Biography
Education
World War II broke out on December 7, 1941. By the next fall, at the age of 12, I was enrolled in a tough military prep school called McDonough, located in the countryside just north of Baltimore, Maryland. We slept in a barrack with double-decker bunks and steel-gray lockers at the head of each bunk. We were marched to breakfast in the freezing cold, and barracks inspection followed breakfast. The food was terrible, the military discipline rigorous, and the classes were hard. It was like West Point for teenagers. I was in the cavalry troop, so in addition to the high-collared tunic, I wore gray flared riding breeches with a gold stripe down each side and black riding boots.
"To Glorify God "
My last two years of high school in 1944 to 1946 were spent at McCallie Prep School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. McCallie was founded by a devout Presbyterian family. The school motto that still lives with me was taken from the Westminster Confession of Fait: "Man's chief aim is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." At McCallie, we had dorm prayer meetings, chapel meetings, compulsory church attendance, Sabbath observance, and, among most faculty and students, a clear and sincere respect for the Lord and His Word.
At McCallie, each student had required athletics. In the fall, I played tackle on the football team. In the spring, I tried the shot-put with minimal success. The big deal was winter on the boxing team. At 14 and 15, I boxed heavyweight in the city tournament and the novice division of the Golden Gloves. In the Golden Gloves, my second-round opponent made the mistake of overeating before the fight. We sparred in the first round, then in the second I hit him hard in the stomach and he doubled over. The referee came at me with a stern look on his face. I thought I had done something wrong until he raised my hand for a technical knockout. I lost the finals by a close decision, but was given a tiny silver glove to memorialize my final moment of glory.
A Liberal Arts Degree
In the Fall of 1946, I enrolled at Washington & Lee University where I studied for a liberal arts degree with a major in history. Although I worked hard at my studies, my real major centered around lovely young ladies who attended the nearby girls schools -- Sweet Briar, Randolph Macon, Hollins, Mary Baldwin, and Southern Seminary. I joined the S.A.E. fraternity my freshman year, and quickly received what seemed a post-graduate course in wild partying.
Social life, not withstanding, my freshman grades were good enough for membership in the Phi Eta Sigma honorary society, and at the beginning of my senior year I had a high enough grade point average to qualify for membership in Phi Beta Kappa. In 1948, President Truman re-instituted a military draft. I had the choice of enlisting in the Marines as an officer candidate or being drafted as a private in the Army. I took the Marine option which let me finish college so long as I attended two summers of boot training for officers at Quantico, Virginia, first with the rank of corporal, then as sergeant.
I graduated from Washington & Lee, Magna cum Laude, and at my graduation for the first time in the history of the school, a graduate was formally commissioned a second lieutenant in the armed forces of the United States.
Studying in Britain
In June 1950, I enrolled at the University of London for a survey course called "The Arts in Britain Today." We listened to T.S. Eliot, read poems, watched Dame Margot Fonteyn dance ballet at Covent Garden, studied the paintings at the Royal Gallery, learned of the architectural history of Britain and were taught about British drama and fishing by the theater critic of The London Times.
In the summer of 1952 I enrolled for the fall semester at the Yale University Law School. My class was filled with top students. Eighty-eight percent were Phi Beta Kappa or its equivalent at their undergraduate college. Several were class valedictorian or Summa cum Laude graduates.
A Law School Degree
I specialized in tax and corporate law, but took the requisite classes in contracts, torts, procedure, negotiable instruments, bankruptcy, estates, and constitutional law. I graduated in 1955 with what later became a Juris Doctor degree.
In 1959 I graduated from Biblical Seminary with what became a Master of Divinity degree. At 29, I had ten years of higher education: a B.A. degree, a Juris Doctor, and a Master of Divinity, plus two years active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps, government experience, business experience and a growing family.
My real work lay ahead.
—Philippians 4:13
