Crowe is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He also earned a master's degree in education at Stanford University and master's and doctoral degrees in politics at Princeton University.

A submarine officer during his 47-year career in the U.S. Navy, Crowe served as commander in chief in several areas, including the U.S. Pacific Command, Allied Forces in Southern Europe, U.S. Naval Forces in Europe and the Middle East Forces. He was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1985 until his retirement from the Navy in 1989.

In 1993-94, Crowe chaired the President's Foreign Intelligence Board, and from 1993 to 1997 he was U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. In 1998, he chaired the State Department's Accountability Review Board that investigated the bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Currently he is a senior adviser for Global Options, an international crisis management firm in Washington, D.C.

He has held academic positions at the U.S. Naval Academy, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, George Washington University and the University of Oklahoma. He co-authored two books,

The Line of Fire and

Reducing Nuclear Danger: The Road Away from the Brink. He received four Defense Distinguished Service Medals, and in 2000 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.