Frank Charles Carlucci III GCIH
GCIH – The Grand Cross Order of Prince Henry.
(Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique)
Carlucci was a politician and diplomat who was
the United States Secretary of Defense from 1987 until 1989. He served under
President Ronald Reagan. Carlucci was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania on October
18, 1930 and was the son of Roxanne Bacon Carlucci and Frank Charles Carlucci.
His father was of Swiss-Italian descent. Carlucci attended the Wyoming
Seminary, a Methodist college preparatory school located in the Wyoming Valley
of Northeastern Pennsylvania. He graduated in 1948 and in 1952 attended
Princeton University where he achieved an AB (Artium Baccalaureatus). Here he
roomed with Donald Rumsfeld. Note of interest an AB and a BA Baccalureate of Arts.
Baccalaureate evolved into Bachelor, of which we have of the Arts or of the
Sciences. The English word Bachelor originally referred to the person.
In 1954 -55 he went to Harvard Business School
for an MBA (Master of Business Administration).
Prior to that he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy from 1952-1954. He followed that joining the Foreign Service,
working for the State Department. In 1961, Carlucci was the second secretary of
the United States Embassy in the Congo and a covert CIA agent. While there
political rivals executed Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the
independent Congo. Later released documents demonstrated that President D.
Eisenhower, ordered his execution; however, others accomplished the deed
instead. Nevertheless, a fictionalized
film about the incident, depicted Carlucci as involved in the assassination.
Carlucci adamantly denied the claims of his involvement and succeeded through
court processes to have his name removed before the public release of the film.
Governmental positions held by Carlucci over
the years, beyond his initial military service, his primary embassy position,
and CIA operative positions were: 4th Director of the Office of
Economic Opportunity 1971-1972, United States Ambassador to Portugal 1975-1978,
13th Deputy Director of the Central, Intelligence Agency 1978-1981,
18th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense 1981-1982, 15th
United States National Security Advisor 1986-1987 and 16th United
States Secretary of Defense 1987-1989.
During his term as Ambassador to Portugal, the
people remembered him as among the winners of the November 25th Coup d’Etat.
For his role, in maintaining good relations and playing a prominent role after
the Carnation Revolution officials changed the name of the American
International School of Lisbon, to “The Carlucci American International School
of Lisbon” in his honor. It is the oldest American school in the Iberian
Peninsula.
Carlucci was married twice, his first wife was
Jean Anthony 1954-1974, and his second was Marcia Myers 1976. He had three children, two with his first
wife and one with his second. His political affiliation was republican. He died
on June 3, 2018 at the age of 87.
