Pete Dawkins

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people with the same name, see Peter Dawkins (disambiguation).
Pete Dawkins
Man in West Point Cadet uniform
Dawkins c. 1983
Personal details
Born (1938-03-08) March 8, 1938 (age 86)
Royal Oak, Michigan, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouses
Judi Wright
​
​
(m. 1962; died 2017)​
​
(m. 2019)​
EducationCranbrook School
United States Military Academy (BSc)
Brasenose College, Oxford (BA)
Princeton University (MPA, PhD)
WebsiteOfficial website
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1962–1983
Rank Brigadier General
Battles/warsVietnam War
AwardsBronze Star (2)
College football career
Dawkins c. 1959
No. 24
PositionHalfback
Personal information
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight210 lb (95 kg)
Career history
CollegeArmy (1956–1958)
High schoolCranbrook
(Bloomfield Hills, Michigan)
Career highlights and awards
College Football Hall of Fame (1975)

Peter Miller Dawkins (born March 8, 1938) is an American business executive and former

consensus All-America. After graduating from the Military Academy in 1959, he studied at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Dawkins served as an officer in the United States Army until he retired in 1983 with the rank of brigadier general. He received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Bernard W. Rogers, USA in 1983.[1][2] He was a Republican candidate for United States Senate in 1988. Dawkins has held executive positions with Lehman Brothers, Bain & Company, Primerica, and Citigroup
.

He is the only person in history to have held the titles of Brigade Commander, Football Team Captain, Class President, Star Man (top 5% of the class), Heisman Trophy winner, and Rhodes Scholar. The Thayer Hotel referred to him as the most decorated cadet in the history of the United States Military Academy.[3]

Following Johnny Lujack's death on July 25, 2023, Dawkins is the oldest surviving winner of the Heisman Trophy. He is the lone survivor among the first 27 recipients (1935–1961).

Early life, education and athletic career

Dawkins with Army in 1958

At age 11, Dawkins was successfully treated for

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. There he was an all-league quarterback, and captain of the baseball
team. He graduated from Cranbrook in 1955.

Accepted by

Life Magazine and Reader's Digest. Even before his graduation, many predicted he would make general and perhaps even be Army Chief of Staff. Playing as a halfback for head football coach Earl Blaik, Dawkins won the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award and was a consensus All-America selection in 1958. Dawkins was also an assistant captain for the hockey team. At Oxford, he won three Blues in rugby union and is credited with popularizing the overarm throw (originally called the "Yankee torpedo pass") into the lineout.[5]

West Point yearbook portrait

Dawkins graduated with a BSc from the Military Academy in 1959 with a very high class standing, and was awarded a

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University with the dissertation The United States Army and the "Other" War in Vietnam: A Study of the Complexity of Implementing Organizational Change.[7]

Military career

CPT Pete Dawkins in Vietnam, March 1966

After being commissioned from the academy and completing his tenure as a

Life Magazine[8] and participated in a segment of the U.S. Army "Big Picture" film series, "A Nation Builds Under Fire."[9] This was a short documentary reviewing United States progress in South Vietnam, narrated by actor John Wayne
.

Business career

At the conclusion of his 24-year career in the Army, Dawkins retired with the rank of brigadier general in 1983. Following his retirement from the Army, Dawkins took up a position as a partner in the

CEO of Primerica. Dawkins was a senior partner at Flintlock Capital Asset Management and is currently a senior advisor for Virtu Financial
.

Political career

Main article: 1988 United States Senate election in New Jersey

Sometime before April 1987, Dawkins established residence in Rumson, New Jersey. He ran for the U.S. Senate as a Republican against New Jersey's incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator, Frank Lautenberg, in 1988.[11] The race was notable for the negative tone that emerged from both sides and for Lautenberg's criticism of Dawkins's lack of roots in the state.[12] Dawkins lost in the general election by an eight-point margin.

Electoral history

External image
image icon Pete Dawkins on the cover of Life Magazine published on April 8, 1966. Displayed at Cover Browser.
  • United States Senate election in New Jersey, 1988[13]

References

  1. American Academy of Achievement
    .
  2. ^ Wade, Larry (July 14, 1983). "American Academy of Achievement fills Coronado with famous names" (PDF). Coronado Journal.
  3. ^ "Dawkins". The Thayer Hotel. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  4. ^ "NFF Announces 2007 Major Awards Recipients". National Football Foundation. 2007-05-17. Archived from the original on 2007-05-19. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  5. New York Times
    . Retrieved 2009-12-09.
  6. ^ a b Pete Dawkins
  7. ^ Pete Dawkins Awards
  8. ISSN 0024-3019
    . Retrieved September 6, 2020 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations. U.S. Army Audiovisual Center (1966). "A Nation Builds Under Fire". Series: Motion Picture Films From "The Big Picture" Television Program Series, number 695 (ca. 1950 - ca. 1975). National Archive identifier: 2569876. This video is also available via Internet Archive. Pete Dawkins appears with John Wayne in 13:25 and following minutes.
  10. ^ Heisman.com - Pete Dawkins
  11. ^ Staff. "Panel Formed to Back Senate Bid by Dawkins", The New York Times, April 1, 1987. Accessed September 27, 2015. "Mr. Dawkins is 48 years old and has purchased a home in Rumson."
  12. ^ Donna Cassata and Bruck Shipkowski (3 June 2013). "New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg dies at age 89". The Daily Item. Associated Press. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  13. ^ "Votes Cast for United States Senator at the General Election held November 8, 1988" (PDF). NJ.gov. Retrieved September 6, 2023.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pete Dawkins.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Class 1)
1988
 Succeeded by