Frank Carlucci III, 87, who served as U.S. defense secretary under Ronald Reagan and the number two at the CIA under Jimmy Carter, has died in his McLean, Virginia home.

What he did: Carlucci led what was then the largest military buildup in U.S. history and later served as the National Security Advisor to Reagan following the Iran-contra affair and was once stabbed in the back while serving as a diplomat in the Congo while rescuing Americans from a mob, creating what The Washington Post calls “the stuff of Foreign Service legend.”