John Otho Marsh, Jr.

John Otho Marsh Jr. (August 7, 1926 – February 4, 2019) was an American politician and an adjunct professor at George Mason University School of Law. He served as the United States Secretary of the Army from 1981 to 1989, and as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia from 1963 to 1971.

Early life

Marsh was born in Winchester, Virginia. He graduated from Harrisonburg High School in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1944, during World War II, and was selected at age eighteen for Infantry Officer Candidate School (OCS) graduating as a second lieutenant of infantry in November 1945, then assigned to the Army of Occupation of Germany where he served from 1946 to 1947. He was a member of the United States Army Reserve from 1947 to 1951. He entered the Army National Guard in Virginia in 1951 and graduated from the Army's Airborne School in 1964. He retired from the army in 1976 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He fought in the Vietnam War for a month without telling his fellow soldiers he was a Congressman.

United States Secretary of the Army From 1981 to 1989, he served as the United States Secretary of the Army under President Ronald Reagan. He later served as chairman and interim CEO of Novavax, Inc., a pharmaceutical company.

Marsh was a confidant of Dick Cheney when the latter was vice president.

From 1998 to 1999, Marsh was visiting professor of ethics at the Virginia Military Institute, and adjunct professor of law at The College of William & Mary from 1999 to 2000.

In 2007, when patient conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center had become a national concern, Marsh and former Secretary of the Army Togo West were appointed by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to an independent review panel tasked to investigate medical and leadership failures. Among the panel's many recommendations was to close the aging facility and relocate medical services to what was then the National Naval Medical Center located in Bethesda, Maryland.

Marsh was also a member of the Markle Foundation.

Personal life Marsh lived in his hometown of Winchester, Virginia, with his wife; they had three children and seven grandchildren.

Marsh Jr. died on February 4, 2019, of complications from congestive heart failure in Raphine, Virginia, at the age of 92.