Democrat Barack Obama’s Former Defense Secretary, Ashton Carter, has died at 68 years old after a ‘cardiac event,’ leaving a legacy of a transgendered military and other transformative actions that changed the face of the American military.

Cater was an American military-civilian official who served as the 25th secretary of defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of the Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School. Carter began his career as a physicist.

A press release from 2016 promoted Carter’s most noteworthy contribution to American society- transgenders in the military.

“Transgender service members in the U.S. military can now openly serve their country without fear of retribution, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced today, a policy decision that overturns the ban on transgender service across all branches of service, effective immediately.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter announces a new transgender policy for the Defense Department during a Pentagon news conference June 30, 2016.

Ash Carter announces a new transgender policy for the Defense Department during a Pentagon news conference, June 30, 2016.

Following a study at his direction, the secretary said during a Pentagon news conference three main reasons led to the decision to lift the transgender ban: the force of the future, the existing force and matters of principle.

Ban Lifted Immediately

“As a result of the yearlong study, I’m announcing today that we are ending the ban on transgender Americans in the United States military. Effective immediately, transgender Americans may serve openly, and they can no longer be discharged or otherwise separated from the military just for being transgender,” Carter said, according to the press release.

“Obama’s last Pentagon chief who ended transgender military ban troops that Trump then reversed passes away ‘unexpectedly’ in Boston,” The Daily Mail reported,” adding:

Ash Carter, a former U.S. defense secretary during Barack Obama’s administration, died on Monday evening after a sudden cardiac event his family said in a statement on Tuesday.

Carter, who served during the final two years of the Obama administration, helped oversee the launch of a military strategy that would drive back the Islamic State military group in Syria and Iraq, and ultimately defeat the organization.

Since leaving public service, Carter led the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

Carter issued a statement promising an orderly transition following the 2016 election of President Donald Trump, after a race where many leaders in the national security establishment sided with rival Hillary Clinton.

‘Last night our fellow American citizens voted for a new President. That it happened freely and peacefully is a testament to the great work of this Department,’ Carter wrote in a memo released the day after the election.

‘The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived,’ they wrote January 4, 2021, two days before the Capitol riot.

They added: ‘Efforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory,” they wrote. “Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic.’

In the summer of 2016 he announced a new DOD policy allowing transgender troops to serve, following a long review.

‘This is the right thing to do for our people and for the force,’ Carter said. ‘We’re talking about talented Americans who are serving with distinction or who want the opportunity to serve. We can’t allow barriers unrelated to a person’s qualifications prevent us from recruiting and retaining those who can best accomplish the mission.’

Trump would soon reverse the policy.

In December 2015, the Philadelphia native ordered the military to open all jobs to women, removing the final barriers that kept women from serving in combat, including the most dangerous and grueling commando posts.

Clicks on Detroit reported on the death:

Before Carter was named the Defense Department secretary, he served in President Barack Obama’s administration as its top procurement officer and oversaw the department’s effort to speed more than 24,000 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles to Iraq and Afghanistan. At the time, thousands of U.S. troops were being maimed or killed by roadside bombs because there was not adequate protection in the vehicles they were operating. Carter frequently mentioned the rapid development and procurement of those vehicles as one of his proudest accomplishments.

“At peak production, the United States shipped over 1,000 MRAPs a month to theater. And there, they saved lives,” Carter said at a 2012 ceremony marking the completion of the vehicle production. “And you all know me, I would have driven one in here today, if I could get it through the door.”

In December 2015, after three years of study and debate, Carter ordered the military to open all jobs to women, removing the final barriers that kept women from serving in combat, including the most dangerous and grueling commando posts.

The following year, Carter ended the ban on transgender troops serving in the U.S. military, saying it was the right thing to do.

“Americans who want to serve and can meet our standards should be afforded the opportunity to compete to do so,” Carter said in June 2016, laying out a one-year plan to implement the change. “Our mission is to defend this country, and we don’t want barriers unrelated to a person’s qualification to serve preventing us from recruiting or retaining the soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine who can best accomplish the mission.”

Carter, a Philadelphia native, “loved nothing more than spending time with the troops, making frequent trips to Iraq and Afghanistan to visit U.S. forces with his wife Stephanie,” his family said in a statement. “Carter always set politics aside; he served presidents of both parties over five administrations.”