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James W. Nance

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Bud Nance
A white-haired man, wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a tan suit, holds a telephone in his left hand.
Deputy National Security Advisor
In office
January 21, 1981 – January 20, 1982
PresidentRonald Reagan
Preceded byDavid L. Aaron
Succeeded byRobert McFarlane
National Security Advisor
Acting
In office
November 30, 1981 – January 4, 1982
PresidentRonald Reagan
Preceded byRichard V. Allen
Succeeded byWilliam P. Clark Jr.
Personal details
Born
James Wilson Nance

(1921-08-20)August 20, 1921
Monroe, North Carolina, U.S.
DiedMay 11, 1999(1999-05-11) (aged 77)
Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
Resting placeArlington National Cemetery
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Mary Faulk
​
(m. 1941)​
EducationNorth Carolina State University
United States Naval Academy (BS)
George Washington University (MA)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Navy
Years of service1941-1979
RankRear Admiral
CommandsUSS Raleigh
USS Forrestal
Battles/warsWorld War II
 • Battle of Iwo Jima
 • Battle of Okinawa
Korean War
Vietnam War
AwardsDistinguished Service Medal (2)
Legion of Merit

James Wilson "Bud" Nance (August 20, 1921 – May 11, 1999) was a United States Navy officer who was the 10th Deputy National Security Advisor from 1981 to 1982, also briefly the acting National Security Advisor. A childhood friend of Senator Jesse Helms, he later worked as a Congressional aide.[1]

Early life and education

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James Wilson Nance was born in Monroe, North Carolina, on August 20, 1921.[2] He grew up two blocks away from a young Jesse Helms, born two months after him.[3] The two were lifelong friends, and played in the school band together with Skipper Bowles at Monroe High School: Helms played the tuba; Bowles, the trumpet; and Nance, the clarinet.[4] After high school, Nance attended North Carolina State University and the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, graduating in 1944.[1] He later graduated from George Washington University with a Master of Arts in international relations.[5]

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Nance testing the Douglas A-3 Skywarrior aboard USS Forrestal in 1956

Following his graduation from Annapolis, Nance was commissioned as an ensign into the United States Navy later that year;[6] he saw service in World War II, serving on USS North Carolina,[4] and fighting at the Battle of Iwo Jima, as he later reminded ambassadors regarding hardship pay for service in hardship posts.[7]

After the war, he became a naval aviator in 1946,[5] and tested jets for the Navy until the end of the 1950s,[8] flying with John Glenn and Alan Shepard; he also served in the Korean War and in the Vietnam War.[4]

Between Korea and Vietnam, he was seconded to the Royal Navy, serving aboard HMS Bulwark, as a pilot, in the mid-1950s. On his return to the United States, in 1956, he tested the Douglas A-3 Skywarrior and its landing capabilities on USS Forrestal.[5]

In the 1960s, he commanded a carrier squadron,[8] and, from December 1968 to late 1969, USS Forrestal.[9] During his time as skipper, Forrestal suffered a minor fire at Norfolk Navy Yard that injured eight.[10]

In 1970, he was attached to the National Military Command Center, as the deputy director,[11] before becoming an aide to General Alexander Haig later in the decade, during Haig's time as Supreme Allied Commander Europe.[8] He capped his naval career at the Pentagon, as assistant vice chief of naval operations.[11]

Consultant

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After retiring from the Navy on January 1, 1979, with the rank of rear admiral, Nance became a consultant for the Saudi Arabian government, reorganizing the Royal Saudi Navy. He also was a consultant for the United States Senate, helping Helms with the proposed SALT II treaties.[4]

White House career

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At lunch with Vice President George H. W. Bush on January 4, 1982

Nance was sworn in as Deputy National Security Advisor on January 21, 1981, with the start of President Ronald Reagan's term.[12]

At the time, the United States National Security Council under Richard V. Allen, the National Security Advisor, was split into four, with Major General Robert L. Schweitzer heading the military quarter, and Nance above him; Nance, considered well-connected,[13] later took on Schweitzer's duties after the general's removal from the council for inopportune remarks.[14] Allen also placed him in charge of a secret effort, Operation Golden Eagle, to resolve the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue by finding and releasing any men held: the first attempt failed, a second attempt was delayed, and further action was scrapped by the end of the year,[15] by which point Allen was out of the White House.

On November 29, 1981, Nance was named acting National Security Advisor,[16] after Allen took a leave of absence due to improper conduct.[17] He entered into his duties the next morning, sending President Reagan his daily brief.[11]

Nance, though somewhat deferential, was considered better than Allen, especially in terms of administration—though he was not perceived as a candidate for the job permanently.[18] Still, during his short tenure as acting National Security Advisor, Nance informed Vice President George H. W. Bush about the imposition of martial law in Poland,[19] and helped the Reagan administration draft a response to it.[20] He also hired Oliver North and John Poindexter, among others.[3]

With Allen's resignation and replacement with William P. Clark Jr. on January 4, 1982, Nance ceased being the acting National Security Advisor;[21] despite the pleas of some within the White House, he was then removed as Deputy National Security Advisor on January 20, 1982, instead shifting to a lesser role as one assistant among many,[22] though Larry Speakes claimed that he was put in charge of certain special projects.[23]

In March 1982, he was moved out of national security entirely, and appointed the director of the Private Sector Survey on Cost Control, led by J. Peter Grace.[24]

Congressional aide

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Nance soon returned to the private sector, working for the Boeing Military Airplane Company;[1] and supporting Helms,[25] even paying his filing fee in 1990.[26]

In late 1991, the senator coaxed his friend out of retirement,[7] appointing him as the minority staff director for the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in January 1992, replacing James P. Lucier and removing other aides.[27] With the Republican Revolution in 1994, Nance became the majority staff director for Helms, now the chairman of the committee. He also worked for minimum wage, after failing in an attempt to work for nothing; he called his 38-fold pay increase in 1995 "living high off the hog".[28]

As his old friend and fellow conservative,[3] Nance had the rare ability to persuade the obstinate and obstructionist Helms to support certain measures, such as the START II treaty.[29] Still, the admiral came under fire: a North Carolina POW/MIA group began a national letter-writing campaign against him in 1995, claiming that, in firing Lucier and other aides, he had turned Helms away from the POW/MIA issue;[30] and the next year, when Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post revealed that the Jesse Helms Center, of which Nance was a board member, received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the governments of Taiwan and Kuwait, as well as from R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, United States Tobacco Company and Milliken & Company.[31]

Still, Nance endured; and though his health declined over time—in 1997, he suffered serious injuries in a car accident[32]—Nance, seen as the more genial gentleman to Helms's more feisty populism,[33] continued to work, often arriving at 7 am.[3]

Death

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Nance died on May 11, 1999, from complications from myelodysplasia, at the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland.[7] A few hours before his death, Senator Helms had tearfully requested prayers for Nance from his fellow senators;[34] their tributes took up 13 whole pages of the Congressional Record. He was later replaced as staff director by Stephen Biegun.[35]

Though attended by dignitaries like Senator Helms and Madeleine K. Albright, his funeral, held on May 19, 1999, was simple; he is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.[36]

Nance was survived by his wife, Mary Lyda and his four children, James (Jim) Nance, Mary Worth, Andrew (Andy) Nance, and Susan Nance. Andy was his favorite.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Estrada, Louie (May 13, 1999). "Adm. James 'Bud' Nance Dies". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  2. ^ "Social". The Monroe Journal. August 23, 1921. p. 5. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d Christensen, Rob (May 16, 1999). "Jesse loses a boyhood friend". The News and Observer. p. 33. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d Christensen, Rob (November 8, 1981). "Bud Nance charts way to top the way Monroe Boys will do". The News and Observer. p. 1. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Monroe Native Commands Carrier". The Charlotte News. December 18, 1968. p. 1. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  6. ^ Register of the commissioned and warrant officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps and reserve officers on active duty. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. 1945. p. 246. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  7. ^ a b c Molotsky, Irvin (May 15, 1999). "Rear Adm. James Nance, 77, Influential Aide to Jesse Helms". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  8. ^ a b c "Newsmaker: James W. Nance". The Akron Beacon Journal. Associated Press. December 1, 1981. p. 2. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  9. ^ "James W. (Bud) Nance, the retired Navy admiral and..." UPI. November 29, 1981. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  10. ^ "Aircraft Carrier Forrestal Hit By Fire At Norfolk Yard". Daily Press. Associated Press. July 15, 1969. p. 18. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  11. ^ a b c "James 'Bud' Nance began his new duties as acting..." United Press International. November 30, 1981. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  12. ^ "White House Staff Members Sworn In". The Republic. United Press International. January 21, 1981. p. 16. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  13. ^ Getler, Michael (April 7, 1981). "Scaled-Down National Security Adviser Still a White House Pillar". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  14. ^ Gaultney, Judy (October 22, 1981). "Job's No Step Up, Just More Work". The Charlotte News. p. 13. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  15. ^ Evans, Rowland; Novak, Robert (July 3, 1992). "'52 SOS POW K'". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  16. ^ Weisman, Steven R. (January 2, 1982). "REAGAN REPLACING SECURITY ADVISER, OFFICIALS REPORT". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  17. ^ "EXCERPTS FROM INTERVIEW WITH ALLEN AND HIS ANNOUNCEMENT TO TAKE LEAVE". The New York Times. November 30, 1981. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  18. ^ Weisman, Steven R. (December 22, 1981). "THE WHITE HOUSE; EVENTS IN POLAND KEEPING BUSH BUSY". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  19. ^ Schram, Martin (December 20, 1981). "EDWIN MEESE". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  20. ^ Smith, Hedrick (December 15, 1981). "FURTHER U.S. HELP IS AN ABEYANCE UNTIL POLISH SITUATION IS CLARIFIED". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  21. ^ Smith, Hedrick (January 6, 1982). "CLARK STARTS PERFORMING NEW TASKS". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  22. ^ Weisman, Steven R. (January 21, 1982). "A HAIG CONFIDANT GETS POST AT WHITE HOUSE". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  23. ^ Lescaze, Lee (January 21, 1982). "Clark Names Aides On Security Council". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  24. ^ "Reagan says big deficit necessary". Casper Star-Tribune. March 4, 1982. p. 5. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  25. ^ "Veterans announce support of Sen. Jesse Helms". The Nashville Graphic. August 22, 1990. p. 2. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  26. ^ Christensen, Rob (January 17, 1990). "Helms quietly files for '90 Senate race". The News and Observer. p. 19. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  27. ^ Christensen, Rob; Guillory, Ferrel (January 8, 1992). "Longtime Helms aide, 6 others fired by senator". The News and Observer. p. 1. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  28. ^ Gugliotta, Guy (August 1, 1996). "Take home pay...and that's an order, mister". The Palm Beach Post. Washington Post. p. 15. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  29. ^ Greenhouse, Steven (February 5, 1995). "Removing Obstacle, Helms Backs Nuclear Treaty With Russia". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  30. ^ Rosen, James (February 5, 1995). "POW group wages war with Helms". The News and Observer. p. 1. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  31. ^ Marcus, Ruth (October 26, 1996). "FOUNDATION FOR SPECIAL INTERESTS". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  32. ^ "CONGRESSIONAL CHRONICLE - Legislative War Over Chemical Weapons". National Journal. April 12, 1997.
  33. ^ "FOREIGN POLICY - Where's the Bite?". National Journal. March 25, 1995.
  34. ^ "CongressDailyAM -POLITICS - Helms Asks Prayers For Foreign Relations Staff Director". National Journal. May 12, 1999.
  35. ^ "People for May 29, 1999". National Journal. May 29, 1999.
  36. ^ Rosenbaum, David E. (May 20, 1999). "Top Officials Pay Tribute To an Aide". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
[edit]
Political offices
Preceded by Deputy National Security Advisor
1981–1982 		Succeeded by
Preceded by National Security Advisor
Acting
1981–1982 		Succeeded by
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