Remembering Ash Carter

Gretchen Bartlett, International & Global Affairs Area Manager, HKS; former Faculty Assistant to Ash Carter 1997-2001; former Associate Director, Preventive Defense Project 2001-2009; and former Senior Associate Director, Technology and Public Purpose Project 2017-2019

“FAREWELL, CHIEF!

Marking the seasons and life’s personal and professional milestones together with Ash Carter has been the opportunity and honor of a lifetime. 

Early on it was clear we shared a love of Maine. My first hint at this came when alongside pictures of his two beautiful children Ava and Will, I espied a lobster pull-toy perched on a shelf in his office. During a grueling first interview a quarter century ago, it was the wooden lobster which calmed my nerves. 

That pull-toy, Maine really, proved one of our few shared touchstones. He loved the ocean and so looked forward to darting from one remote island to another, family in tow, every August. 

Secretly, I looked forward to those August weeks even more — as I was finally able to take my well-earned vacation time then as well. We occasionally sent each other cards thanking one another for a good year during our summer vacations. Here is an excerpt from one I sent to him back in 2004, after a particularly hard year — a year which first brought him to my doorstep bearing a Christmas cactus in November, only to be met by my mother who noted I was not receiving visitors; and which later sent me to Bermuda in May on his frequent flyer miles for much needed healing and vitamin D:

Somehow, it’s hard for me to believe another year has come and gone and that ‘la rentrée’ is right around the corner. Sort of strange to still be on an academic calendar at 40! September will bring my first annual screening for you-know-what. Yikes! Has it really been a year of this nonsense? As I assess this past year, beyond the usual admiration for your work ethic and brilliance and sense of satisfaction I have supporting you in your pursuits, there’s a huge sense of gratitude – gratitude for being such a wonderful boss and friend through this ordeal. I simply cannot imagine how I would have fared without your continued kindness and support. I hope, some day, to be able to return the favor, in kind. But, for now, let me simply thank you for another year in your employ as well as your consideration over these months.

It is as a loving family man and friend, not as the 25th Secretary of Defense, that I shall most fondly remember him. I deeply regret never having had the opportunity to return the favor, in kind.

Sail on, Ash. Qui aime bien, taquine bien.”

Helena H. Rong, Technology and Public Purpose Fellow 2022-23

“I am extremely fortunate for having had the chance to get mentored by Sec. Ash Carter for the Technology and Public Purpose fellowship. I still remember vividly the first day I met Ash during our one-on-one meeting. It was nerve-wrecking at first to walk into his office with no idea of what to expect. But his warm welcome and the support he has shown quickly cleared away all anxieties. I remember him saying, “Let us know where you want to go and we will help you figure out how to get there!” I still remember the sense of empowerment I felt after leaving his office, and the encouragement he gave me has meant so much to this day. That being said, Ash also had a lot of points of disagreement with me regarding my work and asked really tough questions. Nonetheless, he was open to listening and engaging in a fair debate and always remembered to end the conversation with a pat on the back and cheer-leading style words of encouragement. And for me, It was always something to look forward to – to give him an update on the work in the next meeting and to exchange ideas with him on the topic of technology and public purpose that all of us cared so deeply about.

As a leader, his dedication, sense of mission, voracious curiosity, and tireless efforts in making the world a better place are deeply inspiring and infectious. And as a person, his warmth, generosity, patience to listen, willingness to help are rare and precious qualities that remind us to be genuine and keep our feet on the ground. It is an honor for me to have had such a role model in my life who exemplifies all the above qualities and who has lived up to these standards on anything he did in life. I cannot thank him enough for giving me the opportunity to become part of the TAPP family. His departure is truly a loss for our community. May we commemorate his spirit and legacy by carrying forth the visions and values he stood for. My heart goes out to his family, colleagues, friends, students, and anyone whose life has been touched by his presence.”

H. Eric Fenn Elbot, C.E.O. Veritas Scientific Corp. / HKS NEAA Board of Directors

“Ash Carter, among so many wonderful qualities mentioned by others, was a leader of authentic integrity, and personal honor and always placed America’s best interests above his own. I briefed him before his Congressional confirmation for his Under Secretary role about the various private contractor strategies in the national security acquisition and technology ‘game.’

As the Director of a national security think-tank for the IC and DoD, I had an insider networked perspective of Ash Carter’s DoD leadership. I know Ash to be the best role model of intelligently honorable public service that I have encountered since I first played the grey zone in the Jimmy Carter administration. We will greatly miss Ash’s wisdom in the China paradigm shift, but thankfully he shaped well our best Biden Team players in that realm. It was my honor to be one of the many ‘unimportant’ players whom Ash Carter always treated with dignity and respect. 

So many will miss you, Professor Carter: journey well.”

Bogdan Belei, former Fellow, Technology and Public Purpose Project, Belfer Center

“When I first started working for Secretary Carter, I was intimidated by his stature. It took me a couple months to walk into his office and feel comfortable briefing him before an interview or talking through a work product. He maintained his guard because he demanded excellence and I maintained mine to prove that I could deliver. Our relationship changed as we established rapport. He began to trust me as a confidante, which emboldened me to always offer my candid opinion and take pride in my convictions. And I began to learn more about Ash Carter.

He was honest, even when it didn’t benefit his bottom line. He didn’t tolerate nonsense, self-promotion, or selling out. He was deeply curious, even when he had already learned so much. He was ‘caught’ reading a book about bolts on a trip to a high-tech laboratory. He was truly hilarious, even when it was often at my own expense. More than once, his bellowing laughter at his own joke had me laughing along with tears streaming down my face.

But most of all, he was deeply responsible. He took all of his obligations seriously — as a partner to his wife Stephanie, as a teacher to his many students, and as a public servant to the American people. When I left Belfer, he said ‘I will always stand behind you… I want you to stay in touch with me so I can always help you.’ A self-imposed obligation. He meant it, and I believed him.

Ash was a model figure in many respects. While he had plenty more to offer this world, he sowed the seeds of decency and public purpose in both his peers and the next generation. It is now our responsibility to carry his ethos forward.”

David Ellwood, former Harvard Kennedy School Dean and Professor

“For most of his adult life, Ash saw that our people and our nations faced existential threats to our most fundamental values and even to our very existence. Fortunately, as much as anyone I have ever known, he believed and demonstrated that thoughtful, well trained people had the capacity and responsibility to face down these threats. He was a deep thinker and an aggressive doer. When he tackled an issue, he had a laser guided intensity, working to ensure he understood all the elements he possibly could, and looked at multiple strategy and plotted out possible outcomes. Others have described his exceptional almost unbelievable contributions to national security far better than I can. It is hard to imagine anyone in this most partisan of eras, who did not respect and take seriously his ideas and insights. And he would talk with anyone wise enough to genuinely seek honest answers. When Ash spoke, people listened.

I can speak personally mostly about Ash as a teacher and leader at HKS. I had the opportunity to teach policy analysis with Ash, early in our careers, and he dug into teaching students about potential Food Stamp reform as ambitiously as he did about national security and nuclear proliferation. And yes, he really did love to read physics test books to rejuvenate and relax.

I came to admire Ash as much as anyone who has ever been affiliated with the Kennedy School. Well beyond his massive individual contributions, he preached and taught and practiced the fundamental mission of the Kennedy School and the essential nature of public service. He was immensely proud of the myriad of students throughout government that he connected with, particularly in the national security domain where the Belfer Center has had so much impact throughout the years. And I have no doubt that when Dean Elmendorf asked Ash to take on leadership of the Center it was an easy sell, for it was a labor of love for a true public servant. Ash Carter is irreplaceable for the School, the nation, and the world. Fortunately, he leaves a very bright torch for those who follow.”

Gregory Treverton, former HKS colleague; former Chair, National Intelligence Council 

“It has been a sad pleasure to read the tributes to Ash, and I cannot add to them.  We were colleagues when I taught at the Kennedy School, then colleagues, though not close ones in both the Clinton and Obama administration, when I was Vice Chair and Chair of the National Intelligence Council.  Other than a wonderful intellect, what struck me about Ash were two things:  he was unfailingly good humored — as least so far as I could tell! — and his commitment to the public interest and public service was a model for all Americans.  As many people said in different ways, we were lucky to have gotten to know him and to have served with him. ”

SEE MORE STUDENT TRIBUTES HERE