Sublime

No other general officer, British or American, could have dealt as effectively with Washington and London, kept headstrong subordinates working in harmony, and (with the help of John C. H. Lee) amassed the matériel that ensured ultimate victory. In a sense, Ike was like a giant umbrella. He absorbed what was coming down from above, shielded his com

The range of special operations carried out by the U.S. military in World War II is striking. They included raids to free prisoners, reconnaissance deep behind enemy lines, strikes at strategic targets, reduction of coastal defenses, work with indigenous forces or partisans who were fighting the Germans or Japanese and sometimes each other, night f

There were now four Allied armies in France: the First and Third U.S. armies (Hodges and Patton) under Bradley’s operational control; and the Second British (Dempsey) and First Canadian (Crerar) reporting to Twenty-first Army Group. But Montgomery, not Ike, retained overall command of the ground war.

What may be most surprising is how Eisenhower rose to the occasion. At the time, the invasion of North Africa in November 1942 was the greatest amphibious operation that had ever been attempted.

For almost two hours Eisenhower waged a one-man battle against the statutory members of the NSC, all of whom advocated coming to France’s rescue.

Bagnold located old companions from pre-war desert explorations, plucking Pat Clayton from Tanganyika and Bill Kennedy Shaw from Palestine, and put them in charge of young men from the backcountry of New Zealand who had lost all their guns and kit in a torpedo attack at sea. Their commander, Major General Bernard Freyberg, VC (the man who swam asho

Before the invasion of Tarawa—the central island of the Gilbert Island thrust—the Navy’s hydrographic analysis showed that on the morning of assault the coral reef that surrounded the island would only be submerged to a depth of four feet six inches. A fully loaded Higgins Boat had a draft of four feet—just enough. When it was discovered, however,

In World War II, Eisenhower made Davis his adjutant general both in North Africa and at SHAEF. Davis accompanied Ike to Russia in 1945, and served as the Army’s assistant adjutant general from 1946 until his retirement in 1953.

Those were the first words I spoke as I made the transition from a peacetime CEO to a wartime CEO. By virtue of my position and the fact that we were a public company, nobody besides me had the complete picture. I knew we were in deep, deep trouble. Nobody besides me could get us out of the trouble, and I was through listening to advice about what