Ash Carter Passed Away!

Ash Carter had passed away.

Former Secretary of Defense under Barack Obama passed away.

He appeared to have a "sudden cardiac event" on Monday, confirms his family amd the Associated Press.

Carter served under Obama from 2015 until 2017.

"[Carter] devoted his professional life to the national security of the United States and teaching students about international affairs," his family said. "He was a beloved husband, father, mentor, and friend. His sudden loss will be felt by all who knew him."

During his time as defense secretary, Carter was behind the campaign to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria. He also directed the department to open all combat positions to women and created the policy that allowed transgender people to join the military and serve openly.

"While he was known for his keen understanding of military technology, nuclear weapons, and international affairs, Secretary Carter loved nothing more than spending time with the troops, making frequent trips to Iraq and Afghanistan to visit U.S forces," his family said.

Carter served in five administrations of Democratic and Republican presidents. He held multiple positions within the Department of Defense, including Deputy Secretary and Under Secretary Defense for Acquisition Technology and Logistics, in addition to serving as Secretary.

Carter, a Rhodes scholar and theoretical physicist, had served as the director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School from 2017 until his death.

In a statement Tuesday, Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf called the news "devastating" and praised Carter for being an “important leader” at the university.

"Ash was devoted to our students: He said that one key reason he returned here was his experience at the Defense Department of visiting abroad and being greeted with the salutation ‘Hello Professor Carter’ from his former students — so he wanted to come back and work with more students, and he helped to raise funds for student fellowships," Elmendorf said.

"I want to offer my gratitude for his insight and wisdom, his unwavering commitment to trying to make the world better, his confidence that the Kennedy School can make an important difference in the world, his generous spirit toward his students and colleagues, and his warm and gracious friendship with me,” Elmendorf continued. “I will miss him so much."

If you weren't aware there was a picture of then vice president Joe Biden holding Ash's wife Stephanie. That picture became a signal boast for the far right and far left to make a baseless accusation about Biden being a sexual predator. The accusations stem from a Russian propagandist and a Bernie Sanders supporting washed up politician. They tried to use their false allegations to tank Biden's momentum.

The noise uses the picture of Biden embracing Stephanie Carter in their attempts to undermine him.

Ash and Stephanie said the picture is misleadingly. She said that the Sanders' supporter had a right to have her story heard but said that Biden was not the type of person.

"After the swearing-in, as Ash was giving remarks, he leaned in to tell me ‘thank you for letting him do this’ and kept his hands on my shoulders as a means of offering his support," Carter wrote. "But a still shot taken from a video — misleadingly extracted from what was a longer moment between close friends — sent out in a snarky tweet — came to be the lasting image of that day."

Carter wrote that she and her husband had previously known Biden and his wife, Jill, "for many years, long before he had become vice president," and revealed that she expressed her condolences to the couple about the media’s coverage of the incident.

"I told them I felt awful that after he had generously taken time out of his day to swear in an old friend, his attempt to support me had become a joke and even more — supposed proof positive that he didn’t understand how to respect women," Carter wrote. "I thought it would all blow over if I didn’t dignify it with a response. But clearly that was wishful thinking."

"But her story is not mine. The Joe Biden in my picture is a close friend helping someone get through a big day, for which I will always be grateful," Carter wrote. "So, as the sole owner of my story, it is high time that I reclaim it — from strangers, Twitter, the pundits and the late-night hosts."