This is later with Lee Matthews the Lee Matthews Podcast More of what you here
weekday afternoons on the Trips. John Dalton he is the seventieth Secretary of the
Navy, and he is writing with He's written with honesty and humility about his
career in the Navy, the financial sector, and the White House, focusing
not only on his accomplished but but also the failures and toughest challenges he's had
among these significant moments. His name of the book is at the Helm,
my journey with family, faith and friends to calm the storms of life.
Mister Secretary, good to have you on. Thank you very much. I
appreciate it. You and I have a lot in common. You're we're from
the same part of the country. You're from New Orleans. I grew up
in New Iberia, ninety miles west and am a fellow cradle born Episcopalion.
Well, thank you very much, Lee, I appreciate it. So girl,
go up. Did any Did you have anything to do with the water
growing up in the New Orleans area? No, I did, did not.
I lived. I moved to Streport at three years old, and the
Red River ran through the city. But it didn't have. I was not
involved in water sports at all. For those who don't know that part of
the Red River, at some points you could almost just walk across it.
Sort of. Many choose the Navy because they want to see the world.
What sealed the deal for you? Well, I went to an assembly out
of my high school and the speaker said that he wanted his son to go
to the US Naval Academy because he was convinced that was the best overall education
a young man could get. And that was before they inducted William I mean
women. And and so I said, ahha, that's what I'll do.
And and I was very much involved in in applying to the Naval Academy.
And I learned in my senior year, late in my senior year that I
was not accepted, and so I went to LSU for a year. But
fortunately my next door neighbor said the congressman eat breakfast at her drug store every
morning when the Congress is in recess. And I went up there and visited
with him, and I totally if he would appoint me to the his principal
appointment, he would not regret it. And he agreed to do that,
and I was off to the Naval Academy and I served in submarines and I
had a great, great life, blessed life. That's one of the first
lessons I imagine in getting what you want out of life is to ask for
it. Yeah. Absolutely, you bet at the at the Helm. At
the Helm, and we're talking with the seventieth Secretary of the Defense, John
Dalton, And at the Helm's the name of his book. So at some
point did you get tired of never seeing the sun in a submarine? No?
I really did? You know? You were there with an hundred and
thirty other people, and you get used to it. And I was.
I really enjoyed my time in submarine service. And were for seventy days at
a time we were submerged, and that's ten weeks, and that's a long
time. And also my wife is with me, Margaret, and she tells
me, if I decided to write another book, it's going to be with
another wife. John Dalton's with us at the Helm. He writes with honesty
and humility about his life and being Secretary of the Navy. The name of
the book is At the Helm, My journey with family, faith and friends,
and the calms of life. Then you decided to really take another U
turn and get into the financial sector. Yes, sir, I did.
We had a terrible tragedy in my family and I decided that I couldn't get
home from Rhodas, and I decided to get out of the Navy and went
back to get my MBA at the Wharton School in the University of Pennsylvania and
got out of the Navy and was in the financial sector after after the MBA
degree. And then that you, uh, you experienced your own troubled waters
in the form of that savings and loan crisis. Yes, sir, I
did. Uh. That was the worst time of my life. And I
found that family, faith, and friends were very important to me at that
time and it got me through that tragedy or that crisis. And then John
Dalton made his way to be the Secretary of the Navy under the Clinton administration.
Uh, and it became the seventieth Secretary of the Navy. Um.
Of all these these lessons in life, what is the biggest lesson you think
you learned in that experience of the savings and loan crisis. Well, I
would have to say, uh, it's always trust in God. That was
the last thing my father said to me on his death bed when I had
to leave him. He said, always trust in God. And that's been
the highlight of my life. And We're with We're with John Dalton at the
Helm is the name of his book. Were there any similarities between what happened
and that savings and loan crisis and what just happened in Silicon Valley, Well,
I don't think so. I think the Treasury and the Fed Federal Reserve
System have have done a fine job of monitoring that circumstance, and I don't
think we'll have another crisis like we had in Texas with the savings in our
own crisis. And by the way, I'm donating the proceeds that I would
get to the National Cathedral, the Naval Academy Foundation, and Community Renewal International,
And so I'm not trying to sell this book for personal reasons to go
to those organizations. The National Cathedral is a worthy recipient of your funds.
I don't know that a lot of people realize it sustained a lot of damage
in an earthquake here a couple of years back, along with the Washington Monument.
And if you are in Washington, DC. It is worth a trip
to the National Cathedral, worth a trip to the bookstore to pick up a
copy of At the Helm, My journey with family, faith and friends to
calm the storms of life. John H. Dalton, seventieth Secretary of the
Navy, Thank you for your wisdom and for joining us today. Thank you,
Lollie, I appreciate it very much. Thanks for listening to Later with
Lee Matthews, the Lee Matthews Podcast, and remember to listen to The Drive
Live weekday afternoons from five to seven and Ihearts Media presentation