Witness to Power: The Life of Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy

Witness to Power: The Life of Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy PDF Author: Henry H. Adams
Publisher: Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
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. Truman until his retirement in 1949. “This is probably the definitive biography of Admiral Leahy... Adams has worked hard on this book: it is well written, well researched and comprehensive.” — James Leutze, The American Historical Review “[A] workmanlike and overdue biography of a naval officer too long relegated to the shadows... Biographer Adams reminds us that the reticent admiral was a truly unique figure... The author relates that Leahy once told an aide that when asked about him the aide should, ‘Tell him anything so long as it’s the truth.’ Professor Adams has heeded that admonition and while the result isn’t racy, it is certainly sound.” — Richard S. Cloward, Naval War College Review “Henry Adams has produced an excellent and much needed chronicle of a man generally ignored during most of his active life by the mass media. In addition, the book is enjoyable to read.” — Burton Wright, Armed Forces & Society

Witness to Power: The Life of Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy

Witness to Power: The Life of Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy PDF Author: Henry H. Adams
Publisher: Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
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. Truman until his retirement in 1949. “This is probably the definitive biography of Admiral Leahy... Adams has worked hard on this book: it is well written, well researched and comprehensive.” — James Leutze, The American Historical Review “[A] workmanlike and overdue biography of a naval officer too long relegated to the shadows... Biographer Adams reminds us that the reticent admiral was a truly unique figure... The author relates that Leahy once told an aide that when asked about him the aide should, ‘Tell him anything so long as it’s the truth.’ Professor Adams has heeded that admonition and while the result isn’t racy, it is certainly sound.” — Richard S. Cloward, Naval War College Review “Henry Adams has produced an excellent and much needed chronicle of a man generally ignored during most of his active life by the mass media. In addition, the book is enjoyable to read.” — Burton Wright, Armed Forces & Society

The Second Most Powerful Man in the World

The Second Most Powerful Man in the World PDF Author: Phillips Payson O'Brien
Publisher: Dutton Books
ISBN: 0399584803
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 546

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Book Description
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 personalities, Leahy regularly downplayed his influence, preferring the substance of power to the style. A stern-faced, salty sailor, his U.S. Navy career had begun as a cadet aboard a sailing ship. Four decades later, Admiral Leahy was a trusted friend and advisor to the president and his ambassador to Vichy France until the attack on Pearl Harbor. Needing one person who could help him grapple with the enormous strategic consequences of the war both at home and abroad, Roosevelt made Leahy the first presidential chief of staff--though Leahy's role embodied far more power than the position of today. Leahy's profound power was recognized by figures like Stalin and Churchill, yet historians have largely overlooked his role. In this important biography, historian Phillips Payson O'Brien illuminates the admiral's influence on the most crucial and transformative decisions of WWII and the early Cold War. From the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, and France, to the allocation of resources to fight Japan, O'Brien contends that America's war largely unfolded according to Leahy's vision. Among the author's surprising revelations is that while FDR's health failed, Leahy became almost a de facto president, making decisions while FDR was too ill to work, and that much of his influence carried over to Truman's White House.

War and Diplomacy

War and Diplomacy PDF Author: Andrew M. Dorman
Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.
ISBN: 1597976482
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
Examines the rapidly changing role of diplomacy.

All the Factors of Victory

All the Factors of Victory PDF Author: Thomas Wildenberg
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 1682473007
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
Adm. Joseph Mason Reeves (1872–1948) took command of the U.S. Navy’s nascent carrier arm during a critical period, transforming it from a small auxiliary command in support of the battle line into a powerful strike force. Until the carrier commanders of World War II proved their mettle, Reeves’s expertise in the use of the aircraft carrier in naval tactics was unequaled. All the Factors of Victory is the first full-length biography of this eminent naval officer.

In and Out of the Ivory Tower: The Autobiography of William L. Langer

In and Out of the Ivory Tower: The Autobiography of William L. Langer PDF Author: William L. Langer
Publisher: Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 175

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Book Description
“Straightforward, relaxed memoirs by the prodigiously industrious and learned Harvard diplomatic historian and head of the Research and Analysis Section of OSS... Fine reading for anyone interested in academic life and in the connections between scholarship and policy in foreign affairs.” — Gaddis Smith, Foreign Affairs “William L. Langer intended this autobiography as an exemplary tale of how a poor boy from an immigrant family made good in America... Langer’s autobiography provides clues to his patriotic identification with the establishment and to the prodigious energy and intelligence that produced his historical works.” — Dorothy Ross, The American Historical Review “[T]his informal, modest, and understated volume will please and inform both those who knew the author personally and those who knew him only through his publications... As a historian, Langer defies categorization... he explored new areas and new techniques for research — regional studies, demography, disease, and psychoanalysis. His autobiography is neither a full description nor critical appraisal of the profession, but it should convey to a younger generation the historian’s search for truth, his pride in craftsmanship, and his sense of social responsibility.” — Richard W. Leopold, The Journal of American History

Contesting France

Contesting France PDF Author: Susan McCall Perlman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316511812
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
The untold story of how intelligence shaped US perceptions and policy towards France during the early Cold War.

The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb

The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb PDF Author: Gar Alperovitz
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307773124
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 863

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Book Description
With a new preface by the author Controversial in nature, this book demonstrates that the United States did not need to use the atomic bomb against Japan. Alperovitz criticizes one of the most hotly debated precursory events to the Cold War, an event that was largely responsible for the evolution of post-World War II American politics and culture.

The War Against Japan, 1941-1945

The War Against Japan, 1941-1945 PDF Author: John J. Sbrega
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317431790
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1078

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Book Description
With over 5,200 entries, this volume remains one of the most extensive annotated bibliographies on the USA’s fight against Japan in the Second World War. Including books, articles, and de-classified documents up to the end of 1987, the book is organized into six categories: Part 1 presents reference works, including encyclopedias, pictorial accounts, military histories, East Asian histories, hisotoriographies. Part 2 covers diplomatic-political aspects of the war against Japan. Part 3 contains sources on the economic and legal aspects of the war against Japan. Part 4 presents sources on the military apsects of the war – embracing land, air and sea forces. Religious aspects of the war are covered in Part 5 and Part 6 deals with the social and cultural aspects, including substantial sections on the treatment of Japanese minorities in the USA, Hawaii, Canada and Peru.

World War II [5 volumes]

World War II [5 volumes] PDF Author: Spencer C. Tucker
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 4723

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Book Description
With more than 1,700 cross-referenced entries covering every aspect of World War II, the events and developments of the era, and myriad related subjects as well as a documents volume, this is the most comprehensive reference work available on the war. This encyclopedia represents a single source of authoritative information on World War II that provides accessible coverage of the causes, course, and consequences of the war. Its introductory overview essays and cross-referenced A–Z entries explain how various sources of friction culminated in a second worldwide conflict, document the events of the war and why individual battles were won and lost, and identify numerous ways the war has permanently changed the world. The coverage addresses the individuals, campaigns, battles, key weapons systems, strategic decisions, and technological developments of the conflict, as well as the diplomatic, economic, and cultural aspects of World War II. The five-volume set provides comprehensive information that gives readers insight into the reasons for the war's direction and outcome. Readers will understand the motivations behind Japan's decision to attack the United States, appreciate how the concentration of German military resources on the Eastern Front affected the war's outcome, understand the major strategic decisions of the war and the factors behind them, grasp how the Second Sino-Japanese War contributed to the start of World War II, and see the direct impact of new military technology on the outcomes of the battles during the conflict. The lengthy documents volume represents a valuable repository of additional information for student research.

To Train The Fleet For War: The U.S. Navy Fleet Problems, 1923-1940

To Train The Fleet For War: The U.S. Navy Fleet Problems, 1923-1940 PDF Author: Albert A. Nofi
Publisher: Government Printing Office
ISBN: 1884733875
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 424

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Book Description
Product Description: To Train the Fleet for War: The U.S. Navy Fleet Problems, 1923–1940, by Professor Albert A. Nofi, examines in detail, making extensive use of the Naval War College archives, each of the U.S. Navy’s twenty-one “fleet problems” conducted between World Wars I and II, elucidating the patterns that emerged, finding a range of enduring lessons, and suggesting their applicability of for future naval warfare.