Isaac C. Kidd Jr.
United States admiral
Isaac Campbell Kidd Jr. (August 14, 1919 – June 27, 1999) was an American admiral in the United States Navy who served as the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO's Atlantic Fleet, and also as commander in chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet from 1975 to 1978. He was the son of Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, who was killed on the bridge of the battleship Arizona during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
In 1978, Kidd was among a number of retired four-star officers who testified before Congress in favor of the controversial SALT II arms control pact.
Biography
Graduation
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Kidd graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1941; he was commissioned an ensign on December 19, 1941, just 12 days after his father was killed aboard his flagship. As Time described the event, when Kidd received his commission as ensign "the U.S. Naval Academy and its guests broke into a thunderous cheer— an unprecedented demonstration in honor of Ensign Kidd and his father." During World War II he served as a gunnery and operations officer on destroyers in both Europe and the Pacific, and participated in various Allied landings in the Mediterranean as well as at Iwo Jima.
Naval service
His 23 years at sea during his 37-year naval career included 15 years in command of destroyers, destroyer divisions and squadrons and three U.S. fleets in the Atlantic, Pacific and Mediterranean; he also served as executive assistant and senior aide to the Chief of Naval Operations in the early 1960s, earning citations for his efforts in the Cuban Missile Crisis and several other crises. In 1967, he was chosen by his friend and colleague Admiral John S. McCain Jr. to head the Naval Court of Inquiry into the USS Liberty incident during the Six-Day War in June of that year. The Inquiry quickly became controversial amid allegations of a cover-up from both Liberty survivors and high-ranking Navy officers.
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