John W. Morris
General and Mrs. Morris cut the cake at the Corps of Engineers' 205th anniversary at Ft. Belvoir,
Virginia, in June 1980. The new unit crest for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a major Army
command is in the background.
Dealing with a new president who had criticized the Corps was a major challenge, wasn't it?
We were really greatly worried because, as with most presidents, it's difficult for a new
administration to fill all key positions. We didn't know who was going to be Secretary of the
Army for quite a while. Near the inauguration time, President Carter selected Clifford
Alexander, a Washington attorney, to be the Secretary of the Army. The Assistant Secretary
of the Army for Civil Works became Mr. Blumenfeld, who with Secretary Alexander proved
to be a good team for the engineer community.
I continued General Gribble's practice of having the Chief deal with the Secretary and the
director of Civil Works deal with the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works. Mr.
Alexander actually knew very little about the Crops at the outset. He was a lawyer and had
his own agenda. He was very strong on suppressing discrimination, fostering equal rights,
and promoting equal opportunity.
An opportunity to deal directly with the president on major Corps issues arose quickly. I had
been in New York around the 16th or 17th of February. On returning to D.C. I had a phone
call awaiting at the airport. My secretary advised me I was to be in the president's office at
Previous Page
