W. Graham Claytor Jr.

In 1940, soon after the start of World War II, 28-year-old Claytor attempted to enlist, but was initially rejected by the United States Navy as being too old. He finally joined under a special provision, based upon his previous experience in sports boating. He was assigned to the Pacific Theater.

Late in the war, Claytor became commanding officer of the destroyer escort USS Cecil J. Doyle on patrol in the Pacific Ocean.[2] In August 1945, Claytor sped without orders to investigate reports of men floating in the water. As Cecil J. Doyle approached the area at night, Claytor turned the ship's searchlights on the water and straight up on low clouds, lighting up the night, despite the risk of exposing his ship to possible attack by Japanese submarines.[2] These actions facilitated the rescue of the survivors of the sunken cruiser USS Indianapolis.[2]

Indianapolis had been on a secret mission and, due to a communications error, had not been reported as overdue (or missing). An estimated 900 men survived the sinking, but spent days floating in life jackets trying to fight off sharks. While only 316 were rescued out of a crew of 1199 who were aboard Indianapolis, Claytor's actions were widely credited by survivors with preventing an even greater loss of life.

After World War II, he resumed practice of law in Washington, D.C. He became an officer of the Southern Railway in 1963, serving as president from 1967 to 1977. Notwithstanding his legal background, Claytor was known as an "operations" man, often riding the company's trains, monitoring and questioning performance. In contrast to his predecessor, D. William Brosnan, Claytor was an "employee's President," often chatting with the crews of the trains on which he rode, actively soliciting their suggestions on how to make the railroad run better. He carried this attitude with him during his later service as the President of Amtrak.

Claytor served as the Secretary of the Navy under President Jimmy Carter from 1977[3] to 1979. He is credited with leading the United States Navy into its first recognition of women's right to serve on ships and of rights of gays to leave the service without criminal records. His positions were considered by activists to be progressive for the time, leading to further progress years later in these controversial issues.

In 1979, he was appointed to the position of Deputy Secretary of Defense. General Colin Powell served as his military assistant.

In the summer of 1979, he took a brief leave from the Defense Department to serve as Acting Secretary of Transportation in President Carter's Cabinet. His service at the Transportation Department bridged the tenures of Secretary Brock Adams and Secretary Neil Goldschmidt.

In 1982, Claytor came out of retirement to lead Amtrak. He was recruited and strongly supported by John H. Riley, an attorney who was also the head of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) under the Reagan Administration from 1983 to 1989.

Claytor maintained a good relationship with the U.S. Congress during his 11 years in the position. Within 7 years of being under Claytor's leadership, Amtrak was generating enough money to cover 72 percent of its $1.7 billion operating budget by 1989, up from 48 percent in 1981.[4] This was achieved mainly through vigorous cost-cutting and aggressive marketing. He is credited with bringing political and operational stability to the nation's passenger train network, keeping the railroad functioning properly despite repeated attempts by the administrations of Ronald Reagan and his successor George H. W. Bush to eliminate its funding.

Claytor retired from Amtrak in 1993.