pharmaceutical company . He still sits on its Board of Directors . He was a confidant of Dick Cheney when he was Vice President . From 1998 to 1999 , he 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 . He now teaches a course on Technology , Terrorism and National Security Law at George Mason University . He is a former Co - Chair of the Independent Review Group for Walter Reed Hospital and Bethesda Navy Medical Center . He is a member of the Markle Foundation . The John O . Marsh Institute for Government and Public Policy at Shenandoah University is named for him . He lives in Winchester , Virginia with his wife , together they have had three children and seven grandchildren . Electoral History . 1962 . Marsh was elected to the U . S . House of Representatives with 50 . 57 % of the vote , defeating Republican James Kenneth Robinson . 1964 . Marsh was re - elected with 69 . 61 % of the vote , defeating Republican Roy Erickson . 1966 . Marsh was re - elected with 59 . 25 % of the vote , defeating Republican Edward O . McCue . 1968 . Marsh was re - elected with 54 . 43 % of the vote , defeating Republican Arthur Rossa Giesen , Jr . and Conservative Louis A . Brooks .