Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf (August 28, 1895 – November 25, 1958) was the first superintendent of the
New Jersey State PoliceThe New Jersey State Police is the state police force for the state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with state wide jurisdiction, designated by Troop Sectors...
. He is best known for his involvement in the
Lindbergh kidnappingThe kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. was the abduction of the son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The toddler was abducted from his family home in East Amwell, New Jersey near the town of Hopewell, New Jersey on the evening of March 1, 1932. Over two months...
case. He was the father of General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the commander of all coalition forces for Operation Desert Shield/Storm.
Schwarzkopf was born in
Newark, New JerseyBrick City redirects here. For the township in Ocean County, see Brick Township, New Jersey.Newark is the largest city in New Jersey, and the county seat of Essex County. Newark has a population of 281,402, making it the largest municipality in New Jersey and the 65th largest city in the U.S...
to Julius George Schwarzkopf and Agnes Sarah Schmidt of
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
. He attended the U.S.
Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf (August 28, 1895 – November 25, 1958) was the first superintendent of the
New Jersey State PoliceThe New Jersey State Police is the state police force for the state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with state wide jurisdiction, designated by Troop Sectors...
. He is best known for his involvement in the
Lindbergh kidnappingThe kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. was the abduction of the son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The toddler was abducted from his family home in East Amwell, New Jersey near the town of Hopewell, New Jersey on the evening of March 1, 1932. Over two months...
case. He was the father of General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the commander of all coalition forces for Operation Desert Shield/Storm.
Biography
Schwarzkopf was born in
Newark, New JerseyBrick City redirects here. For the township in Ocean County, see Brick Township, New Jersey.Newark is the largest city in New Jersey, and the county seat of Essex County. Newark has a population of 281,402, making it the largest municipality in New Jersey and the 65th largest city in the U.S...
to Julius George Schwarzkopf and Agnes Sarah Schmidt of
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
. He attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and graduated in March 1917. After receiving a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the
cavalryCavalry were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback in combat. Cavalry were historically the second oldest and most mobile of the combat arms...
, Schwarzkopf was sent to
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
as part of the American Expeditionary Forces. He was gassed with mustard gas, making him susceptible to respiratory illnesses for the rest of his life. During the occupation he served as a
provost marshalThe Provost Marshal is the officer in the armed forces who is in charge of the military police .There may be a Provost Marshal serving at many levels of the hierarchy and he may also be the public safety officer of a military installation, responsible for the provision of fire and ambulance...
, partially due to his organizational skills and partially due to his fluency in German.
After returning to the United States with the rank of
colonelColonel is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country in the world. It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
, Schwarzkopf was appointed in 1921 by
New Jersey GovernorThe Governor of New Jersey is the chief executive of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The current holder of that office is Jon Corzine, who re-assumed executive powers on May 7, 2007 from acting Gov. Richard Codey, after recuperating from an automobile accident on April 12, 2007...
Edward I. EdwardsEdward Irving Edwards was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the 37th Governor of New Jersey from 1920 to 1923 and as United States Senate from 1923 to 1929.-Biography:...
to head the newly formed
New Jersey State PoliceThe New Jersey State Police is the state police force for the state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with state wide jurisdiction, designated by Troop Sectors...
. He personally trained the first 25 State Police Troopers and organized the State Police department into two troops: a northern troop, utilizing motorcycles, to patrol the
MafiaThe Mafia is a Sicilian criminal society which is believed to have emerged in late 19th century Sicily, and the first such society to be referred to as a mafia . It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct...
-controlled narcotics, whiskey, rum-running, and gambling rings in the
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
area; and a southern troop, with troopers on horseback, to crack down on
moonshine| align="right"||}Moonshine is a common term for home-distilled alcohol, especially in places where this practice is illegal.The name is often assumed to be derived from the fact that moonshine producers and smugglers would often work at night...
rs. He left the force in 1936 after being relieved of his duty by a governor with whom he frequently clashed. Subsequently, he was appointed by Governor
Robert B. MeynerRobert Baumle Meyner of Phillipsburg, New Jersey was an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 44th Governor of New Jersey, from 1954 to 1962...
to "examine and investigate the management by
Harold G. HoffmanHarold Giles Hoffman was an American politician, a Republican who served as the 41st Governor of New Jersey, from 1935 to 1938. He also served two terms representing in the United States House of Representatives, from 1927 to 1931...
," a former Governor of the State and director in the Division of Employment Security.
He narrated the radio program
Gang BustersGang Busters was an American dramatic radio program heralded as "the only national program that brings you authentic police case histories." It premiered as G-Men, sponsored by Chevrolet, on July 20, 1935....
for a short period of time, then re-entered the army in 1940.
Schwarzkopf was posted to
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
in 1942, due to the efforts of
Mohammad Vali Mirza Farman FarmaianMohammad Vali Mirza was the third son of Persian Qajar nobleman Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma and his wife Princess Ezzat-Dowleh.Since his youth, Mohammad Vali had spent a great deal of time in Iranian Azarbaijan, where he owned considerable estates...
, and was tasked with organizing the Iranian police after the
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
-Soviet intervention that made Iran an Allied protectorate. His recruits, the
GendarmerieA gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military body charged with police duties among civilian populations. The members of such a body are called gendarmes. The term maréchaussée may also be used but is now uncommon.-Etymology:The word gendarme comes from Old French gens d'armes, meaning men-at-arms...
, were active in suppressing the Soviet-inspired People's Republic of
AzerbaijanAzerbaijan , formally the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south...
and Kurdistan (Mahabad).
After World War II, he was promoted to
brigadier generalA brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed services.-...
, and in the late 1940s was sent to occupied Germany to serve as Deputy
Provost MarshalThe Provost Marshal is the officer in the armed forces who is in charge of the military police .There may be a Provost Marshal serving at many levels of the hierarchy and he may also be the public safety officer of a military installation, responsible for the provision of fire and ambulance...
for the entire U.S. Sector.
Before retiring from the Army in 1953 with the rank of
major generalIn the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general. Major general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the...
, Schwarzkopf was sent by the
Central Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government.It is an independent agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior United States policymakers....
as part of
Operation AjaxThe 1953 Iranian coup d’état deposed the democratically elected government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq.The United States' Central Intelligence Agency overthrew the government of the popular Prime Minister Mosaddeq at the request of, and with minor support from the British...
to convince the exiled
Shah of IranThe Pahlavi dynasty ruled Iran from the crowning of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1925, following the overthrow of Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last ruler of the Qajar dynasty, already weakened by Soviet and British occupation....
,
Mohammad Reza PahlaviMohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, , was the emperor of Iran from 16 September 1941, until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979...
, to return and seize power. Schwarzkopf went so far as to organize the security forces he had trained to support the Shah. As such he helped to train what would become later know as the
SAVAKSAVAK was the domestic security and intelligence service of Iran from 1957 to 1979...
.
Schwarzkopf died in 1958 from complications of
lung cancerLung cancer is a disease of uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. This growth may lead to metastasis, which is the invasion of adjacent tissue and infiltration beyond the lungs. The vast majority of primary lung cancers are carcinomas of the lung, derived from epithelial cells...
and is buried at the U.S. Military Academy cemetery. He was married to Ruth Bowman (1900-1977), a registered nurse from
West VirginiaWest Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, and Pennsylvania and Maryland to the northeast...
who struggled with
alcoholismAlcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions. In common and historic usage, alcoholism is any condition that results in the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, despite health problems and negative social consequences...
from the time Schwarzkopf left for Iran until her death.
See also