Colin Riley McMillan (July 27, 1935 – July 24, 2003) was a United States Assistant Secretary of Defense under President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

during the Gulf War. He was awaiting confirmation as United States Secretary of the Navy in 2003 when he died from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in the head at his New Mexico ranch. McMillan was the chairman and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Permian Exploration Corporation, an oil exploration company, the chairman of the First Federal Savings Bank in

Roswell, New Mexico Roswell () is a city in, and the County seat, seat of, Chaves County, New Mexico, Chaves County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Chaves County forms the entirety of the List of micropolitan areas in New Mexico, Roswell micropolitan area. As of ...

, and the founder and CEO of McMillan Production Company. He was appointed in 2001 to be the chairman of the Sallie Mae Corporation by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. McMillan earned his bachelor's degree in geology from the University of North Carolina in 1957. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1957 to 1960 and in the Marine Corps Reserve from 1960 to 1972, attaining the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. McMillan served in the New Mexico House of Representatives from 1971 to 1982. He ran for the United States Senate seat in New Mexico in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

but lost to incumbent Democrat

Jeff Bingaman Jesse Francis "Jeff" Bingaman Jr. (born October 3, 1943) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from New Mexico from 1983 to 2013, for 5 terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Chairman of Committee Outreac ...

by a 54% to 46% margin. In 2000, McMillan was the New Mexico state chairman of George W. Bush's presidential campaign. McMillan was survived by his wife, Kay, four children, and eight grandchildren.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:McMillan, Colin R. 1935 births 2003 deaths 2003 suicides American chief executives American politicians who died by suicide George H. W. Bush administration personnel Suicides by firearm in New Mexico Republican Party members of the New Mexico House of Representatives United States Department of Defense officials United States Marine Corps officers United States Marine Corps reservists University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni