Crowe is a Naval Academy graduate (1947), a Stanford M.A. (1956), and a Princeton Ph.D. (1965). He pursued an unusual naval career path by combining political‐military assignments with command. Crowe rose through the ranks to become Commander in Chief of Pacific Command (1983). He became the first chairman to serve under the Goldwater‐Nichols Act (1986), which made the chairman the nation's principal military adviser and mandated increased cooperation among the armed services. Crowe's career spanned major events of the Cold War, and as chairman his principal contribution was to aid in decreasing American‐Soviet rivalry at the end of the Cold War.

Following the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty (1987), he developed on his own initiative military‐to‐military agreements and exchanges with his Soviet counterpart. In the Middle East, Crowe oversaw America's military responses to the hijacking of the cruise liner Achille Lauro by Palestinian terrorists (1985), hostilities with Libya (1986), the reflagging and escorting of Kuwaiti tankers in the Persian Gulf (1987), and the shootdown of an Iranian civilian airliner by the USS Vincennes (1988). After retirement, Crowe encouraged a cautious approach in dealing with Iraq's invasion of Kuwait (1990) and endorsed Bill Clinton for president (1992). He was named ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1994 and retired from that position in 1997.

Bibliography

• William J. Crowe, Jr., with David Chanoff, The Line of Fire: From Washington to the Gulf, the Politics and Battles of the New Military, 1993

Crowe, William J., Jr. (1925-) admiral, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and ambassador, born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Crowe was the deputy director of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, and the commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command (1983). Appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by President Ronald Reagan (1985-89), Crowe was the first JCS chairman to operate under the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act, which mandated greater cooperation among the services and made the JCS chairman the principal military adviser to the United States. As JCS chairman, Crowe aided in decreasing U.S.-Soviet rivalry toward the end of the Cold War. He developed military-to-military agreements and exchanges with his Soviet counterpart, and oversaw U.S. military operations in the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

William Crowe may refer to:

• William J. Crowe, former Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• William Crowe, an English poet.
• William Crowe, main character of the video game Heroes of the Pacific.

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