Andrew Goodpaster

Andrew Jackson Goodpaster (February 12, 1915 – May 16, 2005) was an American Army General. He served as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR) from July 1, 1969 and Commander in Chief of the United States European Command (CINCEUR) from May 5, 1969 until his retirement December 17, 1974. As such, he was the commander of all NATO (SACEUR) and United States (CINCEUR) military forces stationed in Europe and the surrounding regions.

General Goodpaster returned to service in June 1977 as the 51st Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York until he retired again in July 1981.

Career
Goodpaster's entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1935, followed in 1939 by a commission as a second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers after graduating second in his class of 456. After serving in Panama he returned to the U.S. in mid-1942 and, in 1943, attended a wartime course at the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

During World War II, Goodpaster commanded the 48th Engineer Combat Battalion in North Africa and Italy. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, and two Purple Hearts for his service in World War II. His combat experience was cut short in January 1944, when he was severely wounded and sent back to the United States to recover. After his wounds had healed, he was assigned to the War Planning Office under General Marshall, where he served the duration of the war.

Goodpaster was seen by many as the quintessential "soldier-scholar". At Princeton University he earned an M.S. in Engineering and an M.A. in 1949 and then earned a Ph.D. in International Affairs, also from Princeton, in 1950.

Key assignments

 * Staff Secretary and Defense Liaison Officer to President Eisenhower (1954–1961)
 * Advisor to the Administrations of Presidents Johnson (1963–1969), Nixon (1969–1974), and Carter (1977–1981)
 * Commander of the San Francisco District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
 * 8th Infantry Division in Germany (1961–1962)
 * Director of the Joint Staff, Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1966–1967
 * Commandant of the National War College, 1967–1968
 * Deputy Commander of the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) (1968–1969)
 * Commander-in-Chief of USEUCOM and Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Forces (1969–1974).

First retirement
After retiring in 1974, he served as senior fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and taught at The Citadel. His book, For the Common Defense was published in 1978. He was brought back to active duty as superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy (1977–1981) after a notorious cheating scandal in 1976. Although he had retired with the rank of General (four star), he served as superintendent with the rank of Lieutenant General (three star), since that billet carries that rank.

Second retirement and later years
In 1981, when Goodpaster retired for the second time, he reverted to the four-star rank.

In his later years, Goodpaster was vocal in advocating the reduction of nuclear weapons. In September 1994, he commented, “Increasingly, nuclear weapons are seen to constitute a nuisance and a danger rather than a benefit or a source of strength.” In 1996, along with General Lee Butler and Rear Admiral Eugene Carroll, Goodpaster co-authored a statement for the Global Security Institute advocating the complete elimination of nuclear weapons due to their danger and lack of military utility.

Awards

 * In 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower awarded Goodpaster the Medal of Freedom for his work in the position of Staff Secretary to the President of the United States, and as Liaison Officer of the Department of Defense to the White House, 1954–1961, “for distinguished service in a position of grave responsibility.” Correction: Goodpaster was actually awarded the Distinguished Service Medal at this ceremony—typographical error on citation. Goodpaster's copy of the citation has the words "Presidential Medal of Freedom" lined out, and Distinguished Service Medal written over it. As a serving US Army officer at the time, Goodpaster could not have received the Medal of Freedom.
 * At General Goodpaster’s first retirement in 1974, President Gerald Ford awarded him the Defense Distinguished Service Medal.
 * In 1984, President Ronald Reagan awarded Goodpaster the Presidential Medal of Freedom “for his contributions in the field of international affairs.” This was the first and only award of this medal to Goodpaster.
 * In 1992, he received the United States Military Academy Association of Graduates’ Distinguished Graduate Award.