Wikipedia
(born February 9, 1946) is a highly decorated Marine officer, Vietnam veteran, former Secretary of the Navy, best-selling author, filmmaker, Emmy Award-winning journalist, and literature professor.
Webb, a native of Saint Joseph, Missouri, attended the University of Southern California on a Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship for a year, then transferred to the U.S. Naval Academy. He graduated in 1968 as a classmate of Dennis Blair and Oliver North.
Webb was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps and went on to become one of the most highly decorated Marines of the Vietnam War, receiving the Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals, and two Purple Hearts. He served with the 5th Marine Regiment in Vietnam as a rifle platoon and company commander. He served in the Marine Corps until 1972.
In 1972, Webb entered the Georgetown University Law Center. He began his writing career while at Georgetown, penning his first book, Micronesia and U.S. Pacific Strategy. He received his J.D. in 1975.
He served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs and Secretary of the Navy (1987-1988) during the Reagan Administration. He resigned as Secretary of the Navy after refusing to agree to reduction of the Navy's force structure.
During the 2004 presidential campaign, Webb wrote an op-ed piece for USA Today in which he considered the candidacies of John Kerry and George W. Bush from the perspective of military veterans. He criticized both men -- Kerry for his activism against the Vietnam War in the 1970s while affiliated with the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and Bush for having "committed the greatest strategic blunder in modern memory" with the 2003 invasion of Iraq. [1]
In late 2005, an internet campaign was started to draft Webb to run for the Senate. On February 7, 2006, he announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination for the 2006 Senate race against incumbent Virginia Senator George Allen. [2]
