Fox News: Leadership lessons from America's Fleet Admirals
Walter Borneman, author of THE ADMIRALS, writes on FoxNews.com about the leadership lessons we can all learn from the only four five-star Fleet Admirals in our nation’s history.
Jun 18, 2012
FoxNews.com
By Walter R. Borneman
Published June 09, 2012
Only four men in American history have been accorded the five-star rank of Fleet Admiral. Interacting with one another over four decades, Chester W. Nimitz, William F. Halsey, Jr., William D. Leahy, and Ernest J. King, not only rose to the top and won World War II, but also gave the United States Navy a global reach that has lasted for almost seven decades.
They were an unlikely quartet. All were graduates of Annapolis, but each came to display a wildly different personality and leadership style. Nimitz was the epitome of the stern yet loving grandfather, but heaven help the man who let him down. Halsey was the hale-hearty fellow who through charisma and rough charm came to personify the American war effort in the Pacific. Leahy was the steady hand—almost invisible to the public but essential to Franklin Roosevelt’s decision-making. King was the demanding, hard-edged perfectionist who gave no quarter to superiors and subordinates alike and was seemingly quite proud of his terrifying reputation.
These four Fleet Admirals played critical—and occasionally controversial—roles in the defining events and new weapons and tactics that led to victory in World War II, most importantly, submarines, aircraft carriers, and naval air power. In the process, they led America’s greatest generation to victory.
Read more
Jun 18, 2012
FoxNews.com
By Walter R. Borneman
Published June 09, 2012
Only four men in American history have been accorded the five-star rank of Fleet Admiral. Interacting with one another over four decades, Chester W. Nimitz, William F. Halsey, Jr., William D. Leahy, and Ernest J. King, not only rose to the top and won World War II, but also gave the United States Navy a global reach that has lasted for almost seven decades.
They were an unlikely quartet. All were graduates of Annapolis, but each came to display a wildly different personality and leadership style. Nimitz was the epitome of the stern yet loving grandfather, but heaven help the man who let him down. Halsey was the hale-hearty fellow who through charisma and rough charm came to personify the American war effort in the Pacific. Leahy was the steady hand—almost invisible to the public but essential to Franklin Roosevelt’s decision-making. King was the demanding, hard-edged perfectionist who gave no quarter to superiors and subordinates alike and was seemingly quite proud of his terrifying reputation.
These four Fleet Admirals played critical—and occasionally controversial—roles in the defining events and new weapons and tactics that led to victory in World War II, most importantly, submarines, aircraft carriers, and naval air power. In the process, they led America’s greatest generation to victory.
Read more