Ralph E. Williams (October 21, 1917 - September 4, 2009) was born at
Pecos, Texas
Pecos ( ) is the largest city in and the county seat of Reeves County, Texas, Reeves County, Texas, United States. It is in the valley on the west bank of the Pecos River at the eastern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert, in the Trans-Pecos region of ...
and earned a B.B.A. at the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
in 1938.
In June 1941 Williams was commissioned an ensign in the
United States Navy Reserve
The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...
but would transfer to the regular active duty Navy in 1943. He was present on Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, during the Japanese attack. For the duration of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Williams served in the
Pacific theater
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
at
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...
and
Tarawa
Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati ''
Naval War College
The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associa ...
and later served as assistant to the
Chief of Naval Operations
The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the highest-ranking officer of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an Admiral (United States), admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the United States Secretary ...
and the
United States Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the United States Department of the Navy, Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On Mar ...
.
From 1958 to 1961, Williams was a member of
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...
's
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
staff as assistant to Eisenhower's Naval aide, Captain Evan P. Aurand. It was during this period that Williams (also working as a speechwriter) and
Malcolm Moos
Malcolm Charles Moos (April 19, 1916 – January 28, 1982) was an American political scientist, speechwriter, and academic administrator. He was a professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University for two decades. As a speechwriter, Moos ...
coined the term " military-industrial complex" that Eisenhower used in his farewell address.James C. Humes. ''My fellow Americans: Presidential Addresses That Shaped History''. Greenwood Publishing Group: 1992. Pg. 198
Following his departure from the White House, Williams was assigned to the Naval Supply Center at Pearl Harbor, where he served as comptroller until he retired in 1965 with the rank of captain. After his retirement he entered civil service and worked under the mineral resources secretary for the
United States Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation ...
. By the time he retired from public service in 1982, Williams was staff assistant to the director of the
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...