WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Ash Carter, who served as a U.S. defense secretary during President Barack Obama's administration, died late on Monday at the age of 68 after a sudden cardiac event, his family said in a statement on Tuesday.
A decades-long defense wonk who gradually ascended to the Pentagon's top job, Carter helped oversee the launch of a military strategy that would drive back the Islamic State militant group in Syria and Iraq, and ultimately defeat the organization.
