Gordon R. England

Gordon England
Official portrait, 2003
29th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
In office January 4, 2006 – February 11, 2009 Acting: May 13, 2005 – January 3, 2006
President	George W. Bush Barack Obama
Secretary	Donald Rumsfeld Robert Gates
Preceded by	Paul Wolfowitz
Succeeded by	William J. Lynn III
72nd and 73rd United States Secretary of the Navy
In office October 1, 2003 – January 3, 2006
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Himself
Succeeded by	Donald C. Winter
In office May 24, 2001 – January 24, 2003
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Richard Danzig
Succeeded by	Himself
1st United States Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security
In office January 24, 2003 – October 1, 2003
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	James Loy
Personal details
Born	Gordon Richard England (1937-09-15) September 15, 1937 (age 86) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Education	University of Maryland, College Park (BS) Texas Christian University (MBA)

Gordon Richard England (born September 15, 1937) is an American politician and businessman who was the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense and twice served as the U.S. Secretary of the Navy in the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush.

Early life

England was born on September 15, 1937

, graduating with the class of 1955. Both of England's parents were of English descent.

Education

England received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1961 and an MBA from the Texas Christian University in 1975. He was a member of several fraternities including Beta Gamma Sigma (business), Omicron Delta Kappa (leadership) and Eta Kappa Nu (electrical engineering).

Career

Senate Appropriations Committee

England started his business career in 1966 at

.

By 1977 he was employed by General Dynamics Fort Worth Division where he held various posts including Director of Avionics. He was later named as the Vice President of Engineering, and later President and general manager, of General Dynamics Land Systems Division, eventually transitioning back to General Dynamics Fort Worth as Division President. England remained in that post when General Dynamics sold the Fort Worth Division to Lockheed; later becoming President of that corporation for four years.

England returned to General Dynamics as Executive Vice President of the Combat Systems Group. He served from 1997 to 2001 as Executive Vice President of General Dynamics where he had overall responsibility for Information Systems and International sectors.

England transferred from the business world to government during the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush serving in a number of key roles, having previously served as a member of the Defense Science Board.

72nd Secretary of the Navy

England was a controversial choice for

as having announced that one of his key aims in the role was the development of "futuristic weapons to counter new types of threats emerging in the post-Soviet world."

The Washington Post reports that during his time in this role "England has joined with Adm.

, chief of naval operations, in directing some of the most sweeping change the service has seen in decades." The report goes on to list the following;

• Retiring dozens of ships
• Shedding thousands of jobs,
• Consolidating Navy and Marine Corps tactical aviation forces
• Juggling crew deployments to keep some ships at sea longer
• Devising plans to surge more warships into action faster during a crisis.

By an instruction dated May 31, 2002, England directed all

.

England left the post in January 2003 for a new position within the administration.

1st Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security

On January 24, 2003, England took up his new role as Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security in the newly formed United States Department of Homeland Security. Although England's stint in this post was brief, a close associate quoted in The Washington Post states that it "broadened his exposure to the White House and his 'contact base' in Washington."

73rd Secretary of the Navy

England was recalled to once again take on the role of Secretary of the Navy after just a few months following the suicide of his nominated replacement Colin R. McMillan. England was sworn in on October 1, 2003, becoming only the second person to hold the post twice and the first to serve back-to-back terms. According to a close associate quoted in The Washington Post, England's time in the United States Department of Homeland Security had "expanded [his] view of the administration's war on terrorism", which led to a number of initiatives that he pursued in his second term at the Pentagon including stronger ties between the Navy and Coast Guard and a greater assistance to marines on the front lines in Iraq.

In June 2004, a

, during which time only three detainees had been charged and several dozen had been sent back home following diplomatic pressure from other nations. England was appointed to head the review that was conducted in secret by a panel consisting of three military officers to whom prisoners were given the chance to provide facts to support their case for release. England made clear that "The question is: Are they still threats to America? It's not guilt or innocence." As a result of this review 38 prisoners were released due to a lack of evidence that England referred to as ‘thin files’.

England was succeeded as Secretary of the Navy by Donald C. Winter.

Deputy Secretary of Defense

England was nominated as

Acting Secretary of Defense

On January 22, 2009,

Other activities and awards

England has been involved with various civic, charitable and government organizations. He was a city councilman, as well as vice-chair on the board of Goodwill Industries. He was on the USO's Board of Governors, the Defense Science Board, the Board of Visitors at Texas Christian University, and others.^[6]

He has been recognized for numerous professional and service contributions from multiple organizations such as Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Maryland; the

; the Henry M. Jackson Award and the IEEE Centennial Award.

England was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2012 for advances in digital avionics for aircraft, land, and naval platforms. He is also a member of the Naval Order of the United States.^[7]

Notes

References

• Bradley Graham, "Wolfowitz Successor Picked: Navy Secretary Is Bush's Choice for No. 2 Defense Job" The Washington Post, April 1, 2005
• William D. Hartung, "How Much Are You Making on the War, Daddy?", Bantum Books, 2003
• Rowan Scarborough, "Rumsfeld's 'Defense Inc.' Reasserts Civilian Control", The Washington Times, April 24, 2001 (requires registration)
• "US to review Guantanamo prisoners" BBC News, June 24, 2004

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gordon R. England.

• Gordon R. England, White House biography
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Government offices
Preceded by Robert B. Pirie, Jr. (acting)	United States Secretary of the Navy May 2001 – January 2003	Succeeded by Susan Livingstone (acting)
Preceded by Hansford T. Johnson (acting)	United States Secretary of the Navy October 2003 – January 2006	Succeeded by Donald C. Winter
Political offices
Preceded by New office	United States Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security January 2003 – September 2003	Succeeded by James Loy
Preceded by Paul Wolfowitz	United States Deputy Secretary of Defense January 4, 2006 – January 20, 2009	Succeeded by William Lynn