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Floor Speech

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Mr. REED. Madam President, next week, the Naval War College in Newport, RI, will host the unveiling of the keel plate for the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer DDG-138, which will be named for an extraordinary American and an extraordinary Rhode Islander: Ambassador J. William Middendorf.

I won't be able to honor Ambassador Middendorf in person. So I would like to take this opportunity, along with my colleague Senator Whitehouse, to say a few words of appreciation for his contributions and public service.

Ambassador Middendorf, who now resides in the town of Little Compton, RI, was born 99 years ago, on September 24, 1924, in Baltimore, MD. He remains a person of tremendous intellect, interests, and achievement. To this day, he continues to share his strong and always interesting opinions as a frequent contributor for the Providence Journal.

I don't always agree with him, but his column always makes for a lively read, and he has been preparing an upcoming book on the way called ``On My Watch: Tyrants and Patriots.''

I would like to highlight some of Ambassador Middendorf's extensive record of achievement and patriotic accomplishments.

In the 1940s, while our Nation was at war, he served in the Navy as an engineering officer and navigator aboard the landing craft support ship USS LCS-53 and earned his bachelor of naval science from the College of the Holy Cross under the Navy's V-12 Program. After he was discharged from the Navy, he earned a bachelor of arts degree from Harvard University in 1947 and then an M.B.A. from the Stern School of Business at New York University in 1954.

Ambassador Middendorf became an investment banker and cofounded Middendorf, Colgate and Company, which became a prominent Wall Street firm, and he took on important roles in the national Republican Party.

In 1969, he left his investment firm and was appointed as U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands and continued in that position until 1973. He then served as Under Secretary of the Navy with an appointment from President Nixon.

On April 8, 1974, Ambassador Middendorf became the 62nd Secretary of the Navy, serving through the Ford administration. During his tenure as Secretary of the Navy, he championed and oversaw the development of four major Navy programs: the Ohio-class submarine program and the accompanying Trident missiles, the Aegis surface-launched missile system, the CH-53E heavy-lift helicopter for the Marine Corps, and the F/A-18 Hornet carrier-based attack aircraft.

Ambassador Middendorf is also credited with creating the famed Marine Corps Marathon. As Secretary of the Navy, he encouraged and approved the first Marine Reserve Marathon and provided replicas of the Iwo Jima statue to be used as trophies for the male and female marathon winners.

After his tenure as Secretary of the Navy, he returned to the private sector as president and chief executive officer of Financial General Bankshares, which he reorganized and renamed as First American Bank.

In 1980, Ambassador Middendorf led the CIA transition team for President Reagan's incoming administration. He was later named the U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States, a post he served in until 1984, when he accepted the appointment as U.S. Representative to the European Community, which is now known as the European Union. He served in that role until 1987.

On June 10, 2022, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced that the future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer DDG-138, now under construction at Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine, will be named the USS J. William Middendorf. The name selection follows the tradition of naming destroyers after U.S. naval leaders and heroes.

I congratulate Ambassador Middendorf on his well-deserved honor and express my gratitude to the shipbuilders and sailors who are bringing this new Arleigh Burke destroyer into the service of our Nation.

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