Poindexter, John Marlan 1936-
US naval officer and political adviser

Born in Washington, Indiana, the son of a bank manager, he was educated at the US Naval Academy and California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he obtained a doctorate in nuclear physics. He became chief of naval operations during the 1970s and was deputy head of naval educational training from 1978 to 1981. In 1981 he joined President Ronald Reagan's National Security Council (NSC), becoming National Security Adviser in 1985. He resigned, together with his assistant, Lieutenant-Colonel Oliver North, in 1986 in the aftermath of the Iran-Contra affair. Poindexter retired from the navy in 1987, and in 1990 was convicted by a Federal court on charges of obstructing and lying to Congress. He was sentenced to six months in prison, but his sentence was overturned by the Federal appeals court in 1991.