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Fleet Admiral William Daniel Leahy (1875-1959) served as the most senior US military officer on active duty during World War II. As Chief of Naval Operations (1937-1939), he oversaw the US Navy’s preparations for war. After retiring from the Navy, he was appointed governor of Puerto Rico in 1939 by his close friend President Franklin D. Roosevelt, before serving as US Ambassador to France (1940–42) in Vichy where he had limited success keeping the Vichy government free of German control. Leahy was recalled to active duty as personal Chief of Staff to FDR in 1942 and chaired the Joint Chiefs of Staff throughout World War II. He continued as personal Chief of Staff under President Harry S....
The life of Franklin Roosevelt's most trusted and powerful advisor, Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief "Fascinating... greatly enriches our understanding of Washington wartime power."--Madeleine Albright Aside from FDR, no American did more to shape World War II than Admiral William D. Leahy--not Douglas MacArthur, not Dwight Eisenhower, and not even the legendary George Marshall. No man, including Harry Hopkins, was closer to Roosevelt, nor had earned his blind faith, like Leahy. Through the course of the war, constantly at the president's side and advising him on daily decisions, Leahy became the second most powerful man in the world. In a time of titanic pe...
How history's only five-star admirals triumphed in World War II and made the United States the world's dominant sea power. Only four men in American history have been promoted to the five-star rank of Admiral of the Fleet: William Leahy, Ernest King, Chester Nimitz, and William Halsey. These four men were the best and the brightest the navy produced, and together they led the U.S. navy to victory in World War II, establishing the United States as the world's greatest fleet. In The Admirals, award-winning historian Walter R. Borneman tells their story in full detail for the first time. Drawing upon journals, ship logs, and other primary sources, he brings an incredible historical moment to life, showing us how the four admirals revolutionized naval warfare forever with submarines and aircraft carriers, and how these men -- who were both friends and rivals -- worked together to ensure that the Axis fleets lay destroyed on the ocean floor at the end of World War II.
Admiral Leahy, as Chief of Staff to both wartime presidents, was the senior-ranking military man in the United States. He is, therefore, the only living American who could have written this highly comprehensive and significant book. I WAS THERE is one of the most important chronicles of our time. A frank appraisal of great men and stirring events, it is a forthright and intensely interesting narration of the curial war years. “I was there. Throughout almost five years from November, 1940, to the end of World War II in September, 1945, my duties placed me at pivotal points in the high command that accomplished the defeat of our enemies against what at times seemed heavy odds. These observations are based on participation in many historic discussions at which the course of the war was charted and at which attempts were made to map the road to peace.”—Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, Chapter I
A comprehensive biography of the most powerful naval officer in the history of the United States who was the controversial architect of the American victory in the Pacific. Someone once asked Admiral Ernest J. King if it was he who said, ""When they get in trouble they send for the sonsabitches."" He replied that he was not -—but that he would have said it if he had thought of it. Although never accused of having a warm personality, Ernest J. King commanded the respect of everyone familiar with his work. His is one of the great American naval careers, his place in history forever secured by a remarkable contribution to the Allied victory in the Second World War. ""Lord how I need him,"" wr...
Awarded NASOH's 2012 "John Lyman Book Award for Best U.S. Naval History," Allied Master Strategists describes the unique and vital contribution to Allied victory in World War II made by the Combined Chiefs of Staff. Based on a combination of primary and secondary source material, this book proves that the Combined Chiefs of Staff organization was the glue holding the British-American wartime alliance together. As such, the Combined Chiefs of Staff was probably the most important international organization of the Twentieth Century. Readers will get a good view of the personalities of the principals, such as Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke and Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King. The book provides insi...
Includes the Aerial Warfare In Europe During World War II illustrations pack with over 180 maps, plans, and photos. Gen Henry H. “Hap.” Arnold, US Army Air Forces (AAF) Chief of Staff during World War II, maintained diaries for his several journeys to various meetings and conferences throughout the conflict. Volume 1 introduces Hap Arnold, the setting for five of his journeys, the diaries he kept, and evaluations of those journeys and their consequences. General Arnold’s travels brought him into strategy meetings and personal conversations with virtually all leaders of Allied forces as well as many AAF troops around the world. He recorded his impressions, feelings, and expectations in his diaries. Maj Gen John W. Huston, USAF, retired, has captured the essence of Henry H. Hap Arnold—the man, the officer, the AAF chief, and his mission. Volume 2 encompasses General Arnold’s final seven journeys and the diaries he kept therein.