J. William Middendorf

J. William Middendorf

John William Middendorf II (born September 22, 1924) is a former Republican United States diplomat.

John William Middendorf II received a Bachelor of Naval Science degree from College of the Holy Cross in 1945. In World War II he served in the Navy (1944-1946) as engineer officer and navigator aboard USS LCS(L) 53, being mustered out in 1946. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College in 1947, where he was a member of the Owl Club. He also graduated from New York University's Graduate School of Business Administration, receiving an M.B.A. in 1954. He became an investment banker and in 1963 in partnership with Austen Colgate formed his own company, Middendorf, Colgate and Company (with a seat on the New York Stock Exchange). An early member of Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign, he served as treasurer of that campaign, and continued to have the same duties with the Republican National Committee from 1965–1969, when Richard Nixon appointed him ambassador to the Netherlands, where he served until 1973. After returning to the U.S., he became Under Secretary, then Secretary of the Navy from 1974–1977, and was President and Chief Executive Officer of Financial General Bankshares from 1977-1981. In 1981 he was named Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the Organization of American States, with the rank of Ambassador. During his time as the Secretary of the Navy, he oversaw the creation of the Marine Corps Marathon, and the trophy for the winner is named in his honor. He was one of the architects of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Middendorf In 2006 he published a book describing his work with the Goldwater campaign. Glorious Disaster: Barry Goldwater's Presidential Campaign and the Origins of the Conservative Movement details how Goldwater's campaign became the foundation of the modern Conservative movement. In 2011 he published his autobiography, Potomac Fever. He is a member of the board of trustees for the Heritage Foundation, an influential Washington, D.C.-based public policy research institute.

He is a prolific composer of symphonies (including Holland Symphony, presented to Dutch Queen Juliana on the 25th anniversary of her ascension to the throne) and 100 marches.

Ambassador Middendorf is a member of the board of directors of the International Republican Institute.