President George W. Bush has approved on Monday a request from the U.S. Army to execute a private convicted of rape and murder, the White House announced Monday evening. Through this approval, Bush has become the first American president to approve a military execution in 51 years.

Ronald Gray, who has been on the military’s death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, since 1988, will be executed on multiple charges of murder and rape. It will be the first execution of the United States military since 1961, when authorities hanged a convicted child rapist after his execution was approved by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1957.
 
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino described Bush’s task as “a serious and difficult decision for a commander-in-chief” and added that, considering the facts involved in this case, the U.S. President had no doubt that the sentence was “just and warranted.” However, further appeals will be carried out before the sentence is due. Military courts have not yet set an execution date for Gray.

Private Ronald Gray has been court-martially convicted of raping and killing a female Army private and a civilian near his post at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was also found guilty of rape and attempted murder of another fellow soldier in her barracks at Fort Bragg. The three rapes, two murders were committed by Private Gray during a spree in 1986 and 1987.

"The president's thoughts and prayers are with the victims of these heinous crimes and their families and all others affected," the White House spokeswoman said.

The last U.S. President to deal with a similar case was John F. Kennedy, but he chose to commute the death sentence of the convicted to life in prison in 1962.

U.S. military members have been executed throughout history, but the execution of just 10 has been approved by the President since 1951 under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the military's current legal system.

The U.S. Army also tried to obtain Bush's permission to put to death another condemned soldier - Pvt. Dwight Loving - convicted of murder and robbery in 1988. His victims were two cab drivers.