Edward Hidalgo

Mexican-born Secretary of the Navy, diplomat, and lawyer

• Born: October 12, 1912
• Birthplace: Mexico City, Mexico
• Died: January 21, 1995
• Place of death: Fairfax, Virginia

A successful attorney with a long and distinguished career in government service, most notably as an expert in naval intelligence and later in diplomatic work, Hidalgo became the first Hispanic to serve as the secretary of the Navy when President Jimmy Carter appointed him to this post in 1979.

Early Life

Edward Hidalgo (EHD-wahrd ee-DAHL-goh) was born Eduardo Hidalgo in Mexico City, Mexico. His family moved to New York City when he was six, and his parents anglicized his first name when the family became naturalized citizens four years later. Young Edward was especially adept in school, quickly mastering the difficult transition into English-language schooling. He showed remarkable promise early on, and he later graduated magna cum laude from Holy Cross College in 1933 and earned his doctor of jurisprudence degree from Columbia Law School in 1936. Hidalgo clerked for the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York before going into private law practice until 1942.

With the advent of World War II, Hidalgo, although nearing thirty years old, enlisted in the U.S. Navy, billeted as a lieutenant in the Naval Reserves from 1942 to 1946. Initially assigned legal duties in Montevideo, Uruguay, he went on to serve as an air combat intelligence officer assigned to the storied carrier USS Enterprise. Hidalgo saw significant action throughout the Pacific theater, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star.

As the war drew to its close, high-echelon discussions were held concerning strategies designed to maintain the cooperation among the branches of the military that had been necessitated during the multifront international war effort. Headed by lawyer and government policy adviser Ferdinand Eberstadt, a blue-ribbon panel, for which Hidalgo was selected, drew up detailed recommendations for such cooperation. Hidalgo received a meritorious commendation for his advisory service on the Eberstadt Committee. He then completed his tenure in the Navy as special assistant to Secretary of the Navy James Vincent Forrestal.

Life’s Work

Hidalgo returned to private practice in 1945. During a two-year stint with the prestigious New York law firm of Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt and Mosle, Hidalgo was put in charge of its offices in Mexico City. In 1948, he chartered his own law firm in this city and remained there, as a senior partner, for more than two decades, receiving a degree in civil law from the University of Mexico in 1959. At the request of the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson, in 1965 Hidalgo returned to Washington, D.C., to serve as special assistant to Paul H. Nitze, the secretary of the Navy. During his one year of service, Hidalgo was instrumental in realizing Nitze’s ambitious agenda for securing and retaining qualified personnel through a system of meritorious bonuses.

For the next six years, Hidalgo returned to private practice, living in London and running the European division of the international law firm of Cahill, Gordon and Reindel. At the request of President Richard Nixon’s administration, however, Hidalgo returned to Washington in 1972 to serve as the special assistant for economic affairs to the director of the United States Information Agency (USIA), a public policy division responsible for distributing information that clarified the workings of American foreign policy to nations both receptive and hostile to American interests. It was a most challenging time for USIA in the wake of America’s military withdrawal from the protracted war in southeast Asia, as well as the Nixon administration’s historic China initiative. A year later, Hildago was named USIA’s general counsel and its liaison to Congress.

During the tempestuous collapse of the Nixon presidency and the subsequent administration of President

Gerald R. Ford, Hidalgo continued his government service, distinguishing himself as a competent facilitator without partisan leanings. He became known as an affable presence and a reassuringly stable voice for USIA on Capitol Hill, and he was retained as general counsel after the election of President Jimmy Carter in 1976. In 1977, Hidalgo was appointed to serve as the assistant secretary of the Navy in charge of manpower development and reserve affairs. During his two-year stint in this position, he was instrumental in coordinating the Navy’s legal strategy in order to settle a massive lawsuit filed by General Dynamics, in which the corporation sought to recover millions of dollars in cost overrun charges for construction problems associated with building the Navy’s nuclear submarine force during the previous decade.

Hidalgo’s distinguished service, as well as his significant career of both legal and government work, led to his historic nomination on September 13, 1979, to serve as the secretary of Navy, succeeding W. Graham Claytor, Jr. After he received U.S. Senate confirmation on October 19, Hidalgo took the oath five days later and became the first Latino ever to hold that post. Although his tenure was relatively brief, Hidalgo directed the Navy at a time of remarkable activism. Under the aegis of the Carter administration’s enthusiastic endorsement of progressive reform and its embrace of diversity, the Navy had begun to pioneer rights for both women and gays. Hidalgo recognized the importance of Latino service in the Navy and set as his goals a bold initiative to encourage Hispanic recruitment and new strategies for retaining and promoting Latino officers. His efforts led directly to the establishment of the Association of Naval Service Officers (ANSO) in 1981, an organization of Hispanic naval officers that would connect the Latino community with the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, and the Merchant Marine in order to recruit qualified Hispanic officers.

In 1981, with the beginning of President Ronald Reagan’s administration, Hidalgo retired after more than four decades of public service. During the next decade, he was a government consultant, maintaining a vigorous public presence as an advocate for Hispanic service in the Navy. Hidalgo died in 1995, at the age of eighty-two, from cardiac arrest in Fairfax, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C.. In recognition of his tireless campaign to build Hispanic presence in the American military, ANSO established the Hidalgo Medal, given annually to a Hispanic who has contributed significantly to the sea services and who has exemplified the core values that defined Hidalgo’s own career: leadership, dedication, and commitment.

Significance

In a divisive era, when conservative critics of affirmative action regularly pointed to minority appointments in both corporations and government as evidence of unearned professional reward, the stellar career ascent of Edward Hidalgo affirmed that minority achievement did not depend on preferential treatment. Hidalgo brought to the position of secretary of the Navy his four decades of dedicated public service, as well as his legal skills as a negotiator and a facilitator. As the naval secretary, he vigorously pioneered the concept of American military recruitment of a specific minority presence, offering military service as a viable career opportunity for Hispanics, as well as working to guarantee fair access to promotions and career advancement.

Bibliography

Asch, Beth J., Paul Heaton, and Bogdan Savych. Recruiting Minorities: What Explains Recent Trends in the Army and Navy. Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND, 2009. Comparative study of data concerning the military recruitment of African Americans and Hispanics, specifically the steady increase of Hispanics. Cites recruitment efforts begun by Hidalgo.

Klerman, Jacob Alex, et al. Military Enlistment of Hispanic Youth: Obstacles and Opportunities. Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND, 2009. Concise and effective summary of the challenges facing military recruitment of the growing Hispanic population, with particular emphasis on the difficulties with language skills. Includes a survey of the Navy’s groundbreaking efforts to expand Hispanic presence.

Zelizer, Julian E. Jimmy Carter. New York: Times Books, 2010. Helpful and concise overview of the agenda and the achievements of the Carter administration. Places the historic appointment of Hidalgo within its political perspective.