Ashton Carter, defense secretary under Obama, dies at 68

Washington — Ashton Carter, who served as the secretary of defense under former President Barack Obama, died Monday after suffering a heart attack, his family said in a statement. He was 68 years old.

Carter served as the nation's 25th defense secretary and held the role from early 2015 to the end of the Obama administration in January 2017. During his tenure leading the Pentagon, Carter oversaw the military's campaign to defeat ISIS, opened all combat positions to women and ended the ban on transgender people serving in the armed forces. 

He most recently led the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.