Record details
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For me, America’s greatest strength is in its unique system of public education. Unlike the aristocracies of Europe, our founding fathers aspired to create a country in which anyone, regardless of wealth or family name, could rise up in society through their own energy, determination and hard work. They created a system of public education as the cornerstone that would enable any American to exercise his or her unalienable rights to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
As a college freshman riding a bus from Mineola to Tyler Junior College every day, I didn’t have many profound thoughts about public education and what it could mean for my future. I worried more about being 94 pounds, 5’6” tall and 15 years old in classes with football players and World War II veterans coming to school on the G.I. bill. I just hoped none of them would beat me up. I helped some of the athletes with their homework and older veterans also looked out for me.
TJC had very strong academic programs that set it apart. TJC Dean E.M. Potter and teachers like Eileen Brandenburg took me under their wings and became mentors and friends. TJC prepared me well for the University of Texas at Austin. I graduated from UT just in time for the Korean War and as a prime candidate for the draft, I decided to be a “draft dodger” by attending the Navy’s Officer Candidate School. I planned to fulfill my three year military obligation and then get on with my life. I was commissioned at age 20 and was given opportunities at a young age that most never have in a lifetime. At 22, I was stationed in Paris on a Joint Staff. By age 41, I was Director of Naval Intelligence. President Ford appointed me as the youngest Three Star Admiral in peacetime history to be Vice Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 1976.
With the changes in administration and political parties, I thought my career might be affected, but President Carter appointed me Director of the National Security Agency. My final assignment as a Naval Officer came from President Reagan as Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence. Along with that job I got my fourth star. I retired from the Navy and began my civilian career in July 1982.
In 1984 Secretary of State George Shultz asked me to chair a committee on security threats to our embassies and I agreed as long as it would be non-partisan. The bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut gave it urgency. Although I hate that our embassies no longer look like the ones I was stationed at, I am proud that our recommendations were implemented and as a result, no U.S. citizen has ever been killed in a U.S. Embassy built to our specifications.
My wife, Nancy, is an active hiker who makes sure I stay active and fit. It seems like I am busier than ever but I have no complaints. I have been blessed in so many ways and I count TJC as one of those blessings. It amazes me when I see the kinds of outstanding people that have come out of East Texas, and I still have lifelong friends from the Tyler area. Vice Admiral Howie Greer and Temple Inland Products CEO Jack Sweeny, are still both good friends who also are TJC alums. TJC gave us a good start on the way to our chance at the American dream. I believe that education is still that pathway to a better life and that TJC and other public colleges and universities (especially those with a Longhorn mascot!), help build brighter futures for us all.
- Biography
- TJC Hero and Friend Admiral Bobby R. Inman has received awards and recognitions too long to list but among those awards is the TJC Alumni Association’s Black and Gold Award. Admiral Inman currently serves as the Interim Dean of the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin where he also holds the LBJ Centennial Chair in National Policy. Sunday, April 26, 2009 Volume 131, Number 35 By Bob Inman
