Former Army Secretary Harvey's portrait unveiled at Pentagon

By J.D. LeipoldOctober 23, 2008

Secretary Harvey
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Oct. 23, 2008) - Secretary of the Army Pete Geren welcomed Former Secretary of the Army Francis J. Harvey back to the Pentagon Oct. 22 for the unveiling of Harvey's official portrait.

Geren, who hosted the ceremony, praised Harvey for his selflessness and commitment to Soldiers and their families, the transformation to more efficient depots through Lean Six Sigma initiatives, to reforms in recruiting and for his business acumen in Future Combat Systems.

"As we think back on Fran Harvey's service to our Army, there are so many examples of his legacy," Geren said. "We're 85 percent through the transformation of all our brigades, an initiative he and Pete Schoomaker launched in partnership.

"This has been the most significant organization of our Army since World War II and one that radically changed our Army and how the Army conducts operations, how it fights, how our Army deploys and Fran, that's part of your legacy that has changed the Army forever," he said.

Harvey, who served as the 19th secretary of the Army from November 2004 until his resignation in March 2007, told the audience that his number-one priority had been the well-being of Soldiers and their families.

"That priority was consistent with the first tenant of my leadership and management philosophy, one that I developed during my business career and that is 'people are the single most important part of any organization,'" Harvey said. "For sure, that principle is not unique to me, but it takes on a whole new meaning when it comes to Soldiers, because they are the individuals who protect and defend our country and way of life."

Harvey's portrait in oil was created by Everett Raymond Kinstler who has painted the portraits of six presidents including Richard Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. His portraits of Ford and Reagan are the official White House portraits. Seventy-five of his portraits of celebrities such as John Wayne, Katherine Hepburn and James Cagney hang in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington.

Harvey's portrait took Kinstler three visits and 80 hours of painting, working live and from photographs he took. One feature in Harvey's portrait is that of the famed Uncle Sam poster hanging behind the secretary.

"The poster of Uncle Sam was painted by James Montgomery Flagg who was my mentor and one of the most famous artists of his day. I gave his eulogy when he died in 1960," Kinstler, 82, said. "When I saw the poster in Secretary Harvey's office, I had to include it in the portrait."