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Townsend Hoopes

2025-08-24T12:31:29Z

2A02:8012:227B:0:48AD:4F2C:D7BA:F0B0: - Category:American people of the Vietnam War + Category:United States government officials of the Vietnam War

{{Short description|American historian and government official (1922–2004)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Townsend Hoopes
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1922|04|28}}
| birth_place = [[Duluth, Minnesota]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|09|20|1922|04|28}}
| death_place = [[Baja California]], Mexico
| resting_place = [[Arlington National Cemetery]]
| other_names = Tim Hoopes
| occupation = Historian, government official
| years_active =
| spouse = Marion Schmidt<br>Ann Merrifield
| children = 3
| known_for = [[United States Under Secretary of the Air Force|Under Secretary of the Air Force]] (1967–1969)
| notable_works =
| alma_mater = [[Yale College]], [[National War College]]
| awards = [[Bancroft Prize]] (1974)
}}
'''Townsend Walter Hoopes II''' (April 28, 1922 – September 20, 2004) was an American [[historian]] and government official, who reached the height of his career as [[United States Under Secretary of the Air Force|Under Secretary of the Air Force]] from 1967 to 1969.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48970-2004Sep24.html| title=Townsend Hoopes Dies; Wrote About Vietnam| author= Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb| newspaper=Washington Post | date= September 25, 2004 }}</ref>

==Biography==
{{refimprove|section|date=November 2024}}
Hoopes, known as Tim, was born in [[Duluth, Minnesota]]. He graduated from [[Phillips Academy]] before attending [[Yale College]], where he became a member of the [[Skull and Bones]] society.<ref name="robbins">{{cite book | author=Robbins, Alexandra | author-link=Robbins, Alexandra | title=Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power | publisher=[[Little, Brown]] | location=Boston | year=2002 | isbn=0-316-72091-7 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/secretsoftombsku00robb }}</ref>{{rp|188}} He served as captain of the [[1943 Yale Bulldogs football team]],<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/yale1964/page/n35/mode/2up |magazine=Yale Football Media Guide |title=Year By Year Scores: 1943 |page=69 |date=1964 |accessdate=November 26, 2024 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> graduating in 1944. Later, he graduated from the [[National War College]] as well.

Hoopes married twice. His first marriage to Marion Schmidt ended in divorce. They had two sons together: Townsend Walter Hoopes III and Peter Schmidt Hoopes. His second marriage to Ann Merrifield lasted 40 years, until his death. They had a daughter together: Andrea Hoopes DeGirolamo. He also had four stepchildren: Lise Jeantet, Cecily Hoopes Lyons, Briggs Swift Cunningham IV, and F. Thomas B.C. Hoopes. Additionally, he had 11 grandchildren including a grandson bearing his name, Hunter Townsend Hoopes.

Hoopes died in 2004 from complications of [[melanoma]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/10/politics/10hoopes.html| title=Townsend Hoopes, 82, Author Who Wrote About Vietnam, Dies| author= WOLFGANG SAXON| date=October 10, 2004| work=The New York Times}}</ref>

==Career==
During [[World War II]], he served as a [[United States Marine Corps|Marine]] [[Lieutenant]] in the [[Pacific War|Pacific theater]] of the war, participating in the [[U.S. 5th Marine Division]] capture of [[Battle of Iwo Jima|Iwo Jima]] and the initial [[occupation of Japan]]. Afterwards, he became assistant to the chairman of the [[House Armed Services Committee]] from 1947 to 1948. He continued as staff aide to three [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretaries of Defense]]: [[James Forrestal]], [[George Marshall|General George Marshall]] and [[Robert A. Lovett]] from 1948 to 1953.

He then went on to work in the private sector for a number of years, spending 7 years as partner of an international consulting firm: Cresap, McCormick and Paget.

In 1964, he returned to public service as Deputy Assistant [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] for [[international relations|International affairs]]. From 1965 to 1967, he was Principal Deputy for International Security Affairs at the [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]].

Serving as Under Secretary of the Air Force at the Pentagon from 1967 to 1969, he witnessed firsthand the effect of the 1968 [[Tet Offensive]] and [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]'s subsequent decision to de-escalate the war in [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]].

After leaving the government, he became fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars for two years. From 1973 to 1986, Hoopes was president of the [[Association of American Publishers]].

In a telephone conversation between [[Richard Nixon]] and [[Charles Colson]], taped on July 1, 1971, Colson relates the news that Lyndon Johnson privately believed that Hoopes had played a role in releasing the [[Pentagon Papers]] to the press, and that he would have liked to see Hoopes taken to court by the government alongside various newspapermen. A 1996 article in The New York Times said that the Pentagon Papers had demonstrated, among other things, that the Johnson Administration "systematically lied, not only to the public but also to Congress."

Hoopes also became co-chairman of Americans for [[Strategic Arms Limitation Talks|SALT]], director of the [[American Committee on U.S. Soviet Relations]], and a distinguished international executive at the [[University of Maryland, College Park]]. In 2002, he became senior fellow of [[Washington College]].

From the mid-1980s to 1995, Hoopes and his wife ran [[Hoopes Troupe]], a charitable amateur singing group that performed around [[Washington, D.C.]], including at the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]].

==Awards==
* 1974 [[Bancroft Prize]]

==Bibliography==
Hoopes was a prolific writer of books and articles. His 1969 book [https://books.google.com/books?id=2ksrRdhYyBsC ''The Limits of Intervention''] ({{ISBN|0-393-30427-2}}) is the most widely known. The book deals with the period from 1965 to President Johnson's March 31, 1968 speech ordering a partial bombing halt and announcing that he would not run for re-election. As well as serving as Hoopes's memoir, the book offered an insider's view of the post-Tet Offensive decision-making within the Pentagon, especially that of Secretary of Defense [[Clark M. Clifford]]. The book described how the Tet Offensive undermined the support within the government and the country for the strategy of [[strategic bombing|aerial bombardment]] and ground search-and-destroy missions, fostering instead the view that further escalation of the war was futile. (In a [[Washington Post]] article a year later, he acknowledged "that the Tet Offensive was not the shattering military defeat for the U.S. and South Vietnamese forces it appeared to both Washington and the American people.")

''The Limits of Intervention'' also made clear that, from the end of 1965 on, Hoopes favored a change in the Johnson administration's Vietnam policy: "As 1965 came to an end, I had become a great deal more skeptical about the U.S. performance in Vietnam -- about the validity of our stated purposes, the official assessment of the problems we faced, and our ability to control events." (p. 43)

His other writings include:
* ''The Devil and John Foster Dulles'' (1973), received [[Bancroft Prize]], {{ISBN|0-316-37235-8}}
* ''Eye Power'' (1979), written with his wife, {{ISBN|0-394-50023-7}}
* ''Townsend Hoopes on Arms Control'' (1987), a collection of his essays and speeches, {{ISBN|0-8191-6622-7}}
* {{cite book| title=Driven Patriot: The Life and Times of James Forrestal| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Wrk2s4lsv4C| year=1992|author=Townsend Hoopes |author2=[[Douglas Brinkley]] | publisher=Naval Institute Press | isbn=1-55750-334-6 }}
* {{cite book| title=FDR and the Creation of the U.N.| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OztJcfbnpDsC|author=Townsend Hoopes |author2=[[Douglas Brinkley]] | year= 2000| publisher=Yale University Press | isbn= 978-0-300-08553-2 }}
* ''A Textured Web'' (2002), fiction, {{ISBN|1-4010-5401-3}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{C-SPAN|48955}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-gov}}
{{succession box|
before=[[Norman S. Paul]]|
title=[[United States Under Secretary of the Air Force]]|
after=[[John L. McLucas]]|
years=September 1967 – February 1969
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoopes, Townsend}}
[[Category:1922 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:Phillips Academy alumni]]
[[Category:Yale University alumni]]
[[Category:Members of Skull and Bones]]
[[Category:National War College alumni]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps officers]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:United States government officials of the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:Writers from Duluth, Minnesota]]
[[Category:Bancroft Prize winners]]
[[Category:20th-century American historians]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Historians from Minnesota]]
[[Category:Deaths from melanoma]]

William H. Keith Jr.

2025-08-24T11:23:17Z

2A02:8012:227B:0:48AD:4F2C:D7BA:F0B0: - Category:People of the Vietnam War + Category:United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War

{{Short description|American writer and game designer born 1950}}
{{Other people|William Keith}}
{{BLP sources|date=December 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2013}}

{{Infobox writer
| name = William H. Keith Jr.
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1950|08|8}}
| occupation = Novelist
| nationality = American
| genre = Military fiction<br>Science fiction
}}

'''William H. Keith''' (born August 8, 1950) is an [[Americans|American]] [[author]] mainly contributing to [[military science fiction]] and [[military fiction]] and related [[game design]], who writes also under several pen names, such as '''Ian Douglas''', '''Robert Cain''' and '''H. Jay Riker'''. His newer original works are written under the name of Ian Douglas.

==Early life==
William H. Keith grew up with his brother [[J. Andrew Keith]].<ref name="designers"/>

William H. Keith served in the [[United States Navy]] as a [[hospital corpsman]] from 1969 to 1972 during the [[Vietnam War]] era.

==Career==
William H. Keith Jr. and his brother [[J. Andrew Keith]] noticed ads in ''[[Journal of the Travellers Aid Society]]'' which announced that [[Game Designers' Workshop]] (GDW) was looking for authors; [[Loren Wiseman]] hired them to start freelancing for GDW in 1978 or 1979, and the three worked together on a lot of the early material for the ''[[Traveller (role-playing game)|Traveller]]'' universe.<ref name="designers">{{Cite book |last=Shannon Appelcline |title=Designers & Dragons |publisher=[[Mongoose Publishing]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-907702-58-7}}</ref>{{rp|56}} William Keith also contributed heavily to the graphical appearance of that era of ''Traveller'' releases.<ref name="designers" />{{rp|56}} The Keith brothers began earning enough money that they were able to do freelance work full-time beginning around 1979.<ref name="designers" />{{rp|56}} The Keith brothers began working for [[FASA]] by the end of 1980, with William Keith contributing artwork for the magazine ''[[High Passage]]'' beginning in 1981.<ref name="designers" />{{rp|119}} FASA began publishing adventures for ''Traveller'' beginning with ''[[Ordeal by Eshaar]]'' (1981) by the Keith brothers, who then wrote the "Sky Raiders" trilogy (1981-1982) for FASA.<ref name="designers" />{{rp|119}} William Keith designed the role-playing game ''[[Behind Enemy Lines (role-playing game)|Behind Enemy Lines]]'' (1982), the first RPG set in the 1940s.<ref name="designers" />{{rp|120}} FASA ended its support of ''Traveller'' in 1983, so the Keith brothers continued writing for ''Traveller'' with the new company [[Gamelords]], but continued to work for FASA on other projects.<ref name="designers" />{{rp|120}} The Keith brothers authored seven ''Traveller'' supplements published by Gamelords, including ''[[The Mountain Environment]]'' (1983), ''[[The Undersea Environment]]'' (1983), and ''[[The Desert Environment]]'' (1984), and adventures intended for the environments described in those rulebooks.<ref name="designers" />{{rp|131}}

The Keith brothers produced some material for the ''[[Chivalry & Sorcery]]'' line in 1984, and in 1985 they began working on other lines for [[Fantasy Games Unlimited]] including ''[[Aftermath!]]'', ''[[Daredevils (role-playing game)|Daredevils]]'', ''[[Flashing Blades]]'', and ''[[Psi World (role-playing game)|Psi World]]''.<ref name="designers" />{{rp|75}} The Keith brothers also designed ''[[Freedom Fighters (role-playing game)|Freedom Fighters]]'' (1986), one of the final role-playing games published by FGU.<ref name="designers" />{{rp|75}} William Keith authored ''[[Delta Force: America Strikes Back!]]'' (1986), the first role-playing game from [[Task Force Games]].<ref name="designers" />{{rp|116}} William Keith wrote ''[[Decision at Thunder Rift]]'' (1986), the first novel published by FASA.<ref name="designers" />{{rp|122}} William Keith authored a large ''MegaTraveller'' campaign set in the Gateway sector for ''The MegaTraveller Journal'' #4 (1993), the final publication of [[Digest Group Publications]].<ref name="designers" />{{rp|206}}

William Keith became a professional artist and writer, working in the game industry with his brother Andrew, particularly for [[Game Designers' Workshop]] and [[FASA]] before becoming a full-time author. Much of his early work, including the [[Warstrider series|''Warstrider'' series]], the ''Freedom's Rangers'' series, the ''Cybernarc'' series, and the ''Invaders of Charon'' series, is currently [[out of print]]; 'Warstrider' will be re-released in 2014. He was also an early author for [[BattleTech]], writing the saga of the Gray Death Legion.

Keith also writes under various pseudonyms and "house names", including Ian Douglas and [[H. Jay Riker]], and is a shadow author of several books "by" celebrities. He has written extensively in [[Keith Laumer]]'s ''[[Bolo (tank)|Bolo]]'' series, contributing several short stories to the Bolo anthologies, as well as three full-length books, ''Bolo Brigade'', ''Bolo Strike'', and ''Bolo Rising''. As Ian Douglas, he writes military science fiction: the ''Galactic Marines'' series (composed of the ''[[Heritage Trilogy]]'', the ''[[Legacy Trilogy]]'', and the ''[[Inheritance Trilogy (science fiction)|Inheritance Trilogy]]''), and the newer ''Star Carrier'' series. As [[H. Jay Riker]] he writes military fiction: a series about the [[United States Navy SEALs]] progression from [[World War II]] through the [[Vietnam War]], [[Desert Storm]], and [[Iraqi Freedom]], and another series, ''The Silent Service'', about the United States submarine service.

Other novels include ''[[Diplomatic Act]]'' with [[Peter Jurasik]], and ''Two of Minds'', nominated for a [[Newbery Award]]. He also continued [[Keith Laumer]]'s Retief series with ''Retief's Peace''. His first non-fiction book, ''The Science of the Craft'', was published in 2005; it is about the link between witchcraft and science.

Keith's recent work includes three books in [[Stephen Coonts]]' ''Deep Black'' series; a police procedural/detective novel in the Android universe; and a new series about Navy Hospital Corpsmen in the future.

Keith, a [[Wicca]]n and a [[Reiki]] master, is also a member of Western Pennsylvania [[Mensa International|Mensa]].{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

== Bibliography ==
{{main|William H. Keith Jr. bibliography}}
;<big>Significant works</big>

'''Writing as William H. Keith Jr.:'''

'''[[BattleTech]] series'''
* ''Decision at Thunder Rift'' (1986) {{ISBN|978-0-451-45221-4}}; reprinted as {{ISBN|978-0-14-017549-3}}, {{ISBN|978-0-931787-69-0}}, {{ISBN|978-0-451-45184-2}}, and {{ISBN|978-3-453-03889-9}}
* ''Mercenary's Star'' (1987) {{ISBN|978-1-55560-030-3}}; reprinted as {{ISBN|978-0-451-45194-1}} and {{ISBN|978-0-14-017550-9}}
* ''The Price of Glory'' (1987) {{ISBN|978-1-55560-038-9}}; reprinted as {{ISBN|978-0-451-45217-7}}, {{ISBN|978-0-14-017551-6}}, and {{ISBN|978-3-453-03891-2}}
* ''Blood of Heroes'' (with J. Andrew Keith) (1993) {{ISBN|978-0-451-45259-7}}
* ''Tactics of Duty'' (1995) {{ISBN|978-0-451-45382-2}}, reprinted as {{ISBN|978-0-451-45490-4}}
* ''Operation Excalibur'' (1996) {{ISBN|978-0-451-45526-0}}, reprinted as {{ISBN|978-3-453-10927-8}}

'''Writing as Ian Douglas:'''

'''[[Heritage Trilogy]]'''
* ''[[Semper Mars]]'' (1998) {{ISBN|978-0-380-78828-6}}
* ''Luna Marine'' (1999) {{ISBN|978-0-380-78829-3}}
* ''Europa Strike'' (2000) {{ISBN|978-0-380-78830-9}}
'''[[Legacy Trilogy]]'''
* ''Star Corps'' (2003) {{ISBN|978-0-380-81824-2}}
* ''Battlespace'' (2006) {{ISBN|978-0-380-81825-9}}
* ''Star Marines'' (2007) {{ISBN|978-0-380-81826-6}}
'''[[Inheritance Trilogy (science fiction)|Inheritance Trilogy]]'''
* ''Star Strike'' (2008) {{ISBN|978-0-06-123858-1}}
* ''Galactic Corps'' (2008) {{ISBN|978-0-06-123862-8}}
* ''Semper Human'' (2009) {{ISBN|978-0-06-123864-2}}
'''[[Star Corpsman Series]]'''
* ''Bloodstar'' (2012) {{ISBN|978-0-06-189476-3}}
* ''Abyss Deep'' (2013) {{ISBN|978-0-06-189477-0}}
'''Star Carrier series'''
# ''Earth Strike'' (2010) {{ISBN|978-0-06-184025-8}}
# ''Center of Gravity'' (2011) {{ISBN|978-0-06-184026-5}}
# ''Singularity'' (2012) {{ISBN|978-0-06-184027-2}}
# ''Deep Space'' (2013) {{ISBN|978-0-06-218380-4}}
# ''Dark Matter'' (2014) {{ISBN|978-0-06-218399-6}}
# ''Deep Time'' (2015) {{ISBN|978-0-06-218405-4}}
# ''Dark Mind'' (4-25-2017) {{ISBN|978-0-06-236898-0}}
# ''Bright Light'' (11-27-2018) {{ISBN|978-0062369017}}
# ''Stargods'' (11-26-2020) {{ISBN|978-0062369031}}

'''[[Andromedan Dark]]'''
* ''Altered Starscape'' (2016) {{ISBN|978-0-06-237919-1}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=Altered Starscape: Andromedan Dark: Book One |last=Douglas |first=Ian |date=October 25, 2016 |publisher=Harper Voyager |isbn = 978-0062379191}}</ref>
* ''Darkness Falling'' (2017) {{ISBN|978-0-06-237922-1}}
'''[[Andromedan Dark|Solar Warden]]'''
* ''Alien Secrets'' (2020) {{ISBN|978-0-06-282538-4}}
* ''Alien Hostiles'' (2021) {{ISBN|978-0-06-282540-7}}
* ''Alien Agendas'' (2023) {{ISBN|978-0-06-329946-7}}

'''Writing as Robert Cain:'''

'''Cybernarc series'''
* ''Cybernarc'' (1991) {{ISBN|978-0-06-100208-3}}
* ''Gold Dragon'' (1991) {{ISBN|978-0-06-100283-0}}
* ''Island Kill'' (1992) {{ISBN|978-0-06-100385-1}}
* ''Capo's Revenge'' (1992) {{ISBN|978-0-06-100461-2}}
* ''Shark Bait'' (1992) {{ISBN|978-0-06-100462-9}}
* ''End Game'' (1993) {{ISBN|978-0-06-100463-6}}

'''Writing as H. Jay Riker'''

*'''SEALS The Warrior Breed series:'''
** ''Silver Star (1993)'' {{ISBN|0-380-76967-0}}
** ''Purple Heart (1994)'' {{ISBN|0-380-76969-7}}
** ''Bronze Star (1995)'' {{ISBN|0-380-76970-0}}
** ''Navy Cross (1996)'' {{ISBN|0-380-78555-2}}
** ''Medal of Honor (1997)'' {{ISBN|0-380-78556-0}}
** ''Marks of Valor (1998)'' {{ISBN|0-380-78557-9}}
** ''In Harm's Way (1999)'' {{ISBN|0-380-79507-8}}
** ''Duty's Call (2000)'' {{ISBN|0-380-79508-6}}
** ''Casualties of War (2003)'' {{ISBN|0-380-79510-8}}
** ''Enduring Freedom (2005)'' {{ISBN|0-06-058597-8}}
** ''Iraqi Freedom (2007)'' {{ISBN|0-06-058607-9}}
*'''Silent Service Series:'''
** ''Grayback Class'' (2000) {{ISBN|0-380-80466-2}}
** ''Los Angeles Class'' (2001) {{ISBN|0-380-80467-0}}
** ''Seawolf Class'' (2002) {{ISBN|0-380-80468-9}}
** ''Virginia Class'' (2004) {{ISBN|0-06-052438-3}}
** ''Ohio Class'' (2006) {{ISBN|0-06-052439-1}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://whkeith.com Author's Homepage]
*{{isfdb name|id=William_H._Keith,_Jr.|name=William H. Keith, Jr.}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, William H. Jr.}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:20th-century American male artists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century pseudonymous writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American essayists]]
[[Category:21st-century American historians]]
[[Category:21st-century American male artists]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:21st-century pseudonymous writers]]
[[Category:American conceptual artists]]
[[Category:American contemporary artists]]
[[Category:20th-century American historians]]
[[Category:American illustrators]]
[[Category:American male essayists]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American male short story writers]]
[[Category:American multimedia artists]]
[[Category:American occult writers]]
[[Category:American science fiction writers]]
[[Category:American speculative fiction writers]]
[[Category:American video game designers]]
[[Category:Artists from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Artists from Pittsburgh]]
[[Category:American board game designers]]
[[Category:Mensans]]
[[Category:Military science fiction writers]]
[[Category:Novelists from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Reiki practitioners]]
[[Category:American role-playing game artists]]
[[Category:American role-playing designers]]
[[Category:American science fiction critics]]
[[Category:United States Navy corpsmen]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:American Wiccans]]
[[Category:Wiccan novelists]]
[[Category:Wiccan writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Pittsburgh]]