John Lehman
American naval aviator, investor, writer and civil servant
John Francis Lehman Jr. (born September 14, 1942) is an American private equity investor and writer who was secretary of the Navy (1981–1987) during the Reagan administration in which he promoted the creation of a 600-ship navy.
Lehman is on the board of trustees for the thinktank Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI). Lehman was also, from 2003 to 2004, a member of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, commonly called the 9/11 Commission, and signed policy letters produced by the Project for the New American Century. He was also an advisor to Senator John McCain for the 2008 presidential race, and for Senator Mitt Romney in his 2012 bid.
Early life
Lehman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Constance (Cruice) and John Francis Lehman, an industrial engineer and decorated US Navy veteran (Lieutenant Commander). He graduated from La Salle College High School and received a B.S. in international relations from Saint Joseph's University in 1964, gained a B.A. from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (later elevated to a M.A.), and went on to earn a M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
He is a first cousin once removed of Grace Kelly (Princess Grace of Monaco), and is Chairman of the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, a public charity established after Princess Grace's death to support emerging artists in film, dance, and theater. He led the American delegation to the funeral of Prince Rainier. He and his family live in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and in Manhattan.
The public source identifies “John Lehman” as american naval aviator, investor, writer and civil servant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around John, Lehman and American.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q327486. VIAF identifies the subject as 122113521. The Library of Congress control number is no2025010119. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1942, 1981, 1987 and 2003.
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This entry incorporates text from “John Lehman” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.