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Early Riser. What qualifies Gray to head the FBI? The son of a railroad worker, Gray grew up in a closely knit family that moved from St. Louis to Houston. He won an appointment to Annapolis in 1936, and graduated 172nd in his 456-man class. In the Navy he was an early riser and a man who devoted himself intensely to any task. Volunteering for submarine duty, Gray took part in five combat patrols against the Japanese in the Pacific. After the war, he was given command of a sub, the Tiru, then promoted to head a division with six advanced submarines.
Except for those two command posts, Gray spent most of his 20-year naval career in highly responsible positions as an aide to a higher officer. While an adviser on tactics and training for the Atlantic submarine fleet, he wrote speeches for the admiral of the fleet. At his retirement in 1960 he was assistant to Air Force General Nathan Twining, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Admiral Arleigh Burke, then Chief of Naval Operations, tried to talk Gray into remaining in the Navy, but, Burke recalls, "he was all steamed up about helping Nixon."
Gray was, indeed. He had first met Nixon in 1947 at a black-tie dinner at Washington's Chevy Chase Club. Gray was then attending George Washington University, sent there by the Navy to get his law degree. Nixon was a freshman Congressman making headlines with his Alger Hiss investigation. The two got along well and struck up a correspondence. Early in 1960, when Nixon was Vice President, Gray worked for him as an advisor on military matters. When Nixon ran for President against John Kennedy, Captain Gray quit the Navy, giving up some retirement benefits to join the campaign.
He was quickly picked up by Robert Finch, who was heading Nixon's California campaign. Gray became what Finch calls "my right arm," demonstrating "an inordinate capacity for work and an incredible sense of loyalty, both to me and to Nixon." Gray and Finch helped Nixon narrowly carry California, but when the national election was lost, Gray moved to New London, Conn., where he had been stationed at the submarine base. He joined the law firm of Sui-man, Shapiro, Wool & Brennan. Gray specialized in trusts, estates and taxes; he also spent many hours without charge to close the estates of sailors who went down with the submarine Thresher in 1963. Although New London is not big league in legal circles, it took Gray six years to become a partner in the firm—hardly a speedy climb.
When Nixon ran again for President in 1968, Gray helped gather information on the strategy and organization of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, one of Nixon's opponents for the nomination. There was nothing surreptitious about this, but it was curious that Gray later told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he had played no role in Nixon's 1968 campaign.
After Nixon won, Gray was not selected for any Washington appointment until, a bit desperately, he filled out a routine application. It was forwarded to Finch, then the HEW Secretary. He hired Gray as his executive assistant, and Gray proved to be just the kind of administrator that the less organized Finch needed. Gray generally worked standing up at a high draftsman's type of table rather than a desk. He ate lunch in the office, jogged and did sit-ups to