Monday, August 11, 2003

Silent Service stuff - 2

A while back I wrote about the history of some of the names of US Submarines. You may remember that I was concentrating on some non-American heroes who are honored by our naval forces. As promised, here are more brief bios and references for some of the other historical Americans who now have submarines named after them. I present the John Marshall (SSBN 611), John C. Calhoun (SSBN 630), Sam Rayburn (SSBN 635), Nathaniel Greene (SSBN 636), George Bancroft (SSBN 643), George Washington Carver (SSBN 656), and Glenard P. Lipscomb (SSN 685).

John Marshall
President John Adams appointed him to the American Mission to France to aid in trade negotiations. Marshall's steadfast refusal to bow down to French demands for bribes to Tallyrand and others caused a deepening of the rift between France and the United States. Later he served in the House of Representatives, as Secretary of State, and became the fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

John C. Calhoun
American statesman and political philosopher. He served in the federal government successively as congressman, Secretary of War, Vice President, senator, Secretary of State, and again as senator.

Sam Rayburn
Known affectionately as "Mr. Sam" by his friends and colleagues, Sam Rayburn served as congressman during the administrations of eight presidents and participated in the passage of most of the significant legislation of the first half of the twentieth century. Rayburn's personal integrity was legendary: he accepted no money from lobbyists, he went on only one congressional junket in forty-eight years (he paid his own way), and he even refused travel expenses on speaking tours.

Nathaniel Greene
An American Revolutionary War general, he was second to only George Washington among the military leaders, but many consider him Washington's superior. He is noted for his triumphs against the British in North and South Carolina.

George Bancroft
Highly educated and widely travelled, George Bancroft published a famous series of volumes entitled "History of the United States". He served as Secretary of the Navy under President Polk, and was appointed minister to various european countries.

George Washington Carver
Arguably one of the greatest scientists in history, this man who was born into slavery devoted his life to helping his fellow man. His work with existing crops developed hundreds of new uses, for which he refused money for commercial exploitation, instead freely giving away the processes for the good of mankind.

Glenard P. Lipscomb
Long serving US Congressman from California.

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