The History Book Club discussion

Chinese Ambassador Hu Shih



Hu Shi (17 December 1891 — 24 February 1962), born Hu Hung-hsing, was a Chinese philosopher and essayist. His courtesy name was Shih-chih. Hu is widely recognized today as a key contributor to Chinese liberalism and language reform in his advocacy for the use of vernacular Chinese. He was also an influential Redology scholar.

Hu was born in Anhui to Hu Chuan and Feng Shundi. His ancestors were from Jixi, Anhui. In January 1904, his family established an arranged marriage for Hu with Chiang Tung-hsiu, an illiterate girl with bound feet who was one year older than he was. The marriage took place in December 1917. Hu received his fundamental education in Jixi and Shanghai.

Hu became a "national scholar" through funds appropriated from the Boxer Rebellion Indemnity Scholarship Program. On 16 August 1910, he was sent to study agriculture at Cornell University in the United States. In 1912 he changed his major to philosophy and literature. After receiving his undergraduate degree, he went to Columbia University to study philosophy. At Columbia he was greatly influenced by his professor, John Dewey, and Hu became Dewey's translator and a lifelong advocate of pragmatic evolutionary change, helping Dewey in his 1919-1921 lectures series in China. He returned to lecture in Peking University. During his tenure there, he received support from Chen Duxiu, editor of the influential journal New Youth, quickly gaining much attention and influence. Hu soon became one of the leading and influential intellectuals during the May Fourth Movement and later the New Culture Movement.

He quit New Youth in the 1920s and published several political newspapers and journals with his friends. His most important contribution was the promotion of vernacular Chinese in literature to replace Classical Chinese, which ideally made it easier for the ordinary person to read. The significance of this for Chinese culture was great—as John Fairbank put it, "the tyranny of the classics had been broken".

Hu was the Republic of China's ambassador to the United States of America between 1938 and 1942. He was recalled in September 1942 and was replaced by Wei Tao-ming, who had previously represented the ROC in Vichy France. Hu then served as chancellor of Peking University between 1946 and 1948, and later (1958) president of the Academia Sinica in Taipei, where he remained until his death. He was also chief executive of the Free China Journal, which was eventually shut down for criticizing Chiang Kai-shek. He died of heart attack in Nankang, Taipei at the age of 71, and is buried in a tomb in Hu Shih Park, by the Academia Sinica campus.

Hu Shi's work fell into disrepute in mainland China until a 1986 article, written by Ji Xianlin, "A Few Words for Hu Shi", advocated acknowledging not only Hu Shih's mistakes, but also his contributions to modern Chinese literature. His article was sufficiently convincing to many scholars that it caused a re-evaluation of the development of modern Chinese literature and the role of Hu Shi.
(Source: http://history.cultural-china.com/en/...)

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu_Shih
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http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~mrl/HuS...
http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~mrl/HuS...
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http://www.cs.nyu.edu/faculty/davise/...
http://www.t3licensing.com/video/clip...
by Arthur Sze
by Jonathan D Spence (no photo)
by Jing Luo (no photo)
(no image) Hu Shih and Intellectual Choice in Modern China by Min-chih Chou (no photo)
(no image) English Writings of Hu Shih: Literature and Society by Hu Shih (no photo)
(no image) The Memoirs of Hu Shih by Degang Tang (no photo)

St. John's Episcopal Church









Long known as "the Church of the Presidents," St. John's Episcopal Church has served virtually as the chapel to the White House for nearly two centuries. Every President since James Madison has worshiped here on some occasion. As far back as 1816, records show that a committee was formed to wait on the President of the United States and offer him a pew. James Madison chose pew 54 and insisted on paying the customary annual rental. The next five Presidents in succession--James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren and William Henry Harrison--occupied this pew during their terms of office. Since then, by tradition, pew 54 has been set aside for Presidents of the United States. There are other ways in which the church is further connected with Presidents. Many Presidents have been members of the church. James Madison's wife, Dolly, was baptized and confirmed here. Franklin D. Roosevelt paid homage to tradition by spending a few minutes in prayer here on his two inauguration days.

The church was built in 1816 by Benjamin Latrobe, the noted architect who worked on the Capitol and the White House, as well as the Decatur House. The original Classical style church was built in the form of a Greek Cross, where each arm was equal in length. Latrobe conceived of his churches as meeting houses, with open preaching space unencumbered by piers and columns. As a result, he insisted on simplicity in architecture and a pulpit centrally located so that all might see. St. John's size soon proved inadequate for the growing congregation. In 1820, workmen extended the west transept arm and fronted it with a Roman Doric portico, which resulted in a Latin Cross form.

Over time, further alterations, such as the triple-tiered steeple, significantly altered Latrobe's plan, but the original structure is still recognizable.

Having seen more than its share of national occasions as well as the roster of those who have worshiped in this church, its significance goes without saying. However, there are many notable treasures in the church such as the twenty-seven handsome memorial windows adorning the building. An 18th-century prayer book placed in the President's pew has been autographed by many of the Presidents. A silver chalice and a solid gold communion chalice, encrusted with jewels, are also among its treasures. St. John's is still a living parish in the heart of Washington, DC With its bright yellow stuccoed walls, and golden cupola and dome, St. John's is a lively ornament to Lafayette Square. The church stands as one of the few remaining original buildings left near Lafayette Park today.
(Source: http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc2...)

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by Richard F. Grimmett (no photo)
by William Stevens Perry
by Robert Benedetto (no photo)
by Randi Minetor
(no image) The Church on Lafayette Square: A History of St. John's Church, Washington, D.C., 1815-1970 by Constance McLaughlin Green (no photo)

Sandhurst




The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Surrey is where all Officers in the British Army are trained to take on the responsibilities of leading soldiers.

More than 80% of Officer Cadets are university graduates, but some arrive with A-Levels or equivalent. Others are serving soldiers who have been selected for Officer training and some come from overseas, having been chosen by their own armies to train at the world famous Academy. It is not possible for anyone to undertake training at their own private expense.

The Commissioning Course for Regular Army Officers is 48 weeks long, including recess periods. It runs three times a year, starting in January, May and September. The Territorial Army course is shorter, as is the training course Sandhurst offers for military personnel with professional qualifications in areas such as law and medicine.

Training at Sandhurst covers military, practical and academic subjects and while it is mentally and physically demanding, there's also plenty of time set aside for sport and adventurous training. It's a proud day for Officer Cadets going into the Regular Army when they finally march up the steps of Old College to be commissioned as Officers at the end of the prestigious Sovereign's Parade.
(Source: http://www.army.mod.uk/training_educa...)

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by Angela Holdsworth (no photo)
by A.F. Mockler-Ferryman (no photo)
by Sandhurst roy. military coll (no photo)
(no image) The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst: 250 Years by David G. Chandler
(no image) History Of Sandhurst by Kitty Dancy (no photo)
(no image) Sandhurst by Michael Yardley (no photo)

Walter C. Short



Walter Short was born on 30 March 1880 in Fillmore, Illinois. He was commissioned in 1901 and served with the American Expeditionary Force in France in World War I as a training officer. On 8 February 1941 he was promoted to lieutenant-general and given command of the Hawaiian Department of the US Army.

His relationship with the Navy and Admiral Husband E. Kimmel's (Kimmel, Husband E.) headquarters, CinCPAC, was cordial but not close. He felt secure from attack because of the Navy's presence while Kimmel was content that the Army would prevent air attack or invasion of the Hawaiian Islands. Short's chief concern was security against sabotage by the ethnic Japanese in Hawaii, the nisei. When he received a war warning from Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall (Marshall, George C.) on 27 November, he interpreted it in a limited fashion and set guards to watch over aircraft. This involved parking the planes in tight blocks, and thus making them excellent targets from the air.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor he was relieved of his command and reverted to the rank of major-general. He retired from the army in February 1942 and went to work for Ford in Dallas. An investigation into Pearl Harbor found him, with Kimmel, guilty of errors of judgement, but he never got the court martial he felt would vindicate him. He died on 3 September 1949.
(Source: http://ospreypearlharbor.com/encyclop...)

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by Charles Robert Anderson (no photo)
by Edward L. Beach, Jr. (no photo)
by Frederic L. Borch (no photo)
by Henry C., Clausen (no photo)
by Gordon W. Prange
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Margaret Daisy Suckley




Margaret "Daisy" Suckley, a distant cousin who was also a friend and confidante to Franklin D. Roosevelt, was born in 1891 in Rhinebeck, New York. She gave Roosevelt his famous dog, Fala, and was with him in Warm Springs, Georgia, when he died. Daisy was also one of the first archivists at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum. She was responsible for managing the Library's large photograph collection, using her intimate knowledge of President Roosevelt's life to identify the people and places in the photos. Daisy lived in Rhinebeck, NY until her death in 1991, six months before her 100th birthday.

Margaret “Daisy” Suckley was born December 20, 1891 at her family home, Wilderstein, in Rhinebeck, New York. She was the fifth child and first daughter of her parents, Elizabeth Phillips Montgomery and Robert Bowne Suckley (rhymes with Book-ly). Both parents came from wealthy families. During Daisy’s childhood, her parents’ attempted to continue the lifestyle of a wealthy Hudson River family. In fact, Daisy’s father listed “gentleman” as his occupation on his passport.

The family divided their time between Wilderstein and a residence in Manhattan. However, Wilderstein was expensive to maintain. A period of economic instability forced the Suckleys to close Wilderstein and move to Switzerland, where they would live for the next ten years.

After their return, Daisy’s father wanted his daughter to attend college. She would attend Bryn Mawr College, but only for two years. Afterwards, she returned home to help her mother maintain the home and look after the many guests they were always entertaining. She still led a sheltered life, but World War I helped expand her horizons. She spent summers selling war bonds door-to-door in Rhinebeck and volunteered as a nurse’s aide at a hospital on Ellis Island during the winter. Daisy’s father died suddenly from a heart attack and the family’s fortune lay in the hands of her eccentric brother, Robert.

Following a series of bad investments coupled with the crash of 1929, much of the Suckley wealth was lost. Daisy’s sister, Elizabeth, also returned to Wilderstein with her husband and their three children, having suffered losses of their own. Daisy took a job with her aunt, Sophie Langdon, as a paid companion, and found herself the caretaker of Wilderstein and its inhabitants. She divided her time between Mrs. Langdon’s home in Manhattan and Rhinebeck, using her salary to support her family. By now, Daisy had resigned herself to a life taking care of her family. She accepted her duties, but longed for more.

The Suckleys and Roosevelts had always been friends, but Daisy and FDR’s close relationship began when she attended his 1933 inauguration. In the spring of 1922, Sara Delano Roosevelt invited Daisy to tea at Springwood. Sara told Daisy her son was lonely and she hoped a familiar face and some company would cheer him up. Franklin D. Roosevelt was in Hyde Park that spring recovering from a case of infantile paralysis, which left him paralyzed from the waist down. Daisy saw Franklin a few times that spring, keeping him company while he did his exercises and watching while he struggled to regain control of his legs. It wasn’t until Roosevelt’s 1933 Presidential Inauguration, however, that their real story began. Roosevelt invited Daisy to attend his inauguration that year and afterward a close friendship, one that would last the rest of Roosevelt’s life, began.

Daisy was quiet, unobtrusive, and overlooked by history, but she was also one of Roosevelt’s closest friends. After the 1933 inauguration, Daisy corresponded with Roosevelt regularly. He spoke with her about the presidency and she worried about his health. They also sent each other small gifts and shared secrets. In his letter dated September 23, 1935, Roosevelt writes to Daisy, “Do you know that you alone have known that I was a bit ‘cast down’ these past weeks. I couldn’t let anyone else know it – but somehow I seem to tell you all those things and what I don’t happen to tell you, you seem to know anyway!” Daisy saw Roosevelt almost every time he was in Hyde Park and even visited him in Washington, D. C. When in Hyde Park, Roosevelt would take Daisy for drives and they would explore the Hudson Valley together.

In 1939 the King and Queen of England paid an unprecidented personal visit to the US. They were invited by Roosevelt to Hyde Park where the Royal couple attended church services, took a driving tour with FDR, and enjoyed a hot dog picnic at Top Cottage. Suckley also attended many of those royal festivities and described the details in her diaries, now housed in archival collections at Wilderstein Preservation in Rhinebeck, NY.

On September 22, 1935, Daisy and FDR visited a hill in Dutchess County during one of their drives. Thereafter, Daisy and Roosevelt would affectionately refer to Dutchess Hill as “Our Hill.” They began to discuss plans for a cottage there (eventually Top Cottage would be built on this spot) and Daisy started to collect books for “Our Library.” Eventually, Roosevelt shifted his plans and instead of a cottage for the two of them to disappear to after retirement, he envisioned an escape from life as President. This is what it would eventually become, but Daisy always fondly remembered the time they spent on “Our Hill.”

As time progressed, their correspondence lost the flirtatious undertones, but the closeness remained. Roosevelt confided in Daisy, telling her about secret political meetings, such as the Atlantic Charter Conference. She still visited him in Washington and they continued to meet for tea and go for drives when he came to Hyde Park, but Daisy no longer believed they would be sharing the cottage on top of their hill after Roosevelt retired. Instead, she enjoyed his company, continued their correspondence and cherished the small comforts she could provide for him.

In 1940, Daisy presented President Roosevelt with his Scottie, Fala. A friend of Daisy’s had a litter of Scottie puppies and gave one to Daisy. She trained the puppy for six months before presenting him to President Roosevelt. Fala was Roosevelt’s constant companion for the next five years and is considered one of the most popular Presidential pets. After Roosevelt’s death, Daisy took Fala home with her, believing FDR wished her to care for him. However, after a visit from James Roosevelt (FDR’s son), she returned the dog to Eleanor Roosevelt, who would keep him for the rest of his life.

In September of 1941, FDR hired Daisy as an archivist at the new Franklin D. Roosevelt Library. In 1941, Daisy’s life changed again. Her aunt, Sophie Langdon, passed away on August 3. Daisy had been earning a living and supporting her family by acting as her aunt’s companion since the early thirties. Now, she was without a job and her family was without an income.

In September, Roosevelt gave Daisy a job at the new FDR Library in Hyde Park. She would work part time as a junior archivist, sorting Roosevelt’s personal and family papers, earning $1,000 a year. Not only did this solve Daisy’s financial problems, it gave them more opportunities to see each other regularly.

Daisy worked as an archivist at the FDR Library for 22 years. While Roosevelt was still alive, her job consisted of organizing his papers and books. FDR was constantly bringing new things up to the library – papers, books, and objects for the museum. The original library staff was responsible for organizing the material and arranging the museum. After Roosevelt’s death, the library continued organizing his material. Daisy even cataloged the entire contents of both the President's Study at the Library, and of Top Cottage, room by room, creating a master list of the objects and where they were placed. After FDR's death, Daisy no longer spent much time dealing with the manuscripts in the collection. Instead, she worked with the photographs, identifying subjects and creating a filing system. With Daisy’s help, thousands of photographs were cataloged.

Daisy was with President Roosevelt in Warm Springs, GA when he died on April 12, 1945. She was on the train that bore FDR’s body to Washington, D. C. and attended the burial at Hyde Park, NY. She returned to the library, continuing her work, until 1963. Daisy remained at Wilderstein, caring for her family until she was the only one left. In 1980, Wilderstein Preservation was formed to maintain the legacy of her Hudson River home.

She died in her home on June 29, 1991, her 100th year. The people in Roosevelt’s life never suspected Daisy of being exceptionally close to him and it wasn’t until after Daisy’s death that their close friendship was revealed. (Source: http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/abou...)

More:
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by Geoffrey C. Ward
by Cynthia Owen Philip (no photo)
by Elliott Roosevelt
by Kathleen Kinsolving (no photo)
(no image) The President as Architect: Franklin D. Roosevelt's Top Cottage by John G Waite Associates (no photo)
(no image) The True Story of Fala by Margaret Suckley (no photo)

Edmund W. Starling





Colonel Edmund W. Starling was born 5 October 1875 in Christian County in the state of Kentucky. His father wore blue during the war in one of occupied-Kentucky’s Vichy regiments.

Edmund began his career in railroad security and policing with the Louisville and Nashville, and served in the secret service detail for five presidents from Woodrow Wilson to FDR.

Colonel Edmund W. Starling was the former head of the White House Secret Service.

He served for 30 years in Washington.

A funeral service for Colonel Edmund William Starling, former chief of the Secret Service detail in the White House, was conducted by the Red. George C. Hood, pastor of the Madison Avenue - Presbyterian Church - in the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Church, Madison Avenue and Eighty-first Street.

Colonel Starling died in the St. Luke's Hospital on August 5, 1944 at the age of 68. His ashes were buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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by Edmund W. Starling (no photo)
by Ronald Kessler (no photo)
by Andrew Meier (no photo)
by Connie Colwell Miller (no photo)
(no image) The U.S. Secret Service by Ann Gaines (no photo)
(no image)Secret Service Story by Michael Dorman (no photo)

William Stephenson: Code Name Intrepid



Stephenson was born William Samuel Clouston Stanger on 23 January 1897, in Point Douglas, Winnipeg, Manitoba. His mother was from Iceland, and his father was from the Orkney Islands. He was adopted early by an Icelandic family after his parents could no longer care for him, and given his foster parents' name, Stephenson.

He left school at a young age and worked as a telegrapher. In January 1916 he volunteered for service in the 101st Overseas Battalion (Winnipeg Light Infantry), Canadian Expeditionary Force. He left for England on the S.S. Olympic on 29 June 1916, arriving on 6 July 1916.

World War I

On 15 August 1917, Stephenson was officially struck off the strength of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and granted a commission in the Royal Flying Corps. Posted to 73 Squadron on 9 February 1918, he flew the British Sopwith Camel biplane fighter and scored 12 victories to become a flying ace before he was shot and crashed his plane behind enemy lines on 28 July 1918. During the incident Stephenson was injured by fire from a German ace pilot, Justus Grassmann, by friendly fire from a French observer, or by both. In any event he was subsequently captured by the Germans and held as a prisoner of war until he managed to escape in October 1918.

By the end of World War I, Stephenson had achieved the rank of Captain and earned the Military Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross. His medal citations perhaps foreshadow his later achievements, and read:

"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. When flying low and observing an open staff car on a road, he attacked it with such success that later it was seen lying in the ditch upside down. During the same flight he caused a stampede amongst some enemy transport horses on a road. Previous to this he had destroyed a hostile scout and a two-seater plane. His work has been of the highest order, and he has shown the greatest courage and energy in engaging every kind of target."
- Military Cross citation, Supplement to the London Gazette, 22 June 1919.

"This officer has shown conspicuous gallantry and skill in attacking enemy troops and transports from low altitudes, causing heavy casualties. His reports, also, have contained valuable and precise information. He has further proved himself a keen antagonist in the air, having, during recent operations, accounted for six enemy aeroplanes.
- Distinguished Flying Cross citation, Supplement to the London Gazette, 21 September 1928.

World War II

As early as April 1936, Stephenson was voluntarily providing confidential information to British opposition MP Winston Churchill about how Adolf Hitler's Nazi government was building up its armed forces and hiding military expenditures of eight hundred million pounds sterling. This was a clear violation of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and showed the growing Nazi threat to European and international security. Churchill used Stephenson's information in Parliament to warn against the appeasement policies of the government of Neville Chamberlain.

After World War II began (and over the objections of Sir Stewart Menzies, wartime head of British intelligence) now-Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent Stephenson to the United States on 21 June 1940, to covertly establish and run British Security Coordination (BSC) in New York City, over a year before U.S. entry into the war.

BSC, with headquarters at Room 3603 Rockefeller Center, became an umbrella organization that by war's end represented the British intelligence agencies MI5, MI6 (the Secret Intelligence Service, or SIS), SOE (Special Operations Executive) and PWE (Political Warfare Executive) throughout North America, South America and the Caribbean.

Stephenson's initial directives for BSC were to 1) investigate enemy activities; 2) institute security measures against sabotage to British property; and 3) organize American public opinion in favour of aid to Britain. Later this was expanded to include "the assurance of American participation in secret activities throughout the world in the closest possible collaboration with the British". Stephenson's official title was British Passport Control Officer. His unofficial mission was to create a secret British intelligence network throughout the western hemisphere, and to operate covertly and broadly on behalf of the British government and the Allies in aid of winning the war. He also became Churchill's personal representative to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Stephenson was soon a close adviser to Roosevelt, and suggested that he put Stephenson's good friend William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan in charge of all U.S. intelligence services. Donovan founded the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which in 1947 would become the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). As senior representative of British intelligence in the western hemisphere, Stephenson was one of the few persons in the hemisphere who were authorized to view raw Ultra transcripts of German Enigma ciphers that had been decrypted at Britain's Bletchley Park facility. He was trusted by Churchill to decide what Ultra information to pass along to various branches of the U.S. and Canadian governments.

Under Stephenson, BSC directly influenced U.S. media (including newspaper columns by Walter Winchell and Drew Pearson), and media in other hemisphere countries, toward pro-British and anti-Axis views. Once the U.S. had entered the war in Dec. 1941, BSC went on to train U.S. propagandists from the United States Office of War Information in Canada. BSC covert intelligence and propaganda efforts directly affected wartime developments in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Mexico, the Central American countries, Bermuda, Cuba and Puerto Rico.

Stephenson worked without salary.He hired hundreds of people, mostly Canadian women, to staff his organization and covered much of the expense out of his own pocket. His employees included secretive communications genius Benjamin deForest "Pat" Bayly and future advertising wizard David Ogilvy. Stephenson employed Amy Elizabeth Thorpe, codenamed CYNTHIA, to seduce Vichy French officials into giving up Enigma ciphers and secrets from their Washington embassy. At the height of the war Bayly, a University of Toronto professor from Moose Jaw, created the Rockex, the fast secure communications system that would eventually be relied on by all the Allies.

Not least of Stephenson's contributions to the war effort was the setting up by BSC of Camp X in Whitby, Ontario, the first training school for clandestine operations in Canada and North America. Some 2,000 British, Canadian and American covert operators were trained there from 1941 to 1945, including students from ISO, OSS, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, United States Navy and Military Intelligence, and the United States Office of War Information, among them five future directors of what would become the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

Camp X graduates operated in Europe (Spain, Portugal, Italy and the Balkans) as well as in Africa, Australia, India and the Pacific. They included Ian Fleming (though there is evidence to the contrary), future author of the James Bond books. It has been said that the fictional Goldfinger's raid on Fort Knox was inspired by a Stephenson plan (never carried out) to steal $2,883,000,000 in Vichy French gold reserves from the French Caribbean colony of Martinique.

BSC purchased from Philadelphia radio station WCAU a ten-kilowatt transmitter and installed it at Camp X. By mid-1944, Hydra (as the Camp X transmitter was known) was transmitting 30,000 and receiving 9,000 message groups daily — much of the secret Allied intelligence traffic across the Atlantic.

For his extraordinary service to the war effort, he was knighted into the order of Knights Bachelor by King George VI in the 1945 New Year's Honours List. In recommending Stephenson for knighthood, Winston Churchill wrote: "This one is dear to my heart."

In 1946 Stephenson received the Medal for Merit from President Harry S. Truman, at that time the highest U.S. civilian award; he was the first non-American to receive the medal. General "Wild Bill" Donovan presented the award. The citation paid tribute to Stephenson's "valuable assistance to America in the fields of intelligence and special operations".

The "Quiet Canadian" was recognized by his native land late: he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada on 17 December 1979, and invested in the Order on 5 February 1980.

Stephenson died on 31 January 1989, aged 92, in Paget, Bermuda. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_...)

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by H. Montgomery Hyde
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by Thomas F. Troy (no photo)
by Edward Hymoff (no photo)
(no image) Camp X: OSS, Intrepid and the Allies' North American Training Camp for Secret Agents, 1941-1945 by David Stafford (no photo)

All,

This is a great opportunity to take advantage of a free course on the Second World War - this is an open course offered by Harvard:

World War II video lectures

CHARLES S. MAIER, PHD, LEVERETT SALTONSTALL PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY

The course World War and Society in the Twentieth Century: World War II is a thematic exploration of the war and its time through feature films, primary sources, and scholarly interpretations.

It seeks to provide a means for analyzing and evaluating what one reads or sees about World War II in terms of historical accuracy and for gaining a broader understanding of different perspectives. Themes include the impact of war on soldiers and civilians, on the home front, women in war, the Japanese and German viewpoints, and postwar issues. Films include Mrs. Miniver, The Pianist, The Winter War, So Proudly We Hail, Taking Sides, The Hiding Place, and The Cranes Are Flying.

The lecture videos
The recorded lectures are from the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences course Historical Study B-54, which was offered as HIST E-1890, an online course at Harvard Extension School.

Watch the lectures as streaming video or audio. Each lecture is 50 minutes



http://www.extension.harvard.edu/open...

Ralph Van Deman



Ralph Henry Van Deman (1865–1952) was a United States Army officer, sometimes called "The Father of American Military Intelligence."[citation needed] General Van Deman is in the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame.

Early career
Van Deman was born in Delaware, Ohio, and graduated from Harvard in 1888. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant of infantry in 1891 after attending law school, and enrolling in medical school. He received his medical degree from the Miami University Medical School in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1893.

Van Deman then entered the Army as a surgeon, before attending the Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth in early 1895. There he met Arthur L. Wagner who became head of the War Department's Military Information Division in 1896. In June 1897 Van Deman followed Wagner to Washington to work for MID.

Military Intelligence Division
During the Spanish-American War Van Deman collected information on the military capabilities of Spain in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines and had charge of the White House war map. At the end of hostilities he went to Cuba and Puerto Rico to collect cartographic data. He was reassigned to the Philippines in April 1899 as aide to Brigadier-General Robert Patterson Hughes. After two years he was promoted to Captain and was moved to the Bureau of Insurgent Records in Manila, which he helped transform into the Philippine Military Information Division. He organized a counter-intelligence group using locally-recruited agents. (See Philippine-American War).

He returned to the U.S. in late 1902, where he served as aide to the Commanding General, California, and then commanded Company B, 22nd Infantry, based at Fairbault, Minnesota. In 1904 he was one of nine officers selected for the first class of the Army War College (Another was John J. Pershing.) After graduation in 1906, he and Captain Alexander Coxe were sent on a covert mission to China to reconnoiter and map lines of communication around Peking. He returned to Washington in 1907 to become the Chief of the Mapping Section in the Second Division of the new General Staff. (On 26 October 1909 his wife became the first American woman to fly from American soil, being piloted by Wilbur Wright). He returned to the Philippines in 1910. There he resumed his project to map Chinese railways, roads and rivers until Japanese protests led to his expulsion in 1912.

Re-formation of MID
Back in the United States he taught cartography, then became Inspector-General with the 2nd Division. Now a major, he returned to the War College Division in July 1915. He found that there was a general apathy about intelligence-gathering, and the MID had been downgraded from the second division of the General Staff, and merged with the third division, ending its separate identity. Van Deman wrote a history of MID detailing its beginnings in 1885, its rise in 1903, and fall in subsequent years. He was convinced that the Army must have a coordinated intelligence organization if it were to avoid defeat in the near future, especially as it was now obvious that the U.S. would soon be involved in the war in Europe. Eventually Van Deman was able to get an audience with the Secretary of War to present his case. There he convinced the War Department to accept his idea of an intelligence department for U.S. forces. A crucial role was played by Colonel Claude Dansey of the British Security Service in proposing similar ideas to Colonel Edward M. House, a member of an American liaison mission to Britain and one of President Wilson's advisors.

World War I
As the result of these efforts the Military Intelligence Section, War College Division, War Department General Staff, was created on 3 May 1917, with Van Deman, now a Colonel, at its head. His friend and colleague Alexander Coxe was the first officer appointed. By the war's end in 1919, it had grown to 282 officers and 1,159 civilians, most of them specialists. One of these was Herbert Yardley, a cipher clerk with the State Department who Van Deman made a first lieutenant and put in charge of codes and ciphers.

Van Deman modelled his new organization on British Army intelligence, and divided it into several departments:

MI-1 - Administration
MI-2 - Information
MI-3 - Army Section (counterespionage)
MI-4 - Foreign Influence (counterespionage within the civilian community)
MI-5 - Military Attaches
MI-6 - Translation
MI-7 - Maps and Photographs
MI-8 - Codes and Ciphers
MI-9 - Combat Intelligence
MI-10 - News (censorship)
MI-11 - Travel (passport and port control)
MI-12 - Fraud

As well as military intelligence gathering, MID was also tasked with preventing sabotage and subversion by enemy agents or German sympathizers on US soil. Short of manpower, Van Deman relied on private groups which he organized into the American Protective League. He also provided security to government offices, defense plants, seaports, and other sensitive installations. He created a field organization in eight US cities which employed mobilized civilian policemen to perform security investigations. In France, MID provided operational intelligence to the American Expeditionary Force, and Van Deman created the Corps of Intelligence Police (forerunner of the Counter Intelligence Corps), recruiting fifty French-speaking Sergeants with police training. Thus, within a few months, he had created an intelligence organization that could support both domestic and tactical intelligence requirements.

Post-war activities
In 1918 Van Deman went to France to work for Colonel Dennis Nolan, G2 of the AEF, handing over control of the MID to Brigadier-General Marlborough Churchill. After overseeing security at the Paris Peace Commission, he returned to Washington in August 1919 to briefly serve as Deputy Chief of the MID. In March 1920 he returned to the army and commanded the 31st Infantry in the Philippines. He also spent three months on detached service with the British Army in India.

He returned to the US and had a series of tours with the National Guard. He worked in the Washington headquarters of the Militia Bureau, then served as an instructor with the 159th Infantry Brigade in Berkeley, California. As a Brigadier-General he commanded the 6th Infantry Brigade at Fort Rosecrans, San Diego, California from 1927. He was promoted to Major-General in May 1929, and commanded the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington. He retired in September 1929 after 38 years of service.

After retiring he used the contacts he had established during World War I in the American Protective League to privately compile files on suspected subversives and foreign agents.

During World War II he acted as a consultant on intelligence matters to the War Department, for which he received a Legion of Merit. Notable among his recommendations was that he sent a passionate defense of Japanese-American citizens to President Roosevelt; the advice that they were not a threat was, however, ignored (leading to the Japanese American internment).

In January 1952, at the age of 86, he died in his home in San Diego.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Va...)

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by Brian McAllister Linn (no photo)
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(no image) Final Memoranda Major General Ralph H. Van Deman, USA Ret. 1865-1952, Father of U.S. Military Intelligence by Ralph H. Van Deman (no photo)

Arthur MacArthur, Jr.



Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur, Jr. (June 2, 1845 – September 5, 1912), was a United States Army general. He became the military Governor-General of the American-occupied Philippines in 1900 but his term ended a year later due to clashes with the civilian governor, future President William Howard Taft. His son, Douglas MacArthur, was one of only five men ever to be promoted to the five-star rank of General of the Army. In addition to their both being promoted to the rank of general officer, Arthur MacArthur, Jr. and Douglas MacArthur also share the distinction of having been the first father and son to each be awarded a Medal of Honor (the only other pair being Theodore Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.).

Early life
Born in Chicopee Falls, then part of Springfield, Massachusetts, MacArthur was the father of General Douglas MacArthur, as well as Arthur MacArthur III, a captain in the Navy who was awarded the Navy Cross in World War I. His own father, Arthur MacArthur, Sr., was the fourth governor of Wisconsin (albeit for only four days) and a judge in Milwaukee.

Civil War
At the outbreak of the Civil War, MacArthur was living in Wisconsin. On August 4, 1862, at the age of 17, he was commissioned as a first lieutenant and appointed as adjutant of the 24th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment, seeing action at Chickamauga, Stones River, Chattanooga, the Atlanta Campaign and Franklin.

At the Battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863 during the Chattanooga Campaign, the 18-year-old MacArthur inspired his regiment by seizing and planting the regimental flag on the crest of Missionary Ridge at a particularly critical moment, shouting "On Wisconsin." For these actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. He was brevetted colonel in the Union Army the following year. Only 19 years old at the time, he became nationally recognized as "The Boy Colonel" (not to be confused with Henry K. Burgwyn, known as the "Boy Colonel of the Confederacy").

He was promoted to major on January 25, 1864 and to lieutenant colonel on May 18, 1865 - shortly before he was mustered out of service on June 10, 1865.

In recognition of his gallantry in action he received brevets (honorary promotions) to lieutenant colonel and colonel dated March 15, 1865.

Indian Wars
With the conclusion of the Civil War in June 1865, MacArthur resigned his commission and began the study of law. After just a few months, however, he decided this was not a good fit for him, so he resumed his career with the Army. He was recommissioned on February 23, 1866 as a second lieutenant in the Regular Army's U.S. 17th Infantry Regiment, with a promotion the following day to first lieutenant. Because of his outstanding record of performance during the Civil War, he was promoted in September of that year to captain. However, he would remain a captain for the following two decades, as promotion was slow in the small peacetime army.

Between 1866 and 1884, Captain MacArthur and his wife (Mary Pinkney Hardy MacArthur) completed assignments in Pennsylvania, New York, Utah Territory, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Three children were born during this time:
- Arthur MacArthur III (born on August 1, 1876-died December 2, 1923 of Appendicitis)
- Malcolm MacArthur (born October 17, 1878, died 1883 of measles)
- Douglas MacArthur (born January 26, 1880, died April 5, 1964), at the Arsenal Barracks in Little Rock, Arkansas

In 1884, MacArthur became the post commander of Fort Selden, in New Mexico. The following year, he took part in the campaign against Geronimo. In 1889, he was promoted to Assistant Adjutant General of the Army with the rank of major, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1897.

Spanish-American War
During the first part of the Spanish American War, MacArthur was serving as the adjutant general of the III Corps in Georgia. In June 1898 he was promoted to a temporary Brigadier General in the volunteer army and commanded the Third Philippine Expedition. When he arrived in the Philippines he took command of the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, VIII Corps and led it at the Battle of Manila (1898). He was appointed Major General of volunteers on August 13, 1898.

Philippine-American War
MacArthur was stationed in the Dakota Territory when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898 and was commissioned a Brigadier General of U.S. Volunteers. He led the U.S. 2nd Division, VIII Corps during the Philippine-American War at the Battle of Manila (1899), the Malolos campaign and the Northern Offensive. When the American occupation of the Philippines turned from conventional battles to guerrilla warfare, MacArthur commanded the Department of Northern Luzon. In January 1900, he was appointed Brigadier General in the regular army and was appointed military governor of the Philippines and assumed command of the VIII Corps, replacing General Elwell S. Otis.

He authorized the expedition, under General Frederick Funston, that resulted in the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo. MacArthur persuaded the captured Aguinaldo to cease fighting and to swear allegiance to the United States. He was promoted to major general in the Regular Army on February 5, 1901.

After the war, President William McKinley named him Military Governor of the Philippines, but the following year, William Howard Taft was appointed as Civilian Governor. Taft and MacArthur clashed frequently. So severe were his difficulties with Taft over U.S. military actions in the war that MacArthur was eventually relieved and transferred to command the Department of the Pacific, where he was promoted to lieutenant general.

Return to the United States
In the years that followed, he was assigned to various stateside posts and in 1905 was sent to Manchuria to observe the final stages of the Russo-Japanese War and served as military attaché to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. He returned to the U.S. in 1906 and resumed his post as Commander of the Pacific Division. That year the position of Army Chief of Staff became available and he was then the highest-ranking officer in the Army as a lieutenant general (three stars). However, he was passed over by Secretary of War William Howard Taft. He never did realize his dream of commanding the entire Army.

Retirement
MacArthur retired from the Army on June 2, 1909, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 64. He was one of the last officers on active duty in the Army who had served in the Civil War.

MacArthur was elected a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) in 1868 and was assigned insignia number 648. On May 6, 1908 he was elected commander of the Wisconsin Commandery of MOLLUS. He was elected as the Order's senior vice commander in chief on October 18, 1911 and became the Order's commander in chief upon the death of Rear Admiral George T. Melville on March 12, 1912.

On September 5, 1912, he went to Milwaukee to address a reunion of his Civil War unit. While on the dais, he suffered a heart attack and died there, aged 67. He was originally buried in Milwaukee on Monday, September 7, 1912, but was moved to Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery in 1926. He is buried among other members of the family there, while his son, Douglas chose to be buried in Norfolk, Virginia.
(Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_....)

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by Douglas MacArthur
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Field Marshal Sir John Dill



Dill was born in Lurgan on 25 December 1881, son of the local bank manager. He attended Cheltenham College and the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. In 1901 he joined the 1st battalion of the Leinster regiment and saw action in the Second Boer War.

On the outbreak of the World War I he became brigade-major of the 25th brigade (8th division) in France where he was present at Neuve Chapelle, Alvers Ridge and Bois Grenier. By the end of the war he was a brigadier general, had been wounded in action and mentioned in despatches eight times. After the war he gained a reputation as a gifted army instructor. He was promoted to major general in 1930, taking up appointments at the Staff College and then in the War Office.

Dill commanded British forces in Palestine (1936 - 1937). He was commander of I Corps in France (1939-40), returning to the UK in April 1940 when he was appointed Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff by the then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. In May 1940, after Churchill had replaced Chamberlain, Dill was appointed as CIGS. Later in 1940, he became ADC General to King George VI.

By the time Churchill worked with Dill as Chief of the Imperial General Staff it was clear how poorly the two men got on. Dill gained a reputation as obstructive and unimaginative. To get him out of the way, Churchill posted him to Washington as his personal representative in 1941 where he became Chief of the British Joint Staff Mission, then Senior British Representative on the Combined Chiefs of Staff.

In Washington Dill found his feet, excelling as a diplomatic military presence. In 1943 alone he attended the Conferences in Quebec, Casablanca and Tehran, and also meetings in India, China and Brazil. He served briefly on the combined policy committee set up by the British and United States governments under the Quebec Agreement to oversee the construction of the atomic bomb.

He was immensely important in making the Chiefs of Staff committee - which included members from both countries - function, often smoothing ruffled feathers in the clash of cultures that followed. He was particularly friendly with General George Marshall (he of the Marshall Plan) and the two exercised a great deal of influence on President Roosevelt who described Dill as "the most important figure in the remarkable accord that has been developed in the combined operations of our two countries".

Dill served in Washington until his death in November 1944. Following a memorial service in Washington Cathedral he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was posthumously awarded an American Distinguished Service Medal in 1945 as well as receiving an unprecedented joint resolution of Congress appreciating his services.

An equestrian statue in his honour was unveiled by President Harry S Truman in Arlington National Cemetery in November 1950.
(Source: http://www.ulsterhistory.co.uk/dill.htm)

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Kathleen Harriman



Kathleen Harriman Mortimer, the younger of the two daughters of W. Averell Harriman and his first wife Kitty Lanier Lawrance, died at age ninety-three on February 17th in her cottage at Arden, New York. Mrs. Mortimer grew up in town houses in New York City and estates on Long Island, Aiken, South Carolina, and in a 100,000 square foot house designed by Carrere & Hastings, perched at the highest point in the Ramapo River Valley with sweeping views. Commissioned by her grandfather, Union Pacific Railroad magnate Edward Henry Harriman, Arden House had a funicular for taking guests and supplies up the mountain and even the occasional horse, either for riding or a visit to the halls of the house, which happened on more than one occasion. Growing up in a large house with a massive organ in a cathedral-ceilinged music room had its drawbacks. Mrs. Mortimer was made by her grandmother the richest woman in America upon the death of her husband to sit through endless Sunday recitals of guest organists, which put her off organ music for the rest of her life. Like her father, Mrs. Mortimer was a fearless, natural athlete: a crack shot, tennis and golf player, fisherwoman, and, at the Foxcroft School, a member of the elite riding team distinguished by their Garibaldi-style lamb's fur hats. Instead of attending one of the more traditional Seven Sisters women's colleges, Mrs. Mortimer chose Bennington, where she was a member of its fourth graduating class. There she skied on Mount Washington before going on to become a leading racer on the East Coast as well as one of the champion women skiers at the resort of Sun Valley, Idaho, founded in 1936 by her father, as a destination for the Union Pacific Railroad. In 1940, Mrs. Mortimer was chosen as an alternate for the U.S. Olympic Ski Team, but decided to stay in college and graduate rather than train. Well into her 70s she could be seen schussing down Sun Valley runs with her friend Gretchen Fraser, the first American to win an Olympic gold medal for skiing, in 1948.

At age twenty-three, in 1941, Mrs. Mortimer joined her father in London where he was administrator for the Lend-Lease Act and served as the principal liaison between President Roosevelt and the British government. She had only planned to stay a short time but instead became a reporter for Hearst's International News Service and Newsweek magazine. In London she shared an apartment with Pamela Digby Churchill and turned over her paycheck to the always strapped for cash daughterin-law of the prime minister. Thirty years later her former roommate would become her step-mother. It was in the middle of a birthday party given for her by Prime Minister Winston Churchill at his country estate Chequers on December 7, 1942 that Churchill and the other guests learned of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

When her father was appointed Ambassador to Russia in 1943, he took his daughter, who acted as his hostess at Spaso House in Moscow where Lillian Hellman stayed for a while in Mrs. Mortimer's sitting room recovering from pneumonia. George F. Kennan, the senior career Foreign Service officer in Moscow, commented that blessedly Mrs. Mortimer had--very un-Harriman-like--a sense of humor. During that time, Mrs. Mortimer worked at the Office of War Information, visited hospitals, came in third in the 1943 Moscow slalom championships, acted as her father's interpreter with her basic Russian, and accompanied him everywhere meeting every important figure in Europe and Russia during World War II.

In 1944 Ambassador Harriman placed his daughter in the middle of one of the most highly sensitive situations of the war--the Soviet attempt to escape blame for the massacre of the Polish Army officers when the Russian Army occupied eastern Poland. That year, along with seventeen western correspondents, Mrs. Mortimer was transported by a luxurious train and then driven into the Katyn Forest where the mass graves had been opened, and the thousands of disintegrating bodies had been laid out in tents, so autopsies could be observed. Based on her and the other reporters' notes, Germany was blamed. The Russians continued to deny responsibility for the massacre until 1990.

At the beginning of 1945 Mrs. Mortimer boarded a train to Yalta two weeks in advance of the conference attended by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin in order to prepare accommodations for the large American contingent at the climatic meeting of the war. She came away very skeptical about Stalin. Two months later the U.S.-Soviet relationship had disintegrated. In January, a year later, Mrs. Mortimer left Moscow with her father via the Far East where they met with Chiang Kai-shek and General George Marshall. Several months later two Russian thoroughbred stallions called Fact and Boston arrived in New York as a farewell gift to the Harrimans from Stalin.

According to Harriman biographer Rudy Abramson, Having been pursued through the war by journalists, diplomats, and military officers, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., Kathleen returned to New York and became engaged to Stanley G. Mortimer, Jr. who had grown up in Tuxedo Park just down the road from Arden. Mr. Mortimer was a Standard Oil heir and advertising executive, and had been married to Barbara Cushing Paley.

Mrs. Mortimer was indefatigable in campaigning for her father in his runs for political office as governor of New York State in 1954 and 1958 as well as for the candidacy for the Democratic Presidential Nomination in 1952, and again in 1956 when he was endorsed by Truman. Harriman lost, both times, to Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson.

An activist, but raised with old school beliefs and finding notoriety unseemly, Mrs. Mortimer was greatly influenced by her aunt Mary Harriman Rumsey, who founded the Junior League in 1901 as a Barnard College student and mobilized eighty of her friends, including Eleanor Roosevelt, to work to improve settlement houses in New York. Mrs. Mortimer followed her aunt's example and remained engaged throughout her life in health care, educational, public policy, and philanthropic interests. She was on the board of trustees of the Visiting Nurse Service, The Harriman Institute, the Foundation for Child Development, The American Assembly, Bennington College, among other organizations, and she was president of the Mary W. Harriman Foundation. Several years ago a foundation was renamed the Mary and Kathleen Harriman Foundation in honor of Mrs. Mortimer and her sister Mary Fisk.

Mrs. Mortimer remained a competitive amateur athlete all her life and seemed prouder of her three sons' athletic achievements than anything else. She and her husband hosted spaniel field trials in Arden, and she continued to exercise horses into her mid 80s. She is survived by her sons, David, Jay, and Averell Mortimer of New York, her stepson, Stanley G. Mortimer III of Palm Beach and stepdaughter, Amanda M. Burden of New York; ten grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren.
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William F. Friedman



Wolfe Frederick Friedman was born on 24 September 1891 in Kishinev, then part of imperial Russia, now Chisinau, capital of Moldova. His father, an interpreter for the Czar's postal service, emigrated to the United States the following year to escape increasing anti-Semitic regulations; the family joined him in Pittsburgh in 1893. Three years after that, when the elder Friedman became a U.S. citizen, Wolfe's name was changed to William.

After receiving a B.S. and doing some graduate work in genetics at Cornell University, William Friedman was hired by Riverbank Laboratories, what would today be termed a "think tank," outside Chicago. There he became interested in the study of codes and ciphers, thanks to his concurrent interest in Elizebeth Smith, who was doing cryptanalytic research at Riverbank. Friedman left Riverbank to become a cryptologic officer during World War I, the beginning of a distinguished career in government service.

Friedman's contributions thereafter are well known-- prolific author, teacher, and practitioner of cryptology. Perhaps his greatest achievements were introducing mathematical and scientific methods into cryptology and producing training materials used by several generations of pupils. His work affected for the better both signals intelligence and information systems security, and much of what is done today at NSA may be traced to William Friedman's pioneering efforts.

To commemorate the contributions of the Friedmans, in 2002 the OPS1 building on the NSA complex was dedicated as the William and Elizebeth Friedman Building.
(Source: http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_...)

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Hamilton Fish, III



Hamilton Fish, (son of Hamilton Fish [1849-1936], grandson of Hamilton Fish [1808-1893], and father of Hamilton Fish, Jr. [1926-1996]), a Representative from New York; born in Garrison, Putnam County, N.Y., December 7, 1888; attended St. Marks School; was graduated from Harvard University in 1910; elected as a Progressive to the New York State assembly, 1914-1916; commissioned on July 15, 1917, captain of Company K, Fifteenth New York National Guard (colored), which subsequently became the Three Hundred and Sixty-ninth Infantry; was discharged as a major on May 14, 1919; decorated with the Croix de Guerre and the American Silver Star and also cited in War Department general orders; colonel in the Officers’ Reserve Corps; delegate, Republican National Convention, 1928; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-sixth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Edmund Platt; reelected to the Sixty-seventh and to the eleven succeeding Congresses and served from November 2, 1920, to January 3, 1945; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1944 to the Seventy-ninth Congress; author; was a resident of Cold Spring, N.Y., until his death there on January 18, 1991; interment in Cemetery of Saint Philip’s Church in the Highlands, Garrison, N.Y.
(Source: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/...)

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USS Arizona









USS Arizona, a 31,400 ton Pennsylvania class battleship built at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, was commissioned in October 1916. After shakedown off the east coast and in the Caribbean, she operated out of Norfolk, Virginia, until November 1918, when she made a brief cruise to France. She made a second cruise to European waters in April-June 1919, proceeding as far east as Turkey. During much of 1920-21, the battleship was in the western Atlantic and Caribbean areas, but paid two visits to Peru in 1921 in her first excursions into the Pacific. From August 1921 until 1929, Arizona was based in Southern California, making occasional cruises to the Caribbean or Hawaii during major U.S. Fleet exercises.

In 1929-31, Arizona was modernized at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, emerging with a radically altered appearance and major improvements to her armament and protection. In March 1931, she transported President Herbert Hoover and his party to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. In August of that year, Arizona returned to the Pacific, continuing her operations with the Battle Fleet during the next decade. From 1940, she, and the other Pacific Fleet battleships, were based at Pearl Harbor on the orders of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Arizona was moored in Pearl Harbor's "Battleship Row" on the morning of 7 December 1941, when Japanese carrier aircraft attacked. She was hit by several bombs, one of which penetrated her forecastle and detonated her forward ammunition magazines. The resulting massive explosion totally wrecked the ship's forward hull, collapsing her forward superstructure and causing her to sink, with the loss of over 1100 of her crewmen. In the following months, much of her armament and topside structure was removed, with the two after triple 14" gun turrets being transferred to the Army for emplacement as coast defense batteries on Oahu.

The wrecked battleship's hull remained where she sank, a tomb for many of those lost with her. In 1950, she began to be used as a site for memorial ceremonies, and, in the early 1960s a handsome memorial structure was constructed over her midships hull. This USS Arizona Memorial, operated by the National Park Service, is a permanent shrine to those Americans who lost their lives in the attack on Pearl Harbor and in the great Pacific War that began there.
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Tripartite Pact (1940)



On this day in [September 27] 1940, the Axis powers are formed as Germany, Italy, and Japan become allies with the signing of the Tripartite Pact in Berlin. The Pact provided for mutual assistance should any of the signatories suffer attack by any nation not already involved in the war. This formalizing of the alliance was aimed directly at "neutral" America--designed to force the United States to think twice before venturing in on the side of the Allies.

The Pact also recognized the two spheres of influence. Japan acknowledged "the leadership of Germany and Italy in the establishment of a new order in Europe," while Japan was granted lordship over "Greater East Asia."
(Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-hi...)

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Sara Delano Roosevelt







Sara Delano Roosevelt (SDR) was the daughter of Warren Delano, a wealthy merchant who made a fortune in the tea and opium trade in China, and after losing it, returned to make a second fortune. Sara grew up in Hong Kong from 1862-65 and in Algonac, the family estate on the Hudson River near Newburgh, New York. She was educated at home, except for a short period in 1867 when she attended a school for girls in Dresden, Germany. Sara Delano was tall and radiantly beautiful and had many suitors. At twenty-six, to the surprise of her friends, she married James Roosevelt, a widower who was twice her age. By all accounts, she found great happiness in her marriage and in life on her husband's Hyde Park, New York, estate. After the birth of Franklin Delano Roosevelton January 30, 1882, she was advised to have no more children. She became absorbed in raising her only son, reading to him, giving him baths, and directing his activities herself rather than leaving these tasks to servants. After the death of her husband in 1900, she became still more single-mindedly focused on her son and his welfare. She moved temporarily to Boston when he attended Harvard in order to be near him. No mother could have been more devoted. She was also strong willed, controlling, opinionated, and inflexible. She does not seem to have been enthusiastic about any of the young women her son courted and, when he fell in love and proposed marriage to Eleanor Roosevelt, she tried to change his mind and insisted that the engagement be kept secret for a year.

After Franklin and Eleanor's marriage on March 17, 1905, SDR planned every facet of their lives. She built a double townhouse at 49 East 65th Street in Manhattan, one half for them, one half for herself. Later, she bought a cottage for them right next to her own on the island of Campobello where she spent her summers. When children began to arrive, she was there with advice on how to rear them and she often undermined parental discipline by spoiling them. The Delanos were a close and supportive family, unlike ER's mother's family, the Halls, and ER at first appreciated her mother-in-law's attention. She felt insecure about her role as a mother and relied on Sara's direction. She tried to please Sara and win her affection. But Sara was aloof and emotionally focused on her son, Franklin. ER soon found her mother-in-law's domination oppressive and struggled to achieve her independence. As she developed her own interests, friends, and activities, and in the 1920s emerged as a political leader in her own right, she was able to escape Sara's authority. At times FDR and ER became allies in opposing Sara's will. After polio paralyzed FDR's legs, Sara wanted FDR to retire to Hyde Park and live the rest of his life as a country gentleman, but ER strongly supported FDR's desire to return to politics. Sara hated politics, hated publicity, hated newspapermen, and was prejudiced against any individual or group not belonging to her elite social class. Ironically, the public lives of both her son and her daughter-in-law exposed her to much that she found distasteful. She retained her dignity, her pride in her family and lineage, and her strong opinions, however, and remained in charge of Springwood, the estate in Hyde Park that she had shared with her husband and then with FDR, until her death. FDR never created a home with ER that was separate from his mother's home and even after Sara's death FDR refused to make any changes in the way the house was furnished or decorated.

After Sara died on September 7, 1941, ER wrote in her column that Sara's "strongest trait was loyalty to her family. . . . She was not just sweetness and light, for there was a streak of jealously and possessiveness in her when her own were concerned." ER recognized Sara's fierce strength, but she could not love her. "It is dreadful," she wrote a friend, "to have lived so close to someone for 36 years & feel no deep affection or sense of loss. It is hard on Franklin however."
(Source: http://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teaching...)

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Elliott Roosevelt



Elliott Roosevelt, the third child of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt, was his mother's favorite child and the one for whom she felt the most responsibility. After attending Groton, Elliott decided not to attend college as his brothers had. Instead, he went into business where his flamboyance soon attracted unwelcome media attention. Tensions increased in 1940 when Elliott decided to second the vice-presidential nomination of Jesse Jones rather than support Henry Wallace, his father's candidate. Elliott partially redeemed himself during World War II, accompanying FDR as a military aide to the Casablanca and Cairo-Teheran Conferences and serving as a photo reconnaissance pilot.

After FDR's death in 1945, Elliott and his family moved to Top Cottage to be near ER and to enable her to live at Val-Kill as she wished. Mother and son also joined in a farming venture, Val-Kill farms, which proved to be unprofitable. During this period, Elliott also served as ER's agent, arranging the serialization of the second volume of her autobiography and developing both a television and a radio series which she hosted.

During this period, with ER's support, Elliott pursued a writing career. His first book, As He Saw It (1946), was controversial because it portrayed the British and the Americans as allies against a largely guiltless Soviet Union in the postwar world. ER, who did not agree with Elliott's conclusions but had nevertheless written the book's dedication, defended the book and her son. She continued to support Elliot by giving him the permissions necessary to edit four volumes of his father's letters and writing the introductions for each.

However, by 1952 the relationship between mother and son frayed when Elliott unexpectedly sold Top Cottage. Elliott left Hyde Park and thereafter he was involved in several different activities. He raised Arabian horses in Portugal, served as mayor of Miami Beach between 1965 and 1969, and with a collaborator produced three nonfiction books about his parents' lives. He also wrote a series of mysteries in which ER was portrayed as an amateur detective.
Elliott died of congestive heart failure in 1990.
(Source: http://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/mep/disp...)

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Mary Pinkney MacArthur (1852 - 1935)





During the Victorian era in which she was raised, women like Mary Pinkney Hardy MacArthur, known as "Pinky" to her friends, were more often judged by the achievements of their husbands and sons than by their own. Applying this standard, Mrs. MacArthur -- wife of a highly accomplished General, mother of one of the greatest soldiers in American history -- was surely one of the more successful women of her day.

She was raised at Riveredge, the Hardy family plantation just outside of Norfolk, Virginia. A proper Southern belle, Pinky was proud of her four brothers who fought with the Confederate Army. Her family was less than pleased, then, when she announced her engagement to Arthur MacArthur, Jr., the young hero of the Union's important victory at Missionary Ridge. Her brothers refused to attend the ceremony when the two were married at Riveredge in May of 1875. But the color of her husband's uniform mattered less to Pinky than the honor of his vocation, and she proved to be an outstanding army wife.

Life on rough, isolated army posts like the one at Ft. Selden, New Mexico was hard enough for soldiers; one can imagine how difficult it must have been for a woman raised in Southern high society, trying to raise young boys. But it was in these years -- likely the most trying of her life -- that Pinky's iron will and toughness became apparent to all. One friend, noting "her swift poise and the imperious way she held her head," commented that "in my picture of her there is a lot of white muslin dress swishing around and a blaze of white New Mexican sunlight, and in the midst of it this slender, vital creature that I have never forgotten."

But beyond the general hardship, Pinky's greatest test came when her middle son, four-year-old Malcolm, died of measles in New Mexico in 1883. In his "Reminiscences," Douglas would write that this loss was "a terrible blow to my mother, but it seemed only to increase her devotion to Arthur and myself." In these early years his father was the figure on which Douglas would model himself, but his mother played an equally important role. "My mother, with some help from my father, began the education of her two boys," MacArthur remembered. "Our teaching included not only the simple rudiments, but above all else a sense of obligation. We were to do what was right no matter what the personal sacrifice might be. Our country was always to come first."

In many ways, Pinky's relationship with her youngest son would become the dominant factor in the latter half of her life. In 1898, with her husband fighting a war half a world away in the Philippines, Pinky lived near Douglas at West Point, where her prodding and encouragement would help him finish first in his class. After the death of her husband in 1912 and the premature death of her eldest son Arthur in 1923 (which cut off a promising naval career), Pinky allied herself even more closely with Douglas. In 1925, she wrote a fawning letter to Army Chief of Staff John J. Pershing, imploring him to "be real good and sweet -- the 'Dear Old Jack' of long ago...and give my boy his well earned promotion." The peerless army wife had become a formidable army mother.

When his mother died shortly after their arrival in the Philippines in 1935, Douglas was crushed. His aide Dwight Eisenhower wrote that her passing "affected the General's spirit for many months." He wrote simply in "Reminiscences" that "our devoted comradeship of so many years came to an end." For a man not often guilty of understatement, this came pretty close.
(Source:http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthu...)

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Saburo Kurusu



Saburo Kurusu (March 6, 1886- April 7, 1954) was a Japanese career diplomat. He is remembered now as an envoy who tried to negotiate peace and understanding with the United States while Japan was secretly preparing the attack on Pearl Harbor.

As Imperial Japan's ambassador to Germany from 1939 to November 1941, he signed the Tripartite Pact along with the foreign ministers of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on September 27, 1940.

Kurusu was born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1883. He graduated from Tokyo Commercial College (now Hitotsubashi University) in 1909. The following year, he entered diplomatic service and, in 1914, first came to the United States as the Japanese Consul in Chicago. During his six-year service in Chicago, Kurusu married Alice Jay Little. He had three children, a son Ryo, and a daughter Jaye were both born in the United States; another daughter, Teruko Pia, was born in Italy in 1926. Both daughters married Americans and moved back to the United States. The only son, Captain Ryo Kurusu was killed in a freak accident in 1945. Kurusu did not have any other son, although an American newspaper erroneously reported "his son, Captain Makoto "Norman" Kurusu, was killed in a dogfight over Chiba." After Saburo's death, Alice Kurusu adopted a girl.

Early foreign service experience included posts in Chile, Italy, Germany and Peru. As Japanese Consul in Lima, Peru in 1930, he sought to defuse anti-Japanese violence by promoting Japanese immigrant settlements in the rural highlands rather than in urban Lima. Kurusu was promoted to director of the Foreign Office Commerce Bureau to negotiate trade agreements. In 1937, he was made ambassador to Belgium, and two years later the ambassador to Germany. On September 27, 1940, Kurusu signed the Tripartite Pact in Berlin on behalf of the Japanese Empire, entering into a 10-year military and economic treaty between Germany, Italy and Japan.

After peace talks between the United States and Japan bogged down in 1941, Kurusu was dispatched as the Imperial government's "special envoy". Arriving in Washington on November 15, Kurusu told newsmen "I am indeed glad to be here in your nation's capital. I extend greetings to all from the bottom of my heart." Two days later, Secretary of State Cordell Hull brought Kurusu to the White House to meet with President Roosevelt. On November 20, Kurusu presented Japan's proposal that the United States cease aid to China and resume trade relations that had been frozen in December 1939. On November 26, Hull conveyed President Roosevelt's demands for Japan to withdraw its troops from China and to sever its Axis ties with Germany and Italy as a condition for peace. Kurusu reviewed the demand and replied, "If this is the attitude of the American government, I don't see how an agreement is possible. Tokyo will throw up its hands at this."

Over the next three weeks, Kurusu and Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura continued to confer with Hull while awaiting Japan's reply. On the afternoon of December 7 Kurusu delivered Japan's reply, breaking relations and closing with the statement that "The immutable policy of Japan is to promote world peace." At that moment, the bombing of Pearl Harbor had commenced. Unaware of what was happening, news reporters questioned Kurusu and Nomura as they left Hull's office. "Is this your last conference?" one asked, and an unsmiling Nomura had no answer. "Will the embassy issue a statement later?" asked another, and Kurusu replied, "I don't know." In addressing Congress the next day, President Roosevelt said, "Indeed, one hour after Japanese squadrons had commenced bombing in Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to the Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message."

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Kurusu was interned in the United States at Hot Springs, Virginia,[12] until the United States and Japan negotiated an exchange of their diplomatic personnel and citizens. In June 1942, Kurusu sailed to Mozambique on board the ocean liner MS Gripsholm, which then brought back American ambassador to Japan Joseph Grew and other Americans who had been interned in Japan. Following the Allied victory in Japan, the American military tribunal elected in February, 1946, not to prosecute either Kurusu or Nomura. Kurusu was a visiting professor at Tokyo University and lived at a country estate in Karuizawa with his wife Alice. Like Nomura, Kurusu maintained for the rest of his life that he had been unaware of the plans for Pearl Harbor. "It must seem absurd to you," he told Frank Robertson of INS, "but it's true. The militarists kept their secret extremely well." He died at the age of 68.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabur%C5...)

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Issei




The first generation of immigrants, born in Japan before moving to Canada or the United States, is called Issei (一世). In the 1930s, the term Issei came into common use, replacing the term "immigrant" (ijusha). This new term illustrated a changed way of looking at themselves. The term Issei represented the idea of beginning, a psychological transformation relating to being settled, having a distinctive community, and the idea of belonging to the new country.

Issei settled in close ethnic communities, and therefore did not learn English. They endured great economic and social losses during the early years of World War II, and they were not able to rebuild their lost businesses and savings. The external circumstances tended to reinforce the pattern of Issei being predominantly friends with other Issei.

Unlike their children, the tend to rely primarily on Japanese-language media (newspapers, television, movies), and in some senses, they tend to think of themselves as more Japanese than Canadian or American.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issei)

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Richard Sutherland





Sutherland was born in Hancock, Maryland on 27 November 1893, the only son among the six children of Howard Sutherland, who later became a US Senator from West Virginia, and Etfie Harris Sutherland.

He was educated at Davis and Elkins College, Phillips Academy, from which he graduated in 1911, and Yale University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1916.

While at Yale, he joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps. In 1916, he enlisted as a private in the Connecticut National Guard.

Great War
Later that year the National Guard was federalized and he served on the Mexican Border during the Pancho Villa Expedition. The future general soon accepted a National Guard commission as a second lieutenant in the field artillery. Soon after, he transferred to the Regular Army with a commission in the infantry. He was promoted to captain in 1917.

He served with the 2nd Division on the Western Front during World War I. He was a student at a tank school in England.

Between the Wars
Returning to the United States, Sutherland married Josephine Whiteside in 1920. They had one child, a daughter named Natalie.

Sutherland was an instructor at the United States Army Infantry School from 1920 to 1923 and professor of military science and tactics at the Shattuck School from 1923 to 1928. He graduated from the Command and General Staff College in 1928. Fluent in French, he attended the École supérieure de guerre in 1930. From 1932 and 1933 he attended the U.S. Army War College. He then served with the Operations and Training Division of the War Department General Staff.

In 1937 he went to Tientsin, China, in command of a battalion of the 15th Infantry; however, he was not promoted to major until March 1938, when he was assigned to the Office of the Military Advisor to the Commonwealth Government (Philippines), Manila, under General Douglas MacArthur with the "local rank" of lieutenant colonel. He was promoted to the rank in July of that year. Sutherland soon eased his superior, Lieutenant Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower out of his position and became MacArthur's chief of staff.

World War II
Off Leyte, October 1944 Left to right: Lieutenant General George Kenney, Lieutenant General Richard K. Sutherland, President Sergio Osmeña, General Douglas MacArthur

As tensions with Japan rose, Sutherland was promoted to full colonel, then to brigadier general in July 1941 and major general in 1941.

Following the fall of Manila, MacArthur's headquarters moved to the island fortress of Corregidor, where it was the target of numerous Japanese air raids, forcing the headquarters to move into the Malinta Tunnel. Sutherland was a frequent visitor to the front on Bataan. He was given a cash payment of $75,000 by President Quezon. In March 1942, MacArthur was ordered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to relocate to Australia. Sutherland selected the group of advisers and subordinate military commanders that would accompany MacArthur and flee the Philippines in four PT boats. Sutherland would remain MacArthur's chief of staff for the entire war.

Sutherland attracted antagonism from subordinate American and Australian officers because of perceptions that he was high-handed and overprotective of MacArthur. Sutherland was often given the role of "hatchet man". Bad news invariably came through Sutherland rather than from MacArthur himself.

According to some sources he contributed to a rift between MacArthur and the first SWPA air forces commander, Lieutenant General George Brett. Major General George Kenney, Brett's successor, became so frustrated with Sutherland in one meeting, that Kenney drew a dot on a plain page of paper and said: "the dot represents what you know about air operations, the entire rest of the paper what I know."

Sutherland had been taught to fly in 1940 by US Army Air Corps instructors at the Philippine Army Training Center and had been awarded a civil pilot's licence by the Civil Aeronautics Association. Flying then became one of his favourite recreational activities and while in Australia he flew as frequently as possible. In March 1943 he asked to be formally recognised as a "service pilot", a form of pilot restricted to non-combat duties. His request was turned down by the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces, General Henry H. Arnold on the grounds that he was over the age limit and not performing flying duties. However, Sutherland secured an official pilot's rating under Philippine Army regulations in 1945.

In 1943 Sutherland and Kenney took part in an effort to promote General MacArthur's candidacy for the Presidency, working with Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg of Michigan to get the War Department to rescind the order that prevented MacArthur from seeking or accepting political office.

It was Sutherland who represented MacArthur before the Joint Chiefs of Staff on this and other occasions. Sutherland opened, read, and frequently answered all communications with MacArthur, including those addressed to him personally or "eyes only". Some decisions often attributed to MacArthur were actually taken by Sutherland. For example, the decision to bypass Mindanao and move on directly to Leyte was taken by Sutherland on MacArthur's behalf, while MacArthur was traveling under radio silence.

When MacArthur discovered that Eisenhower had promoted his chief of staff, Walter Bedell Smith, to the rank of lieutenant general in January 1944, he immediately arranged for Sutherland to be promoted to the same rank.

Affair with Elaine Clarke
During the time while MacArthur's GHQ SWPA was located in Melbourne, Sutherland met Elaine Clarke, a socialite whose husband, a British Army officer, was a prisoner of war in Singapore. When GHQ moved to Brisbane in July 1942, Clarke moved with it, as did two other civilian women who worked as secretaries for Generals Kenney and Richard Marshall. Sutherland installed Clarke as the receptionist at the AMP Building, where MacArthur had his headquarters.

When GHQ began planning to move forward to New Guinea, Sutherland requested personnel from the Women's Army Corps to replace civilian employees of GHQ who, by agreement between General MacArthur and the Prime Minister of Australia, John Curtin, could not be sent outside Australia. Sutherland further asked for direct commissions for Clarke and Kenney's and Marshall's secretaries. This exploited a loophole whereby enlistments in the Women's Army Corps were restricted to American citizens, but officer commissions were not. Major General Miller G. White, the U. S. Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, and Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby, the commanding officer of the Women's Army Corps, were strongly opposed; but they were overruled by Deputy Chief of Staff Joseph T. McNarney, on his being informed that the commissions were personally desired by General MacArthur as essential to the operation of his headquarters and the prosecution of the war. Clarke was commissioned as a captain, as was General Eisenhower's driver, Kay Summersby, while the other two women were commissioned as first lieutenants.

Although her rank was more a reflection of Sutherland's status rather than her own, Clarke became an assistant to the headquarters commandant, with duties commensurate with her rank, and moved with Advance GHQ to Hollandia. However, her presence there in contravention of his agreement with Curtin ultimately brought down the displeasure of General MacArthur, who ordered her to be returned to Australia, first from Hollandia, and later from the Philippines. That Sutherland defied MacArthur on this matter caused a rift between the two.

Japanese surrender
Richard K. Sutherland watches as Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signs the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the Japanese Government, on board USS Missouri (BB-63), September 2, 1945

At the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, the Canadian representative, Colonel L. Moore Cosgrave, signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender underneath, instead of on, the line for Canada. The Japanese drew attention to the error. Sutherland leaned over the table and ran two strokes of his pen through the names of the four countries above the misplaced signatures and wrote them in where they belonged. The Japanese then accepted the corrected document.

Later life
Sutherland retired from the Army shortly after the Japanese surrender.

Returning home, he confessed his affair to Josephine and was ultimately reconciled with her. Letters from Clarke were intercepted and destroyed by Natalie.

After the death of Josephine on 30 December 1957, he married Virginia Shaw Root in 1962.

Sutherland died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on 25 June 1966. His funeral was held at the Fort Myer, Virginia chapel on 29 June 1966 and he is buried at Arlington National Cemetery along with other family members.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_...)

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Executive Order 9066



On this day in 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, initiating a controversial World War II policy with lasting consequences for Japanese Americans. The document ordered the removal of resident enemy aliens from parts of the West vaguely identified as military areas.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941, Roosevelt came under increasing pressure by military and political advisors to address the nation's fears of further Japanese attack or sabotage, particularly on the West Coast, where naval ports, commercial shipping and agriculture were most vulnerable. Included in the off-limits military areas referred to in the order were ill-defined areas around West Coast cities, ports and industrial and agricultural regions. While 9066 also affected Italian and German Americans, the largest numbers of detainees were by far Japanese.

On the West Coast, long-standing racism against Japanese Americans, motivated in part by jealousy over their commercial success, erupted after Pearl Harbor into furious demands to remove them en masse to relocation camps for the duration of the war. Japanese immigrants and their descendants, regardless of American citizenship status or length of residence, were systematically rounded up and placed in detention centers. Evacuees, as they were sometimes called, could take only as many possessions as they could carry and were housed in crude, cramped quarters. In the western states, camps on remote and barren sites such as Manzanar and Tule Lake housed thousands of families whose lives were interrupted and in some cases destroyed by Executive Order 9066. Many lost businesses, farms and loved ones as a result.

Roosevelt delegated enforcement of 9066 to the War Department, telling Secretary of War Henry Stimson to be as reasonable as possible in executing the order. Attorney General Francis Biddle recalled Roosevelt's grim determination to do whatever he thought was necessary to win the war. Biddle observed that Roosevelt was [not] much concerned with the gravity or implications of issuing an order that essentially contradicted the Bill of Rights. In her memoirs, Eleanor Roosevelt recalled being completely floored by her husband's action. A fierce proponent of civil rights, Eleanor hoped to change Roosevelt's mind, but when she brought the subject up with him, he interrupted her and told her never to mention it again.

During the war, the U.S. Supreme Court heard two cases challenging the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, upholding it both times. Finally, on February 19, 1976, decades after the war, Gerald Ford signed an order prohibiting the executive branch from reinstituting the notorious and tragic World War II order. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan issued a public apology on behalf of the government and authorized reparations for former Japanese internees or their descendants.
(Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-hi...)

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Executive Order 9096




By virtue of the authority vested in me by Title I of the First War Powers Act, 1941, approved December 18, 1941 (Public Law 354, 77th Congress), and other applicable statutes, and as Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy and as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows:

1. The duties of the Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, and the duties of the Chief of Naval Operations, may be combined and devolve upon one officer who shall have the title "Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, and Chief of Naval Operations," and who shall be the principal naval adviser to the President on the conduct of the war, and the principal naval adviser and executive to the Secretary of the Navy on the conduct of the activities of the naval establishment. While so serving he shall have the rank and title of Admiral and shall receive the pay and allowances provided by law for an officer serving in the grade of Admiral.

2. As Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, the officer holding the combined offices as herein provided shall have supreme command of the operating forces comprising the several fleets, seagoing forces, and sea frontier forces of the United States Navy and shall be directly responsible, under the general direction of the Secretary of the Navy, to the President therefor.

3. The Staff of the Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, shall be composed of—

(a) A Chief of Staff, who shall while so serving have the rank, pay, and allowances of a Vice Admiral, and who, in the temporary absence or incapacity of the "Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, and Chief of Naval Operations," shall act as Commander in Chief, United States Fleet;

(b) Such deputy and assistant Chiefs of Staff as may be necessary; and

(c) Such other officers as may be appropriate and necessary to enable the "Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, and Chief of Naval Operations" to perform as Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, the duties prescribed in Executive Order No. 8984 of December 18, 1941.

4. As Chief of Naval Operations, the officer holding the combined offices as herein provided shall be charged, under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, with the preparation, readiness, and logistic support of the operating forces comprising the several fleets, seagoing forces, and sea frontier forces of the United States Navy, and with the coordination and direction of effort to this end of the bureaus and offices of the Navy Department except such offices (other than bureaus) as the Secretary of the Navy may specifically exempt. Duties as Chief of Naval Operations shall be contributory to the discharge of the paramount duties of Commander in Chief, United States Fleet.

5. The staff of the Chief of Naval Operations shall be composed of —

(a) A Vice Chief of Naval Operations, who shall while so serving have the rank, pay, and allowances of a Vice Admiral. The Vice Chief of Naval Operations shall have all necessary authority for executing the plans and policies of the "Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, and Chief of Naval Operations" so far as pertains to the duties herein prescribed for the Chief of Naval Operations. In the temporary absence or incapacity of the "Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, and Chief of Naval Operations," he shall act as Chief of Naval Operations.

(b) An Assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations with the title of Sub Chief of Naval Operations, who shall have the rank of Rear Admiral and while so serving shall receive the pay and allowances of a Rear Admiral, upper half, and such additional assistant Chiefs of Naval Operations as may be required; and

(c) Such other officers as may be considered to be appropriate and necessary for the performance of the duties at present prescribed for the Chief of Naval Operations.

6. During the temporary absence of the Secretary of the Navy, the Under Secretary of the Navy, and the Assistant Secretaries of the Navy, the "Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, and Chief of Naval Operations" shall be next in succession to act as Secretary of the Navy. In the temporary. absence of all of these officers the Vice Chief of Naval Operations and the Chief of Staff, United States Fleet, respectively, shall be next in succession to act as Secretary of the Navy.
(Source: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pi...)

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by Ronald H. Cole (no photo)
by Walter R. Borneman (no photo)
by David Sears
by Walter J. Boyne (no photo)
by Phillip J. Cooper (no photo)

Secretary of War Newton Baker



Newton Diehl Baker, Jr. (December 3, 1871 – December 25, 1937) was an American politician who belonged to the Democratic Party. He served as the 37th mayor of Cleveland, Ohio from 1912 to 1915 and as U.S. Secretary of War from 1916 to 1921.

Early years
Baker was born on December 3, 1871, in Martinsburg, West Virginia, the son of Newton Diehl Baker and Mary Ann (Dukehart) Baker. In 1892 he graduated from Johns Hopkins University. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta. After receiving his law degree from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1894, he became the private secretary to Postmaster General William L. Wilson in Washington, D.C.. Baker was small and thin. He was rejected for military service in the Spanish-American War because of poor eyesight.

Cleveland politics
Baker moved to Cleveland, where he became active in local politics. After serving as city solicitor from 1901 to 1909, he became mayor of the city in 1911. As a city official, Baker's main interests were public power, transit reform, and city beautification. He was a strong backer of Cleveland College, now a part of Case Western Reserve University.

Baker was a considered a possible vice-presidential contender in 1912, when he worked on Wilson's behalf at the Democratic National Convention in Baltimore. Though offered the post twice, he declined to serve as Secretary of the Interior during President Wilson's first term. He and Wilson had been acquaintances since they were both at Johns Hopkins in the 1890s.

In 1916, following his tenure as mayor of Cleveland, Baker and two other partners founded the law firm of Baker Hostetler.

Secretary of War
As the United States considered whether to enter World War I, President Woodrow Wilson named Baker Secretary of War, because Baker was acceptable to advocates and opponents of American participation in the conflict. The post also required legal expertise because of the War Department's role in administering the Philippines, the Panama Canal, and Puerto Rico. The New York Times called him a "warm supporter" of the President. At age 44 he was the youngest member of the Cabinet.

One historian (James P. Tate) described his relationship to the military:

"A civilian's civilian, Baker saw the military as a necessity, but he had no awe of people in uniform, no romantic feelings toward them, and no dreams of glory....On the day President Woodrow Wilson announced Baker's appointment as secretary of war, he admitted his ignorance of military matters. 'I am an innocent,' he told reporters, 'I do not know anything about this job.' But he had a sharp, analytical mind and considerable skill at administration."

As Secretary of War, Baker presided over the American military participation in the war in 1917-18, including the creation of a nationwide military draft. Baker selected Gen. John J. Pershing to head the Allied Expeditionary Force. At Baker's insistence, Wilson made the American forces an independent fighting partner of the Allies against the Central Powers, rather than letting American troops be used to replenish British and French forces as those nations advised. At one meeting with British Prime Minister Lloyd George, he told him that "if we want advice as to who should command our armies, we would ask for it. But until then we do not want nor need it from anyone, least of all you."

He was occasionally attacked by military professionals who thought him incompetent or a pacifist at heart. He said: "I'm so much of a pacifist, I'm willing to fight for it."

In 1917 Baker was elected an honorary member of the Virginia Society of the Cincinnati.

In 1918, Wilson told Baker that he hoped he would follow him into the White House in 1920.

Later years
After stepping down as Secretary of War in 1921, Baker returned to practicing law at Baker & Hostetler.

For several years he was the leading proponent of American participation in the League of Nations.

In 1922, the Encyclopædia Britannica published a brief account of Baker's life that drew sharp criticism. It said, in part: "The charge of pacifism was often brought against him and his career generally as Secretary was widely condemned throughout the United States." Among the prominent names who called the Encyclopedia to account were Livingston Farrand of Cornell and Ernest M. Hopkins of Dartmouth.

At the 1924 Democratic National Convention, during discussion of the party platform, Baker was the principal advocate of language committing the party to American membership in the League of Nations. After losing in the platform committee, which advocated a national referendum on the question, he raised the issue on the floor of the convention. Though he had no chance of winning when the delegates to support his position, he delivered a speech that was the highlight of the convention, "political oratory at its peak" according to an exhaustive account of the convention. "According to reporters, men and women everywhere burst into tears. It was a tour de force, emotional and bordering on hysteria." He drew upon memories of Wilson, who had died just 5 months earlier, and pleaded for a return to Wilsonian idealism:

"On fields of Europe I closed the eyes of soldiers in American uniforms who were dying...and oh, they were so superb and splendid: never a complain; never a regret; willing to go if only two things might be: One, that mother might know that they died bravely, and the other, that somebody would pick up their sacrifice and build on earth a permanent temple of peace.... And I swore an obligation to the dead that in season and out, by day and by night, in church, in political meeting, in the market-place, I intended to lift up my voice always and ever until their sacrifice were really perfected.... I served Woodrow Wilson for five years. He is standing at the throne of God whose approval he won and has received. As he looks down from there I say to him: 'I did my best. I am doing it now. You are still the captain of my soul. I feel your spirit here palpably about me.' He is standing here, through my weak voice, his presence not that crippled, shrunken, broken figure that I last saw, but the great majestic leader is standing here, using me to say to you, 'Save mankind, do America's duty.'"

When his allotted 20 minutes expired, the crowd roared for him to continue. After an hour he left the lectern to a tremendous ovation. Speakers who tried to argue against him were booed. Yet the final vote went against him by a margin of more than 2 to 1. According to a New York Times editorial, "For a moment that vast audience was lifted from partisan thoughts to heights from which it could have a glimpse of the promised land of peace....Not only did Mr. Baker do his best, but he made one of the best and most moving speeches heard of late in any political meeting. He showed himself a disciple worthy to wear his master's mantle. He too has the spirit of prophecy upon him."

Later at the convention he nominated former Governor James M. Cox of Ohio as his state's "favorite son."

In 1928, President Coolidge appointed Baker a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration of The Hague. at the Hague, and reappointed to another six-year term by FDR in 1935. In 1929, President Herbert Hoover appointed Baker to the Wickersham Commission on issues relating to law enforcement, criminal activity, police brutality, and Prohibition.

He remained active in Democratic Party affairs and was considered as a serious prospect for the Democratic nomination for President in 1932, when he declined to announce his candidacy, but worked behind the scenes in the hope of being chosen if Franklin D. Roosevelt should fail to win the nomination.

Yale University award him an honorary Doctor of Laws in 1932.

Baker argued before the U.S. Supreme Court as counsel for the property owner in Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., a landmark case that established the constitutionality of zoning laws.

Baker served on the Board of Trustees of Johns Hopkins University beginning in 1918 and was considered for appointment as president of the institution in 1928.

In 1936, he resigned as a member of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Committee after serving for 26 years.

He published a lecture in pamphlet form as War in the Modern World in 1935.
(Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_D...)

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(no image) Newton D. Baker, A Biography by William Ed. Cramer (no photo)
(no image) Conscientious Objector by Newton D. Baker (no photo)
(no image) Why We Went To War by Newton D. Baker (no photo)
by Newton D. Baker (no photo)

by C.H. Cramer (no photo)
by Douglas B. Craig (no photo)
by James P. Tate (no photo)
by Robert K. Murray (no photo)

Operation Sledgehammer



Operation Sledgehammer was a World War II Allied plan for a cross-Channel invasion of Europe, as the first step in helping to reduce pressure on the Soviet Red Army by establishing a Second Front. Essentially, Allied forces were to seize the French ports of either Brest or Cherbourg during the early autumn of 1942 along with areas of the Cotentin Peninsula, and then amass troops for a breakout the spring of 1943.

The operation was eagerly pressed for by both the United States and the Soviet Union, but it was never actually carried out as it was finally realized that it was wholly impractical at that period in time, an assessment which was vindicated by the Dieppe Raid of August 1942.

History
After the United States entered World War II, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff pressed for an invasion of mainland Europe via the English Channel "as soon as possible", i.e. the early part of 1942. The British were, however, reluctant, as it was felt that other places had a higher priority, the time was not right and insufficient men and landing craft were available.

The U.S. tended to regard this reluctance as an example of British caution but since at the time they lacked the resources to carry out such an operation themselves, the result was stalemate, along with increased pressure on the British, which began in March 1942 with a letter from President Roosevelt to Winston Churchill:

I am becoming more and more interested in the establishment of a new front this summer on the European continent, certainly for air and raids. From the point of view of shipping and supplies it is infinitely easier for us to participate in because of a maximum distance of about three thousand miles. And even though losses will doubtless be great, such losses will be compensated by at least equal German losses and by compelling the Germans to divert large forces of all kinds from the Russian front.
—Roosevelt to Churchill, 9 March 1942

On 8 April, General George Marshall and Harry Hopkins arrived in Britain to press the case for two possible American plans for a landing in Occupied France:

Operation Roundup
Roundup was to be executed by 48 Allied divisions, 18 of which would be British. It was to be mounted before April 1943.

Operation Sledgehammer
Sledgehammer was a plan to capture the French seaports of either Brest or Cherbourg during the early autumn of 1942. Sledgehammer was to be carried out mainly by British troops as the Americans could only supply two or three divisions in time. Churchill responded that it was "more difficult, less attractive, less immediately helpful or ultimately fruitful than Roundup". After capturing Cherbourg and areas on the Cotentin peninsula, the beachhead was to be defended and held through the winter of 1942 and into 1943, while troops were massed for a breakout operation to take place in spring 1943. This plan became popular and received the codename Sledgehammer. Hopkins added additional political weight to the proposed plan by opining that if U.S. public opinion had anything to do with it, the U.S. war effort would be directed instead against Japan if an invasion of mainland Europe was not mounted soon.

However, the elements required for such an operation were lacking, i.e. air superiority, amphibious warfare equipment, sufficient forces and adequate supply. Despite all this, the Joint Chiefs of Staff considered Sledgehammer feasible.

If Sledgehammer had been carried out, the British could have landed only six divisions at most, whereas the Germans had 25-30 divisions in Western Europe. Assuming it could be established in the first place, a beachhead on the Cotentin peninsula would be blocked off and attacked by land, sea and air. Cherbourg, the only suitable port would no doubt be mined, while aircraft and artillery would be expected to attack the town in strength, while German armoured forces were brought to bear.

The pressure to mount Sledgehammer increased further when Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov arrived in the UK to press for a Second Front. After trying and failing to persuade Churchill, Molotov travelled on to Washington where he enjoyed a better reception and received more support for his requests. He then returned to London convinced that a Second Front in 1942 was an actual part of Anglo-American policy.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operatio...)

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http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/U...
http://www.alternatewars.com/WW2/Plan...
by Robin Neillands
by Gavin Mortimer
by Horace Edward Henderson (no photo)
by Nathan Miller (no photo)
by Brian Loring Villa (no photo)

I might have to add this Dieppe Raid book on my list. I knew nothing about it until now.

by Robin Neillands

Awesome, Bryan. I love it when people make little discoveries when browsing these threads.

Operation Bolero




Operation Bolero was the commonly used reference for the code name of the United States military troop buildup in Great Britain during World War II in preparation for the initial cross-channel invasion plan known as Operation Roundup. ("Bolero" was the code name used in official communications to stand in for "United Kingdom" when describing the theater or movements.) What later became the Bolero plan - the buildup of a strategic air force in Great Britain in preparation for Roundup - was first submitted by Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces Henry H. Arnold to General George C. Marshall on April 12, 1942, and set in motion a huge movement of men and material that laid the groundwork for Operation Overlord.

To complement the Roundup invasion plan, planning for the movement and basing of U.S. forces in the UK was begun at the end of April 1942 and given the code name of Bolero. A combined committee of key British and American logistical officers worked in both Washington, D.C. and London planning the build-up, to co-ordinate the effort on the highest level.

In May 1942, with a tentative target date for Roundup of April 1943, the Operations Division of the War Department and USAAF Headquarters drafted plans to transport and house a million U.S. troops: 525,000 ground troops, 240,000 air force troops, and 235,000 from Services of Supply. Arnold's plan to Marshall called for the basing by April 1, 1943, of 21 heavy bomb groups (B-17 and B-24), 8 medium bomb groups (B-26 and B-25), 9 light bomb groups (A-20), 17 fighter groups (P-38, P-39, P-40, and P-47), 6 observation groups, and 8 transport groups--a total of 69 combat groups plus their service units.

General Arnold met with RAF Air Chief Marshal Charles Portal at the end of May 1942 and presented the US schedule for the arrival of U.S. Army Air Forces into the theater by March 1943, totalling 3,649 aircraft. The proposed build-up anticipated 15 groups in July, 35 by November and 66 by March, excluding observation squadrons. General Arnold anticipated that by the April 1 deadline, the combat units of the Eighth Air Force would have 800 heavy bombers, 600 medium bombers, 342 light bombers, and 960 fighters. (At the time the actual strength of the Eighth in the United Kingdom was 1,871 troops and no aircraft).

Bolero movement of air groups
The movement of the assigned air combat groups began in May 1942 with the shipment by fast troopships (usually former ocean liners) of their ground echelons. The movement of their aircraft began in June after the decision was made that the most efficient and rapid buildup could be made by having the groups themselves ferry their planes overseas. Fighters, having only a single crewman and not equipped with proper navigational and communications equipment for trans-oceanic flights, were to be divided into flights of four and escorted by single bombers navigating the route for them.

Three groups were assigned for the first phase of movement: the 97th Bomb Group (B-17 Flying Fortress), 1st Fighter Group (P-38 Lightning), and 60th Troop Carrier Group (C-47 Skytrain). These groups were gathered on the east coast in what was termed the "concentration area" to stage for the overseas flights via the northern ferry route. Ironically, all of these groups, originally tasked for the Eighth Air Force, saw limited duty in England and were transferred to the Twelfth Air Force.

An anticipated loss rate of 10% for the first movement did not materialize and instead was 5.2%. The largest loss occurred July 15, 1942, when six P-38s of the 94th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, and two B-17s of the 97th Bomb Group, on the Greenland-to-Iceland leg, were forced by weather to attempt to return to Greenland. Running low on fuel, all eight force-landed on the Greenland ice cap. The aircraft, although apparently recoverable, were abandoned after all of their crews had been safely recovered. One of the P-38s, subsequently named Glacier Girl, was recovered from under ice in 1992, and has been restored to flying condition.

By the end of August 1942, the Bolero movement had transferred 386 airplanes: 164 P-38's of the 1st and 14th Fighter Groups; 119 B-17's of the 97th, 301st, and 92nd Bomb Groups; and 103 C-47's of the 60th and 64th Troop Carrier Groups. 920 airplanes had been sent from the United States to England by the end of 1942, and 882 had arrived safely, almost all of them delivered by their combat crews and not specialized ferry command personnel.

Bolero superseded
By July 1, demands from other theaters had caused a downward revision of the Bolero build-up to a total of 54 groups and 194,332 men. Later that month USAAF Headquarters estimated that by December 31, 1943, the Bolero build-up could have in place 137 groups (approximately half of the entire projected strength of the USAAF), including 74 bomb groups of all types and 31 fighter groups. It estimated that 375,000 airmen would comprise the force, 197,000 in combat units and 178,000 in the service organizations. The estimate proved to be remarkably close, particularly the size of the heavy bomber force, to the actual strength of the combined Eighth and Ninth Air Forces at the time of Operation Overlord.

In London the Bolero Committee drew up plans for the accommodation of 1,147,000 troops, including 137,000 replacements, in the United Kingdom by the end of March 1943. But by the end of July, plans for Operation Sledgehammer had been abandoned in favor of Operation Torch, and Operation Roundup was postponed until at least 1944. The Bolero committee thus found its work limited to providing assistance in the planning for an invasion of North Africa. Buildup plans for the invasion of Europe later became the province of the Overlord planners.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operatio...)

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http://www.encyclo.co.uk/define/Opera...
by Bevin Alexander
by Peter Doyle
by Warren M. Bodie (no photo)
by David Zabecki (no photo)
by Williamson Murray (no photo)

Vyacheslav Molotov



The true last name of Vyacheslav Molotov, an outstanding Soviet politician and state figure, was Skryabin. Born in the village of Kukarka (in the northeastern part of European Russia), he was the son of a salesman and a rich merchant’s daughter. In the family there were ten children, three of whom died in infancy. While studying at school, Vyacheslav enjoyed playing the violin and writing poems. In 1902 he followed the example of his elder brothers and entered the secondary school in Kazan, where he became interested in revolutionary activities and joined the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. Vyacheslav was one of the leaders of the illegal revolutionaries’ organization of his school, and in 1909 he was arrested for anti-government activity and exiled to the Vologda Region in northwestern Russia. After two years of banishment Vyacheslav went to Saint Petersburg and passed his secondary school exams without attending lectures. In 1911 he entered the Saint Petersburg Polytechnic Institute and continued his revolutionary activities in both Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Vyacheslav was among those who founded “The Pravda” (“The Truth”) newspaper, an illegal publication of the Bolsheviks headed by Josef Stalin. Vyacheslav wrote articles using the pseudonym “Molotov.” This last name originates from the word “molot” which means “large hammer” in Russian. It is the name with which Vyacheslav Skryabin became known in world history.

In 1913 Molotov was arrested and exiled to Irkutsk (Siberia), but he escaped and secretly returned to Saint Petersburg. During the October Revolution of 1917 he was a member of the Military Revolutionary Committee. When Soviet power was established, Molotov, approved by Vladimir Lenin and supported by Stalin, gained his prominence impetuously. For over 30 years Vyacheslav Molotov was among the most influential figures in the USSR. It was he who determined internal and foreign policy of the state.

Molotov proved himself a true supporter of Stalin, especially during the struggle for power that followed Lenin’s death in 1924. When Stalin overcame his political opponents he showed his gratitude to Molotov and made him his closest associate.

In December 1930 Molotov headed the Soviet government. He sincerely believed that reprisals were necessary for overcoming opponents of Soviet power. Thus, his signature can be found on a number of verdicts sentencing thousands of people to exile or death. Stalin also made Molotov responsible for the process of so-called “collectivization of agriculture” in which peasants were integrated into collective farms belonging to the state. Some historians blame Molotov for using cruel measures. Others justify him and believe Molotov was the one who guaranteed the growth of gross domestic product, an increase in state defensive capabilities and the success of industrialization (building up the heavy industry of the USSR).

Taking the position of Foreign Minister of the USSR in 1939, Molotov was obliged to adjust the relationship between Germany and the Soviet Union under Stalin’s special order. On 23 August 1939 Molotov and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop signed the treaty known as the “Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact” (also called the “non-aggression pact between Germany and the USSR”). There is a popular version that the agreement included secret protocol about the German and Soviet spheres of influence in Finland, the Baltic States, Bessarabia (nowadays - Moldova) and Poland. Nowadays some specialists deny the existence of the secret protocol. However, other historians believe that the secret protocol gave Hitler the opportunity to invade Poland on 1 September 1939.

In 1940 Molotov turned 50. In honor of his birthday the city of Perm was renamed Molotov. His name was given to collective farms, plants and factories, and Molotov himself was honored with governmental awards.

On 22 June 1941 the Nazis attacked the USSR. Molotov called Germany’s aggression “unprecedented perfidy” and addressed his famous words to the Soviet people: “The enemy will be defeated. The victory will be ours.” On 12 July Molotov and English ambassador Richard Cripps signed a treaty on joint actions in the war against Germany. In October 1941, when employees of the USSR Foreign Ministry were evacuated, Molotov stayed in Moscow with Stalin. One of Molotov’s major concerns was to provide military deliveries from the United Kingdom and the U.S., and to ensure the Second Front. He was constantly engaged in tough negotiations.

As a diplomat, and not a military man, Molotov did not take part in troop operations. However, he was responsible for tank manufacturing. Molotov signed the governmental order, according to which special bottles containing ignition agents were produced. They were used against tank attacks and were given the unofficial name of “Molotov’s cocktail.”

Molotov played an important role in all the international conferences that influenced the post-war peace settlement, including those in Teheran, Yalta and Potsdam. He also participated in the San Francisco conference dedicated to the United Nations foundation.

At the end of 1948 Molotov’s wife, Polina Zhemchuzhnaya, was arrested and exiled. Vyacheslav Molotov had married her in 1921 and they had daughter, Svetlana. According to Molotov’s contemporaries, Molotov loved his wife deeply and her arrest was a great tragedy for him. Polina Zhemchuzhnaya was allowed to return from exile only after Stalin’s death in 1953.

In 1949 Molotov was removed from his position as Foreign Minister. He still attended international conferences and took part in diplomatic events, but it was obvious that he was no longer in Stalin’s favor. Probably, the Soviet leader wanted to get rid of his old associates and form “new guards.”

After Stalin’s death Vyacheslav Molotov was re-appointed Foreign Minister. He supported Nikita Khrushchev in his struggle for power against Beria, but Molotov couldn’t find a mutual understanding with the new leader and once again lost his position as Foreign Minister. In 1957 he headed a group against Khrushchev. When the group’s “anti-Soviet activities” were discovered, Vyacheslav Molotov was removed from all governmental positions. He was appointed ambassador to Mongolia and left the USSR. In 1961 Molotov returned to Moscow and was expelled from the Communist Party. On 12 September 1963 he retired. He continued to lead an active life and persistently tried to rejoin the Communist Party. However, he achieved his goal only in 1984.

At the end of his life Molotov admitted he was happy in old age and hoped to reach 100. But it never happened: Vyacheslav Molotov died on 7 November 1986 at the age of 96. He is buried at the Novodevichie Cemetery in Moscow.
(Source: http://russiapedia.rt.com/prominent-r...)

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by Joseph Stalin
by Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov (no photo)
by Derek Watson (no photo)
by Geoffrey Roberts (no photo)
by Jesse Russell (no photo)

Joachim von Ribbentrop



Joachim von Ribbentrop, the son of a German Army officer, was born in Wesel, Germany, on 30th April, 1893. Educated at a boarding school at Switzerland he also spent time in France and England as a child.

In 1911 he began working as clerk with a German importing form based in London before moving to Canada where he worked as a timekeeper on the reconstruction of the Quebec Bridge and the Canadian Pacific Railroad. This was followed by employment as a journalist in New York City and Boston.

On the outbreak of the First World War Ribbentrop returned to Germany where he joined the German Army. While serving with the 125th Hussar Regiment he won the Iron Cross. After being seriously wounded in 1917 Ribbentrop joined the War Ministry and was a member of the German delegation that attended the Paris Peace Conference.

After leaving the German Army Ribbentrop worked as a salesman for the French firm of Pommerey in the Rhineland. He later became a partner in a Berlin sales agency. In May 1932 Ribbentrop joined the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP). He quickly moved up the hierarchy and in 1933 became Hitler's foreign affairs adviser. The following year he established the Ribbentrop Bureau an organization that eventually had a staff of 300 people.

Adolf Hitler appointed Ribbentrop as the ambassador to London in August, 1936. His main objective was to persuade the British government not to get involved in Germany territorial disputes and to work together against the the communist government in the Soviet Union.

When Ribbentrop presented his credentials to George VI on 5th February, 1937, the British were outraged when he gave the Hitler salute. He also upset the British government by posting Schutz Staffeinel (SS) guards outside the German Embassy and by flying swastika flags on official cars.

On 4th February, 1938, Ribbentrop replaced Constantin von Neurath as Germany's foreign minister. He worked closely with Adolf Hitler in his negotiations with the British and French governments and in August 1939 arranged the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact. As Raymond Gram Swing later recalled: "The British were busy all through early 1939 trying to negotiate an agreement with the Soviet Union. Even up to the stunning surprise of the Von Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, a success in the British negotiations was awaited. The Poles were against it; they wanted no truck with Moscow. But I thought the British-Soviet negotiations would succeed in spite of the Poles, and said so. Now that this is all in the past, one sees that Stalin signed the pact with Hitler for two reasons, one being to partition a hostile Poland and annex a part of it, the other being to buy time to prepare for an attack Hitler might launch against the Soviet Union."

In 1940 Hitler once again began to consider invading the Soviet Union and he sent Ribbentrop to negotiate a new treaty with Japan. On 25th September, 1940, Ribbentrop sent a telegram to Vyacheslav Molotov, the Soviet foreign minister, informing him that Germany, Italy and Japan were about to sign a military alliance. Ribbentrop pointed out that the alliance was to be directed towards the United States and not the Soviet Union.

Molotov already knew about the proposed German-Japanese Pact. Richard Sorge, a German journalist working in Tokyo, was a Soviet spy and had already told Molotov that Adolf Hitler was involved in negotiations with Japan. In Sorge's view, the pact was directed against the Soviet Union but it was not until December, 1940, that he was able to send Molotov full details of Operation Barbarossa.

Rippentrop became a background figure during the Second World War but was arrested and charged with war crimes in June, 1945. Joachim von Ribbentrop denied knowledge of German concentration camps and racial extermination policies, but was found guilty at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial and was executed on 16th October, 1946.
(Source: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/...)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIdizO...
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by Joachim Von Ribbentrop
by John Weitz (no photo)
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by Izidors Vizulis (no photo)
(no image) Final Solution & German Foreign Office by Christopher R. Browning (no photo)
(no image) Aspects of the Third Reich by H. William Koch (no photo)

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough



The son of Sir Winston Churchill and his wife Elizabeth, John Churchill was born at Ashe House in Devon on May 26, 1650 (O.S.). As a Royalist officer in the English Civil War, John's father was forced to pay recompense to the victorious Parliamentary forces leaving the family nearly destitute. Taken in by his grandmother, Lady Eleanor Drake, who had backed Parliament in the conflict, John spent his first ten years in relative poverty in a household rife with political tensions. With the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660, his father's fortunes improved as he moved through several civil service posts.

Educated at the Dublin Free School and later St. Paul's School in London, John was appointed to be a page to James, Duke of York in 1665. A noted military leader, James exposed Churchill to army and navy matters developing a passion in his young aide. Pursuing this interest, he obtained a commission as an ensign in the King's Own Company, 1st Guards on September 14, 1667. Posted to Tangier for three years, he returned to England in 1671. Reunited with James, he served aboard the duke's flagship at the Battle of Solebay the following year.

A Rapid Rise:
Performing heroically, Churchill was promoted to captain in the Lord High Admiral's Regiment. Continuing to fight the Dutch, Churchill was present at the siege of Maastricht. Taking part in desperate assault on the fortress, he was again commended for his actions and rescued the Duke of Monmouth during the fighting. In April 1674, he was appointed to the colonelcy of an English regiment in French service. Serving under Marshal Vicomte de Turenne, Churchill developed his skills as a commander and earned the "esteem and confidence" of the French leader.

Politics & Intrigue:
Returning home in 1675, Churchill married Sarah Jennings, one of the Duchess of York's Maids of Honor, during the winter of 1767/8. Following a diplomatic mission to The Hague in which he distinguished himself, he was compelled to follow James to Scotland as the Catholic duke was sparring with those who wished to prevent his eventual ascension to the throne. In 1682, Charles succeeded in defeating the exclusionists and James returned to London. For his loyalty, Churchill was raised to Baron of Eyemouth in the Scottish peerage and made colonel of King's Own Royal Regiment of Dragoons.

In July 1683, Churchill was dispatched to escort Prince George of Denmark to England for his marriage to Princess Anne. Close friends, Anne immediately appointed Sarah as one of her Ladies of the Bedchamber, increasing the Churchill's influence at court. With this new association, they began to drift away from James. With the ascension of James to the throne in 1685, Churchill was called upon to aid in putting down a rebellion led by the Duke of Monmouth. Forced to serve as second-in-command to the Earl of Feversham, Churchill organized and effectively led the troops that defeated Monmouth at Sedgemoor on July 6.

Promoted to major general just before the battle he was rewarded with the colonelcy of the Third Troop of Life Guards for his performance. Remaining at court, Churchill distanced himself from James' increasingly Catholic regime. With the invasion of William of Orange and his wife Mary (James' daughter) in November 1688, Churchill was promoted to lieutenant general and rode out with the king. Openly encouraging officers to join the Orangist cause, Churchill defected to William on November 23. Crushed that he could not retain one of his loyalist servants, James fled to France and William and Mary took the throne.

Conflicts with William:
In April 1689, William created Churchill as Earl of Marlborough. This led many to speculate that Churchill's defection had been purchased by the new king. Conversely, William remained wary of Marlborough as he had deserted his greatest patron in his hour of need. As the Nine Year's War (1688-1697) raged, Marlborough only saw three years of active duty despite being one of England's best young commanders. During this time he played a key role in the victory at Walcourt and also captured Cork and Kinsale in Ireland.

Angered by William's withholding of honors and preference for foreign commanders, Marlborough began to quietly spread dissatisfaction through the army. Marlborough's position was weakened as he, along with politician and friend Sidney Godolphin, maintained correspondence with the exiled James. While loyal to William, these letters were viewed as an insurance policy against James' return. Tired of Marlborough's intrigues, Mary demanded that Anne dismiss Sarah from her retinue. Anne refused and on January 20, 1692, Marlborough was stripped of his ranks and positions.

Captain-General:
Following several fraudulent plots that implicated Marlborough against the king and resulted in a brief imprisonment in the Tower of London, he began a slow rapprochement with William. Finally recalled in 1698, he was named governor to Anne's oldest son and his military ranks restored. With the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701, an ailing William dispatched Marlborough to The Hague to negotiate the Treaty of the Second Grand Alliance against France. With Anne's rise to the throne in March 1702, Marlborough was knighted, named Captain-General of the armies, and Master-General of the Ordnance.

With his friend Godolphin managing the political front at home, Marlborough traveled to the Continent to take command of the Allied troops. Capturing several towns in the Spanish Netherlands during 1702, including Liège, Marlborough was raised to duke by Anne. Frustrated by his allies and with a delicate political situation at home, Marlborough was unable to bring the French to battle in 1703. The following year, he was able to break loose and inflicted a severe defeat on the French at Blenheim. In the wake of the victory, Anne bestowed upon him the royal manor at Woodstock, while he was also made a prince of the Holy Roman Empire. Again hampered by his allies in 1705, Marlborough was able to move forward the following year and decisively defeated the Duc de Villeroi at Ramillies on May 23.

Despite the victories, the failure to defeat France in 1707, led the Marlboroughs influence with Anne to wane. Marlborough and Godolphin were repeatedly forced to woo the Whigs in Parliament to continue the war, while Anne became more distant. Returning to the army, Marlborough conducted a successful campaign in 1708, which included a victory at the Battle of Oudenarde. While fighting continued in 1709, the political situation in London had reached a crisis with the Whigs effectively taking power. Winning at Malplaquet in September, he was criticized for the casualties sustained.

Leading his final campaign in 1711, Marlborough succeeded in breaching the lines of Non Plus Ultra and captured Bouchain. At home, Sarah's relationship with Anne had completely collapsed and he was recalled at the end of the year. After defeating trumped up charges of embezzlement, the Marlboroughs departed for the Continent. Returning in August 1714, they learned that Anne had died the day before their arrival.

Rushing to London, they were warmly embraced by the new king, George I. Restored to his position as Captain-General, Marlborough became an influential figure at court. In declining health, he suffered several strokes in 1716. Largely recovering, he supervised the construction of Blenheim Palace at Woodstock. Shortly after his seventy-second birthday, Marlborough suffered another stroke and died on June 16, 1722.
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Siege of Tobruk




Between April and August 1941 around 14,000 Australian soldiers were besieged in Tobruk by a German–Italian army commanded by General Erwin Rommel. The garrison, commanded by Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead, consisted of the 9th Division (20th, 24th, and 26th Brigades), the 18th Brigade of the 7th Division, along with four regiments of British artillery and some Indian troops.

It was vital for the Allies' defence of Egypt and the Suez Canal to hold the town with its harbour, as this forced the enemy to bring most of their supplies overland from the port of Tripoli, across 1500 km of desert, as well as diverting troops from their advance. Tobruk was subject to repeated ground assaults and almost constant shelling and bombing. The Nazi propagandist Lord Haw Haw (William Joyce) derided the tenacious defenders as 'rats', a term that the Australian soldiers embraced as an ironic compliment.

The Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy provided the garrison's link to the outside world, the so-called 'Tobruk ferry'. These ships included the Australian destroyers Napier, Nizam, Stuart, Vendetta and Voyager. Losses comprised two destroyers, including HMAS Waterhen, three sloops, including HMAS Parramatta, and 21 smaller vessels.

Half the Australian garrison was relieved in August, the rest in September-October. However, 2/13 Battalion could not be evacuated and was still there when the siege was lifted on 10 December, the only unit present for the entire siege.

Australian casualties from the 9th Division from 8th April to 25th October numbered 749 killed, 1,996 wounded and 604 prisoners. The total losses in the 9th Division and attached troops from 1st March to 15th December amounded to 832 killed, 2,177 wounded and 941 prisoners.
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Operation Compass



Operation Compass was the British response to the attack on Egypt that had launched by Benito Mussolini of Italy in September 1940. The Italian withdrawal became trapped in disaster for nearly all the 10th Italian Army by a smaller force.

On 13 September of 1940, the Italian Marshal Rodolfo Graziani commanded the Italian Tenth Army of almost 250,000 men to attack from Libya (Cyrenaica) against Egypt, which then was a British colony. Numerically, the Italian superiority was overwhelming, as the forces defending Egypt did not exceed 36,000 men. Indeed, the initial Italian offensive drove back the British some 100 km inside into Egypt. But Graziani ordered to halt and strengthen in Sidi Barrani, as the number of Italian tanks were much lower than that of the British and the open desert was the perfect battlefield for them. Graziani decided to await the arrival of supplies and created several defensive camps along the defensive line of Sidi Barrani.

On 9 December, the 4th Division of India and the British 7th Armoured Division were commanded by British commander in chief Archibald Wavell and General Operations Richard O’Connor launched an attack between two Italian camps, which were too far apart to support each other. In this way, the attack took place behind the camps, they were not prepared and the result was a completely disorganized Italian withdrawal. In Sollum and Sidi Barrani, the British captured some 40,000 soldiers.

On 5 January of 1941, the 6th Australian Division went to relieve the 4th Division of India, which had been sent to participate in the East African Campaign.

This was when the General O’Connor could continue chasing the Italians. On 8 January, the important port of Tobruk fell by the Australians and 25,000 Italian soldiers were captured. Similarly, Halfaya Pass and Fort Capuzzo were captured.

Afraid to face the British battleships in the desert, the Italian withdrew from the coast road, the Via Balbia was made, advancing along the narrow coastal strip to the Mediterranean Sea in the north and the Green Mountains in the south. O’Connor realized that he could send the 7th Armored Division in Benghazi to catch the Italian Tenth Army. In a risky maneuver, Australians pursued the Italians along the coast, while the British tanks rushing to close the circle in the desert that stretches south of the mountains.

The Italian army was able to pass in Benghazi but had not yet managed to avoid being caught. On 7 February, the 7th Armored Division, henceforth known as the “Desert Rats”, completed the fence in Beda Fomm and a disaster was pounced on the hapless Italian army.

In all, the Italians were caught of 130,000 soldiers and the destruction of 400 tanks and 1,292 pieces of artillery, besides the general Pietro Maletti died in the early days of the British offensive. For its part, the British managed to move 800 km in 10 weeks and 500 men died, while 1,225 were injured.

General O’Connor came to the Agheila, but had to stop their advance according to the orders from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, as the Balkan campaign had just started and needed to send troops to Greece.

Immediately, Hitler would order the execution of the Operation Sonnenblume and the course of the war in Africa would overturn pro- Axis with the arrival of the Afrika Korps and its general Erwin Rommel.
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Western Desert Campaign





Fighting began in North Africa on September 13, 1940, when Marshal Rodolfo Graziani's Italian 10th Army launched an attack from its bases in Libya on outnumbered British forces in western Egypt. A successful British counterattack initiated on December 9, 1940, led by General Sir Archibald Wavell, resulted in Italian defeat at Tobruk (Tubruq) in eastern Libya on January 22, 1941. On February 12, 1941, German General Erwin Rommel arrived in Libya to take command of troops sent to reinforce Germany's Italian allies. The German units were rapidly expanded to the size of an Army Corps and renamed the Deutsches Afrika Korps (German Africa Corps).

On March 24, 1941, Rommel launched an offensive, and, bypassing Tobruk, reached the Egyptian border on April 14. There, the opposing British and German-Italian armies remained stalemated until November 1941. Taking advantage of the diversion of human and material resources from North Africa to the Eastern Front in Europe in the summer and autumn of 1941, a reorganized British Eighth Army (consisting of British, Australian, Indian, South African, New Zealander, and Free French soldiers) attacked Rommel's positions in what was known as Operation “Crusader.” After early reverses, the British drove the Axis armies back into Libya, relieved the garrison in Tobruk, and forced Rommel to pull back on January 6, 1942, to El Agheila (on the border of the Libyan provinces of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania).

The ability of the Germans to shift resources to North Africa after stabilizing the Eastern Front in January 1942 and the diversion of British resources to meet the Japanese threat in the Pacific after December 7, 1941, enabled Rommel to launch a second offensive on January 21, 1942. Axis troops reached Al-Gazala, just west of Tobruk, within two weeks.

On May 26, 1942, German and Italian troops launched another offensive, Operation “Venezia,” that enabled them to encircle Tobruk and drive Allied forces back to the Egyptian border. Tobruk fell on June 21, and Rommel's forces pursued the British into Egypt. During the course of July 1942, the British halted the Axis armies at El Alamein. Despite the British success in stopping Rommel, British prime minister Winston Churchill replaced his top military commanders in the Middle East, appointing General Sir Harold Alexander as commander in chief of British forces in the Middle East and Lieutenant General Sir Bernard L. Montgomery as commander of the Eighth Army.

On August 30, 1942, the Axis launched its final offensive of the Western Desert campaign. On September 3, the British halted the Axis units at the battle of Alam el Halfa, just south of El Alamein. After amassing troops and supplies, including new US-supplied tanks, Montgomery attacked Rommel's forces at El Alamein on October 23, 1942. Ten days later, the Axis forces were forced to withdraw. Hoping to preserve his fighting forces for combat from a better strategic position, Rommel retreated rapidly across Libya, abandoning the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on January 23, 1943, and reaching the Tunisian border a week later.
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Mamie Doud Eisenhower



Mamie Eisenhower's bangs and sparkling blue eyes were as much trademarks of an administration as the President's famous grin. Her outgoing manner, her feminine love of pretty clothes and jewelry, and her obvious pride in husband and home made her a very popular First Lady.

Born in Boone, Iowa, Mamie Geneva Doud moved with her family to Colorado when she was seven. Her father retired from business, and Mamie and her three sisters grew up in a large house in Denver. During winters the family made long visits to relatives in the milder climate of San Antonio, Texas.

There, in 1915, at Fort Sam Houston, Mamie met Dwight D. Eisenhower, a young second lieutenant on his first tour of duty. She drew his attention instantly, he recalled: "a vivacious and attractive girl, smaller than average, saucy in the look about her face and in her whole attitude." On St. Valentine's Day in 1916 he gave her a miniature of his West Point class ring to seal a formal engagement; they were married at the Doud home in Denver on July 1.

For years Mamie Eisenhower's life followed the pattern of other Army wives: a succession of posts in the United States, in the Panama Canal Zone; duty in France, in the Philippines. She once estimated that in 37 years she had unpacked her household at least 27 times. Each move meant another step in the career ladder for her husband, with increasing responsibilities for her.

The first son Doud Dwight or "Icky," who was born in 1917, died of scarlet fever in 1921. A second child, John, was born in 1922 in Denver. Like his father he had a career in the army; later he became an author and served as ambassador to Belgium.

During World War II, while promotion and fame came to "Ike," his wife lived in Washington. After he became president of Columbia University in 1948, the Eisenhowers purchased a farm at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was the first home they had ever owned. His duties as commander of North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces--and hers as his hostess at a chateau near Paris--delayed work on their dream home, finally completed in 1955. They celebrated with a housewarming picnic for the staff from their last temporary quarters: the White House.

When Eisenhower had campaigned for President, his wife cheerfully shared his travels; when he was inaugurated in 1953, the American people warmly welcomed her as First Lady. Diplomacy--and air travel--in the postwar world brought changes in their official hospitality. The Eisenhowers entertained an unprecedented number of heads of state and leaders of foreign governments, and Mamie's evident enjoyment of her role endeared her to her guests and to the public.

In 1961 the Eisenhowers returned to Gettysburg for eight years of contented retirement together. After her husband's death in 1969, Mamie continued to live on the farm, devoting more of her time to her family and friends. Mamie Eisenhower died on November 1, 1979. She is buried beside her husband in a small chapel on the grounds of the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas.
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Louise Cromwell Brooks



Henrietta Louise Cromwell Brooks (ca. 1890 - May 30, 1965) was an American socialite and the first wife of General Douglas MacArthur. She was "considered one of Washington's most beautiful and attractive young women".

She was born around 1890 to Eva Roberts Cromwell and Oliver Eaton Cromwell. Her brother was James H. R. Cromwell, the American diplomat and husband to Doris Duke. After her father's death her mother married Edward T. Stotesbury.

She made her debut in Washington, DC in 1910. Louise Cromwell married Walter J. Brooks, Jr. in 1911. They had two children, a son and a daughter. Brooks and Cromwell divorced in 1919. She married Douglas MacArthur in 1922 and she claimed that General John J. Pershing threatened to send MacArthur to the Philippines if they married. That marriage ended in 1929. She next married the actor Lionel Atwill, whom she divorced in 1943. In 1944 she married Alf Heiberg. That marriage also ended in divorce.

Brooks died of a heart attack in Washington, DC at the age of 75.
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Carl von Clausewitz



Clausewitz, Karl von, 1780–1831, Prussian general and military strategist. Clausewitz was an original thinker most influenced by the Napoleonic wars in which he fought. He served in the Rhine campaigns (1793–94), won the regard of Gerhard von Scharnhorst at the Berlin Military Academy, and served in the wars against Napoleon I. In the service of Russia from 1812 until 1814, he helped negotiate the convention of Tauroggen (1812), which prepared the way for the alliance of Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain against Napoleon. Later he reentered the Prussian army, played an important role at Waterloo, and was appointed (1818) director of the Prussian war college. His masterpiece On War was unfinished and was published posthumously. Written in a dialectic style influenced by Hegel and subject to varying interpretations, it remains influential. Clausewitz argued that although most conflicts tend toward total war in the abstract, the "friction" of reality keeps war limited, unpredictable, and dangerous. His most famous dictum, that war "is merely the continuation of policy by other means," emphasizes his conception of war as one part of normal and pragmatic politics. At the same time, he stressed the need to strive for the most complete military victories possible, using whatever reasonable resources were available. While his work echoes themes from the ancient text The Art of War, attributed to Sun Tzu, and even more from the work of Machiavelli, Clausewitz has influenced many 20th-century strategists and historians, especially Bernard Brodie.
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Pancho Villa



Born on June 5, 1878, in San Juan del Rio, Durango, Mexico, Pancho Villa started off as a bandit who was later inspired by reformer Francisco Modero, helping him to win the Mexican Revolution. After a coup by Victoriano Huerta, Villa formed his own army to oppose the dictator, with more battles to follow as Mexican leadership remained in a state of flux. He was assassinated on July 20, 1923, in Parral, Mexico.

Birth of a Bandit
Born Doroteo Arango on June 5, 1878, in San Juan del Rio, Durango, Pancho Villa spent much of his youth helping out on his parents' farm. After his father's death, he became head of the household and shot a man who was harassing one of his sisters. He fled, but was caught and imprisoned. After escaping once again, he became a bandit.

Mexican Revolutionary Leader
While living as a fugitive, Pancho Villa joined Francisco Madero's successful uprising against Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz, and, due to his skills as a fighter and leader, Villa was made a colonel.

When another rebellion removed Madero from power in 1912, Villa was nearly executed for his efforts to defend the former government. He subsequently fled to the United States for a time, later returning to Mexico and forming his own military force, known as Division del Norte (Division of the North). He also joined forces with other revolutionaries, including Venustiano Carranza and Emiliano Zapata, to overthrow Victoriano Huerta. The different forces were not wholly successful at working together, however, and Villa and Carranza became rivals.

Later Life and Assassination
For a number of years, Pancho Villa was involved in a series of clashes with other Mexican military groups, and even fought with U.S. troops from 1916 to 1917.

In 1920, Villa reached an agreement with Mexican leader Adolfo de la Huerta, who pardoned him for his actions in return for Villa's promise to put an end to his independent military activities. Three years later, on July 20, 1923, Pancho Villa was assassinated in Parral, Mexico.
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Joseph Rochefort



Captain Joseph John Rochefort was a major figure in the U.S. Navy's cryptologic and intelligence developments from 1925 to 1947. He headed the Navy's fledgling cryptanalytic organization in the 1920s and provided singularly superb cryptologic support to the U.S. fleet during World War II, leading to victory in the war in the Pacific. At the end of his career (1942-1946), Rochefort successfully headed the Pacific Strategic Intelligence Group in Washington.

Rochefort was born in 1898 and enlisted in the navy in 1918. He was commissioned an ensign after graduation from the Stevens Institute of Technology. Rochefort's tours ashore included cryptanalytic training under both Captain Laurance Safford and Agnes Meyer Driscoll in 1925; a stint as second chief of the Department of Naval Communications' newly created cryptanalytic organization, OP-20-G, from 1926 to 1929; training in the Japanese language from 1929 to 1932; and a two-year intelligence assignment in the Eleventh Naval District, San Diego, from 1936 to 1938. Until 1941, Rochefort spent nine years in cryptologic or intelligence-related assignments and fourteen years at sea with the U.S. fleet in positions of increasing responsibility.

In early 1941, Laurance Safford, again chief of OP-20-G in Washington, sent Rochefort to Hawaii to become Officer in Charge (OIC) of Station Hypo in Pearl Harbor. The reasons for Rochefort's appointment were obvious: he was an expert Japanese linguist, an experienced and very talented intelligence analyst, and a trained cryptanalyst.

Rochefort hand-picked many of Hypo's augmentees, and it contained the Navy's best cryptanalysts, traffic analysts, and linguists, including Thomas Dyer, Wesley A. (Ham) Wright, Joseph Finnegan, General Alva Lasswell, Thomas Huckins, and Jack Williams.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Rochefort and the Station Hypo experts were eventually able to read enough of Japanese naval communications to provide daily intelligence reports and assessments regarding Japanese force disposition and intentions. During the peak month of May 1942, Rochefort reviewed, analyzed, and reported on as many as 140 decrypted messages per day. These reports went directly to the highest-ranking fleet commanders.

The most significant cryptologic success was the timely and accurate support provided by Rochefort and his unit surrounding the Battle of Midway, considered by many to be the turning point of the war in the Pacific. Station Hypo provided accurate and timely intelligence reports for the rest of the Pacific War; these reports were used by the most senior navy officers for strategic and tactical decisions.

Rochefort died in 1976. In 1986, he posthumously received the President's National Defense Service Medal, the highest military award during peacetime, for his support to the Battle of Midway.
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Gunichi Mikawa



Born on August 29, 1888, Gunichi Mikawa graduated from the Japanese Naval Academy in 1910. After serving aboard several ships, he was a student at the Naval Torpedo and Gunnery School during 1913-1914. When Japan entered World War I on the Allied side, Mikawa again went to sea aboard several warships and then attended at the Japanese Naval War College. When Japan sent a delegation to Versailles to sign the treaty that ended World War I, he was a member of the Japanese delegation. It was clear this young officer had a fine naval career ahead of him. His superiors considered him as one of the best, brilliant, and daring combat commanders the Japanese Navy ever produced.

He was the Navigating Officer aboard several ships during the 1920s and taught at the Naval Torpedo School. The newly promoted Commander again had highly advantageous assignments as a member of the Japanese delegation at the London Naval Conference and later as the naval attaché at the Japanese Embassy in Paris. Promoted to the rank of Captain, he returned to Japan for highly visible staff assignments. Mikawa commanded the heavy cruisers Aoba and Chokai and the battleship Kirishima during the 1930s.

He received the coveted promotion to Rear Admiral in late 1936 and began his service as Second Fleet’s chief of staff. Mikawa returned to Tokyo to serve with the Naval General Staff and the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Headquarters in 1937-1939. He returned to sea with consecutive assignments as commander fleet squadrons of cruisers and battleships.

After commanding the Third Battleship Division in the Pearl Harbor attack force, he had various commands. In 1940, he achieved the rank of Vice Admiral and later given the command of the Eighth Fleet at Rabaul. When the Americans invaded Guadalcanal on August 7, he executed his plan to send nearly every ship under his command down the Slot toward Savo Island. On August 9, his ships met an American-Australian fleet near that island at the Battle of Savo Island and inflicted the worst defeat the American Navy had ever suffered. His ships demonstrated daring torpedo tactics that clearly showed the Imperial Japanese Navy was second-to-none fighting a nighttime surface battle.

He continued serving as the Eighth Fleet’s commander into 1943 during the most trying and desperate fighting for which side would ultimately possess Guadalcanal and defend New Guinea. Mikawa returned to Japan to serve on the Naval General Staff and other shore duty during April-September 1943. He commanded the Second South Sea Fleet and Southwestern Area fleet in the Philippines from early 1943 until late 1944. After the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, Mikawa’s next assignment was in Japan where he served until leaving active duty in May 1945. He died in 1981.
(Source: http://www.battlesforguadalcanal.com/...)

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Major General Alexander Vandegrift



Alexander Archer Vandegrift was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, on 13 March 1887. In January 1909, after two years at the University of Virginia, he entered the United States Marine Corps as a Second Lieutenant. He saw very active service in the Caribbean and Central America between 1912 and 1923, taking part in the capture of Coyotepe, Nicaragua, in the former year, the occupation of Vera Cruz, Mexico, in 1914 and pacification efforts in Haiti beginning in 1915.

Major Vandegrift commanded a Marine battalion while stationed at Quantico, Virginia, from 1923 and in 1926 became Assistant Chief of Staff at the Marine Corps Base, San Diego, California. Service in China in 1927-28 was followed by duty in Washington, D.C., and at Quantico. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1934, returned to China in 1935 and reached the rank of Colonel in 1936. While stationed at Marine Corps Headquarters in 1937-41, Vandegrift worked closely with the Corps' Commandant and was promoted to Brigadier General in March 1940. He became Assistant Commander of the newly-formed First Marine Division in late 1941 and the Division's Commanding General in early 1942.

Major General Vandegrift took his division to the south Pacific in May 1942 and led it in the long, harsh but successful campaign to seize and hold Guadalcanal between August and December 1942. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his "tenacity, courage and resourcefulness" during this operation. In November 1943, as a Lieutenant General, Vandegrift commanded the First Marine Amphibious Corps during the initial stages of the Bougainville campaign.

Returning to the United States in late 1943, he became Commandant of the Marine Corps on 1 January 1944. He guided the Service's continued expansion through the rest of World War II, oversaw its contraction following the conflict, and successfully defended its existence during the difficult post-war years. Promoted to four-star General effective in March 1945, Vandegrift was the first Marine Corps officer to hold that rank while on active duty. General Alexander A. Vandegrift was relieved as Commandant at the beginning of 1948 and formally retired in April 1949. He died on 8 May 1973.

The guided missile frigate Vandegrift (FFG-48), which entered service in 1984, is named in honor of General Vandegrift.
(Source: http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/pe...)

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by Robert Leckie
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(no image) Alexander Vandegrift by Jesse Russell (no photo)

Battle of Savo Island



The Battle of Savo Island was fought August 8-9, 1942, during World War II (1939-1945).

Battle of Savo Island - Background:
Moving to the offensive after the victory at Midway in June 1942, Allied forces targeted Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Situated at the eastern end of the island chain, Guadalcanal had been occupied by a small Japanese force which was constructing an airfield. From the island, the Japanese would be able to threaten Allied supply lines to Australia. As a result, Allied forces under the direction of Vice Admiral Frank J. Fletcher arrived in the area and troops began landing on Guadalcanal, Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tanambogo on August 7.

While Fletcher's carrier task force covered the landings, the amphibious force was directed by Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner. Included in his command was a screening force of eight cruisers, fifteen destroyers, and five minesweepers led by British Rear Admiral Victor Crutchley. Though the landings caught the Japanese by surprise, they countered with several air raids on August 7 and 8. These were largely defeated by Fletcher's carrier aircraft, though they did set afire the transport George F. Elliott.

Having sustained losses in these engagements and concerned about fuel levels, Fletcher informed Turner that he would be leaving the area late on August 8 to resupply. Unable to remain in the area without cover, Turner decided to continue unloading supplies at Guadalcanal through the night before withdrawing on August 9. On the evening of August 8, Turner called a meeting with Crutchley and Marine Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift to discuss the withdrawal. In leaving for the meeting, Crutchley departed the screening force aboard the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia without informing his command of his absence.

The Japanese Response:
Responsibility for responding to the invasion fell to Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa who led the newly-formed Eighth Fleet based at Rabaul. Flying his flag from the heavy cruiser Chokai, he departed with the light cruisers Tenryu and Yubari, as well as a destroyer with the goal of attacking the Allied transports on the night of August 8/9. Proceeding southeast, he was soon joined by Rear Admiral Aritomo Goto's Cruiser Division 6 which consisted of the heavy cruisers Aoba, Furutaka, Kako, and Kinugasa. It was Mikawa's plan to move along the east coast of Bougainville before advancing down "The Slot" to Guadalcanal (Map).

Moving through the St. George Channel, Mikawa's ships were spotted by the submarine USS S-38. Later in the morning, they were located by Australian scout aircraft which radioed sighting reports. These failed to reach the Allied fleet until evening and even then were inaccurate as they reported the enemy formation included seaplane tenders. As he moved southeast, Mikawa launched floatplanes which provided him with a fairly accurate picture of the Allied dispositions. With this information, he informed his captains that they would approach south of Savo Island, attack, and then withdraw to the north of the island.

Allied Dispositions:
Before departing for the meeting with Turner, Crutchley deployed his force to cover the channels north and south of Savo Island. The southern approach was guarded by the heavy cruisers USS Chicago and HMAS Canberra along with the destroyers USS Bagley and USS Patterson. The northern channel was protected by the heavy cruisers USS Vincennes, USS Quincy, and USS Astoria along with the destroyers USS Helm and USS Wilson steaming in a square patrol pattern. As an early warning force, the radar-equipped destroyers USS Ralph Talbot and USS Blue were positioned to the west of Savo.

The Japanese Strike:
After two days of constant action, the tired crews of the Allied ships were at Condition II which meant that half were on duty while half rested. In addition, several of the cruiser captains were also asleep. Approaching Guadalcanal after dark, Mikawa again launched floatplanes to scout the enemy and to drop flares during the upcoming fight. Closing in a single file line, his ships successfully passed between Blue and Ralph Talbot whose radars were hampered by the nearby land masses. Around 1:35 AM on August 9, Mikawa spotted the ships of the southern force silhouetted by the fires from the burning George F. Elliot.

Though spotting the northern force, Mikawa commenced attacking the southern force with torpedoes around 1:38. Five minutes later, Patterson was the first Allied ship to spot the enemy and immediately went into action. As it did so, both Chicago and Canberra were illuminated by aerial flares. The latter ship attempted to attack, but quickly came under heavy fire and was put out of action, listing and on fire. At 1:47, as Captain Howard Bode was attempting to get Chicago into the fight, the ship was hit in the bow by a torpedo. Rather than assert control, Bode steamed west for forty minutes and left the fight.

Defeat of the Northern Force:
Moving through the southern passage, Mikawa turned north to engage the other Allied ships. In doing so, Tenryu, Yubari, and Furutaka took a more westerly course than the rest of the fleet. As a result, the Allied northern force was soon bracketed by the enemy. Though firing had been observed to the south, the northern ships were unsure of the situation and were slow to go to general quarters. At 1:44, the Japanese began launching torpedoes at the American cruisers and six minutes later illuminated them with searchlights. Astoria came into action, but was hit hard by fire from Chokai which disabled its engines. Drifting to a halt, the cruiser was soon on fire, but managed to inflict moderate damage on Chokai.

Quincy was slower to enter the fray and was soon caught in a crossfire between the two Japanese columns. Though one of its salvos hit Chokai, nearly killing Mikawa, the cruiser was soon on fire from Japanese shells and three torpedo hits. Burning, Quincy sank at 2:38. Vincennes was hesitant to enter the fight for fear of friendly fire. When it did, it quickly took two torpedo hits and became the focus of Japanese fire. Taking over 70 hits and a third torpedo, Vincennes sank at 2:50.

At 2:16, Mikawa met with his staff about pressing the battle to attack the Guadalcanal anchorage. As their ships were scattered and low on ammunition, it was decided to withdraw back to Rabaul. In addition, he believed that the American carriers were still in the area. As he lacked air cover, it was necessary for him to clear the area before daylight. Departing, his ships inflicted damage on Ralph Talbot as they moved northwest.

Aftermath of Savo Island
The first of a series of naval battles around Guadalcanal, the defeat at Savo Island saw the Allies lose four heavy cruisers and suffer 1,077 killed. In addition, Chicago and three destroyers were damaged. Japanese losses were a light 58 killed with three heavy cruisers damaged. Despite the severity of the defeat, the Allied ships did succeed in preventing Mikawa from striking the transports in the anchorage. Had Mikawa pressed his advantage, it would have severely hampered Allied efforts to resupply and reinforce the island later in the campaign. The US Navy later commissioned the Hepburn Investigation to look into the defeat. Of those involved, only Bode was severely criticized.
(Source: http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/w...)

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Bonus Expeditionary Force



Bonus Army marchers (left) confront the police


Members of the Bonus Army camped out on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol building

The Bonus Army was the popular name of an assemblage of some 43,000 marchers—17,000 World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups—who gathered in Washington, D.C., in the spring and summer of 1932 to demand cash-payment redemption of their service certificates. Its organizers called it the Bonus Expeditionary Force to echo the name of World War I's American Expeditionary Force, while the media called it the Bonus March. It was led by Walter W. Waters, a former Army sergeant.

Many of the war veterans had been out of work since the beginning of the Great Depression. The World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924 had awarded them bonuses in the form of certificates they could not redeem until 1945. Each service certificate, issued to a qualified veteran soldier, bore a face value equal to the soldier's promised payment plus compound interest. The principal demand of the Bonus Army was the immediate cash payment of their certificates.

Retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, one of the most popular military figures of the time, visited their camp to back the effort and encourage them. On July 28, U.S. Attorney General William D. Mitchell ordered the veterans removed from all government property. Washington police met with resistance, shots were fired and two veterans were wounded and later died. Veterans were also shot dead at other locations during the demonstration. President Herbert Hoover then ordered the army to clear the veterans' campsite. Army Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur commanded the infantry and cavalry supported by six tanks. The Bonus Army marchers with their wives and children were driven out, and their shelters and belongings burned.

A second, smaller Bonus March in 1933 at the start of the Roosevelt Administration was defused in May with an offer of jobs for the Civilian Conservation Corps at Fort Hunt, Virginia, which most of the group accepted. Those who chose not to work for the CCC by the May 22 deadline were given transportation home. In 1936, Congress overrode President Franklin D. Roosevelt's veto and paid the veterans their bonus years early.

Background
The practice of war-time military bonuses began in 1776, as payment for the difference between what a soldier earned and what he could have earned had he not enlisted. Breaking with tradition, the veterans of the Spanish–American War did not receive a bonus and, after World War I, their not receiving a military service bonus became a political matter when WWI veterans received only a $60 bonus. The American Legion, created in 1919, led a political movement for an additional bonus.

On May 15, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge vetoed a bill granting bonuses to veterans of World War I, saying: "patriotism... bought and paid for is not patriotism." Congress overrode his veto a few days later, enacting the World War Adjusted Compensation Act. Each veteran was to receive a dollar for each day of domestic service, up to a maximum of $500, and $1.25 for each day of overseas service, up to a maximum of $625 (2010: $7,899). Amounts of $50 or less were immediately paid. All other amounts were issued as Certificates of Service maturing in 20 years.

Some 3,662,374 military service certificates were issued, with a face value of $3.638 billion (2010: $43.7 billion). Congress established a trust fund to receive 20 annual payments of $112 million that, with interest, would finance the 1945 disbursement of the $3.638 billion due the veterans. Meanwhile, veterans could borrow up to 22.5% of the certificate's face value from the fund; but in 1931, because of the Great Depression, Congress increased the maximum value of such loans to 50% of the certificate's face value. Although there was Congressional support for the immediate redemption of the military service certificates, President Hoover and Republican congressmen opposed such action; they reasoned that the government would have to increase taxes to cover the costs of the payout, and thus any potential recovery would be slowed.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars continued to press the federal government to allow the early redemption of military service certificates.

In January 1932, a march of 25,000 unemployed Pennsylvanians, dubbed "Cox's Army", had marched on Washington, D.C, the largest demonstration to date in the nation's capital, setting a precedent for future marches by the unemployed.

March
On June 15, the House of Representatives passed the Wright Patman Bonus Bill which would have moved forward the date for World War I veterans to receive their cash bonus.

Most of the Bonus Army camped in a Hooverville on the Anacostia Flats, a swampy, muddy area across the Anacostia River from the federal core of Washington, just south of the 11th Street Bridges (now Section C of Anacostia Park). The camps, built from materials scavenged from a nearby rubbish dump, were tightly controlled by the veterans who laid out streets, built sanitation facilities, and held daily parades. To live in the camps, veterans were required to register and prove they had been honorably discharged.

The Bonus Army massed at the United States Capitol on June 17 as the U.S. Senate defeated the Bonus Bill by a vote of 62-18.

Police shooting
The marchers remained at their campsite waiting for President Hoover to act. On July 28, 1932, Attorney General William D. Mitchell ordered the police to remove the Bonus Army veterans from their camp. When the veterans moved back into it, they rushed two policemen trapped on the second floor of a building. The cornered police drew their revolvers and shot two veterans, William Hushka and Eric Carlson, who died later.

William Hushka (1895–1932) was an immigrant to the United States from Lithuania. When the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, he sold his butcher shop in St. Louis, Missouri and joined the United States Army. After the war he lived in Chicago. Hushka is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Eric Carlson (1894 – July 28, 1932) was a U.S. veteran from Oakland, California. He fought in the trenches of France in World War I. He was interred in Arlington National Cemetery.

When told of the shootings, President Hoover ordered the army to evict the Bonus Army from Washington.

U.S. Army intervention
At 4:45 p.m., commanded by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the 12th Infantry Regiment, Fort Howard, Maryland, and the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, supported by six battle tanks commanded by Maj. George S. Patton, formed in Pennsylvania Avenue while thousands of civil service employees left work to line the street and watch. The Bonus Marchers, believing the troops were marching in their honor, cheered the troops until Patton ordered[citation needed] the cavalry to charge them—an action which prompted the spectators to yell, "Shame! Shame!"

After the cavalry charged, the infantry, with fixed bayonets and adamsite gas, an arsenical vomiting agent, entered the camps, evicting veterans, families, and camp followers. The veterans fled across the Anacostia River to their largest camp and President Hoover ordered the assault stopped. However Gen. MacArthur, feeling the Bonus March was an attempt to overthrow the U.S. government, ignored the President and ordered a new attack. Fifty-five veterans were injured and 135 arrested. A veteran's wife miscarried. When 12-week-old Bernard Myers died in the hospital after being caught in the tear gas attack, a government investigation reported he died of enteritis, while a hospital spokesman said the tear gas "didn't do it any good."

During the military operation, Major Dwight D. Eisenhower, later the 34th President of the United States, served as one of MacArthur's junior aides. Believing it wrong for the Army's highest-ranking officer to lead an action against fellow American war veterans, he strongly advised MacArthur against taking any public role: "I told that dumb son-of-a-bitch not to go down there," he said later. "I told him it was no place for the Chief of Staff." Despite his misgivings, Eisenhower later wrote the Army's official incident report which endorsed MacArthur's conduct.

Aftermath
MGM released the movie Gabriel Over the White House in March 1933. Produced by William Randolph Hearst's Cosmopolitan Pictures, it depicted a fictitious President Hammond who, in the film's opening scenes, refuses to deploy the military against a march of the unemployed and instead creates an "Army of Construction" to work on public works projects until the economy recovers. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt judged the movie's treatment of veterans superior to Hoover's.

The Bonus Army incident proved disastrous for Hoover's chances at re-election; he lost the 1932 election in a landslide to Franklin D. Roosevelt.

During the presidential campaign of 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt opposed the veterans' bonus demands. When they organized a second demonstration in May 1933, he provided the marchers with a campsite in Virginia and provided them three meals a day. Administration officials, led by presidential confidant Louis Howe, tried to negotiate an end to the protest. Roosevelt arranged for his wife Eleanor to visit the site unaccompanied. She lunched with the veterans and listened to them perform songs. She reminisced about her memories of seeing troops off to World War I and welcoming them home. The most she could offer was a promise of positions in the newly created Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). One veteran commented: "Hoover sent the army, Roosevelt sent his wife". In a press conference following her visit, the First Lady described her reception as courteous and praised the marchers, highlighting how comfortable she felt despite critics of the marchers who described them as Communists and criminals.

Roosevelt later issued an executive order allowing the enrollment of 25,000 veterans in the CCC, exempting them from the normal requirement that applicants be unmarried and under the age of 25. Congress, where Democrats held majorities in both houses, passed the Adjusted Compensation Payment Act in 1936 authorizing the immediate payment of the $2 billion in WWI bonuses over the President's veto. The House vote was 324 to 61, and the Senate vote was 76 to 19.
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army)

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Drew Pearson


Journalist Drew Pearson in the White House Garden with President Lyndon Johnson, April 1964

Andrew Russell (Drew) Pearson (1897-1969) was one of the most successful newspaper and radio journalists of his day. His career spanned close to fifty years beginning with his graduation from Swarthmore College in 1919. During the 1920s he served as a foreign journalist for newspapers in Europe, Australia, India, and South Africa. He also served as director for war relief in the British Red Cross office in the Balkans. He later wrote for the United States Daily and other smaller newspapers, but was best known as a journalist for the Baltimore Sun during the 1930s and 40s. In 1930 Pearson was in Cuba reporting news of the Cuban Revolution; his reporting won him honorable mention for the Pugsley Award for the best journalistic reporting of the year.

In 1931, Pearson and Robert S. Allen, Washington bureau chief for The Christian Science Monitor, anonymously published Washington Merry-Go-Round (New York, H. Liveright), a collection of gossip-ridden news items concerning key figures in public service. Although this book was considered scandalous by some, Pearson and Allen issued a sequel, More Merry-Go-Round, the following year. They were subsequently exposed as the authors and were forced to resign their positions. Not long thereafter, Pearson was hired as head of the Baltimore Sun’s Washington bureau and, with Allen, began the infamous “Washington Merry-Go-Round” column. By 1940, the syndication of this column included some 350 newspapers nationwide and by 1969 there were more than 600, with readers estimated at 60 million. In the late 1950s, Jack Anderson, who earlier was one of his investigators, became his associate.

In conjunction with his journalistic reporting, Pearson interviewed such dignitaries as Premier Nikita Khrushchev (1961 and 1963), President Tito of Yugoslavia (1962), the King and Queen of Greece, and Premier Fanfani of Italy. In 1962 he accompanied President Kennedy to Venezuela and Colombia.

Pearson also published ten books, including American Diplomatic Game (1935), U.S.A.: Second Class Power? (1958), The Case Against Congress: a Compelling Indictment of Corruption on Capitol Hill (1958), his own Diaries, 1949-1959 (1974), as well as a newsletter, “Personal from Pearson.”

In 1935 Pearson’s interests were directed towards media broadcasting, whereby he was moderator and reporter for a weekly radio show that was later known as “Washington Merry-Go-Round.” In 1941 Pearson compiled scripts and was broadcaster for the NBC show “News for the Americas.” By the 1950s “Washington Merry-Go-Round” was syndicated throughout the United States, as were his television shows. In Washington, D.C., for example, the ABC affiliate WMAL (AM630/FM107.3) aired his show on Sundays at 6:00 P.M. “Washington-Merry-Go-Round” served as a prototype for similar discussion and public affairs productions that became popular during the sixties and thereafter. A hallmark of Pearson’s columns and broadcasts was his “predictions of things to come.” In this segment, Pearson would forecast events that were likely to occur and people likely to appear in the news. Pearson capitalized on the popularity of “predictions” by creating a word game in 1949 he called “Drew Pearson’s Predict-a-Word.” The game, billed as “exciting” and “fun for everyone!” was sold throughout the country and played in America’s living rooms. Pearson’s popularity and that of his “Washington Merry-Go-Round” provided opportunities for him to do commercial advertisements for Bromo-Seltzer and other well known household products. Drew Pearson remained an active contributor to radio broadcasting until his death in 1969.

Pearson's appeal also provided numerous speaking engagements, at least two of which took place at American University. In April 1961, Pearson was guest speaker at the "annual banquet of AU's chapter of Sigma Delta Chi, professional journalism society" held in Mary Graydon Center. As described in AU's student newspaper, The Eagle, Pearson "singled out Congress for covering up conflicts of interest in both Houses, the Sherman Adams-Barnard Goldfine Case and the investigation of the Federal Trade Commission." Pearson also "played down the Russian space achievements" and that "the Russian man into space and the Cuban invasion were published in advance." On April 22, 1969, Pearson was a keynote speaker at a Pan Ethnon meeting held in SIS Lounge. He titled his presentation as "Our Relationship with Eastern Europe." Other AU connections include Pearson as guest speaker at the Virginia Inter-Collegiate Press Association at the Virginia Military Institute College chapel, Lexington, Virginia, on December 3, 1937, when AU's student newspaper was awarded first place as the best college newspaper.

Known for his candid, hardhitting approach to journalism, Pearson was frequently the first to uncover and report on controversial news items. For example, he reported the kickbacks taken from House employees by New Jersey Congressman J. Parnell Thomas (Newsweek, 15 September1969) and the news that “Senator Robert F. Kennedy, as attorney general, had authorized electronic surveillance of the Reverend Martin Luther King” (Hopkins, 552). His positions on other issues were well known as well. For example, he supported the New Deal and was one of the first to stand firm against McCarthyism. He was a particularly strong advocate for freedom and democracy in Eastern-bloc countries. He opposed the Vietnam War and voiced strong reactions to media networks whom he believed exaggerated the extent of police related violence in Chicago.

Given his controversial news gathering and reporting techniques, Pearson was involved in some fifty libel cases throughout his career; however, he lost only one case. One of the best known suits was brought by General Douglas MacArthur, whom Pearson claimed petitioned for his own promotion. The case was later dropped.

In 1968 Pearson was asked what he believed were his two best accomplishments. He stated, “First, that I was the organizer of the Freedom Train [a cross country train excursion in the U.S. that collected food for impoverished war-torn areas in Europe] and second, that I was the rebuilder of the Clinton, Tennessee, High School which was bombed out right after the Supreme Court desegregation decision in 1954” (Life, 9 August 1968, 31). In addition to these causes, Pearson served as president of the Food for Peace Committee beginning in 1961, secretary of America’s Conscience Fund beginning in 1963, and president of the Washington, D.C. chapter of Big Brothers.

Pearson won the respect of his colleagues through his convictions, and the truth and accuracy of his news reporting. The awards presented to him, as well as those created in his name, were significant. He won the Sigma Delta Chi national award for best Washington journalism, the French Legion of Honor, the First Order Star of Solidarity (Italy), and the Pulitzer Prize nomination (with Jack Anderson) in 1967 for national reporting. In 1971 the Drew Pearson Foundation awarded the first Drew Pearson Prize “for excellence in investigatory reporting by a Washington correspondent” (New York Times, 13 December 1970).

In addition to awards, Pearson also received many tributes from fellow journalists. Rosset de Morrissey considered Pearson the “watchdog against corruption and ineptitude” and a Newsweek article dubbed Pearson “an American institution” (15 September 1969). Robert Sherrill of the Chicago Tribune Book World considered Pearson to be “the greatest muckraker of all time. Woodward and Bernstein,” Sherrill said, “may have toppled Richard Nixon, but as practitioners of muckraking they are drab apprentices compared to Pearson” Arthur Cooper of Newsweek stated simply that Pearson was “hat rare combination of showman and newsman, and every day his pungent blend of punditry and titillating gossip would set off quaking shocks on the Washington seismograph. . . . It is unlikely—and this may not be a bad thing—that any newsman will ever again wield as much influence as Pearson.”
(Source: http://www.library.american.edu/pears...)

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Wright Patman



John William Wright Patman (August 6, 1893 – March 7, 1976) was a U.S. Congressman from Texas in Texas's 1st congressional district and chair of the United States House Committee on Banking and Currency (1965–75).

Early life
Patman was the son of John N. and Emma (Spurlin) Patman, was born near Hughes Springs in Cass County, Texas, on August 6, 1893. After graduating from Hughes Springs High School in 1912, he enrolled in Cumberland University Law School in Lebanon, Tennessee. Receiving his law degree in 1916 he was admitted to the Texas bar the same year. During World War I Patman served as a private and a machine gun officer.

Political career
Patman was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1920. He left the House in 1924 when he was appointed district attorney of the fifth judicial district of Texas.

In 1928, Patman was elected to the House of Representatives in Texas's 1st congressional district. In 1932, Patman introduced a bill that would have mandated the immediate payment of the bonus to World War I veterans. It was during the consideration of this bill that the Bonus Army came to Washington. Patman was a supporter of the Landmark New Deal.

In January 1932, Patman spearheaded a movement to impeach Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon, which forced the latter's resignation the following month.

He was the author of the landmark Robinson-Patman Act in 1936.

In 2011 Rick Perry condemned the monetary policies of Ben Bernanke in populist-like language, earning him criticism from some mainstream Republicans, including Karl Rove. One observer, Alexander Cockburn, recalled that it used to Texas Democrats like Patman who were regarded as the populists. According to Cockburn, Patman, sitting as chair of the House Banking Committee in the early 1970s, "snarl[ed] at then Fed chairman Arthur Burns, before him to give testimony, 'Can you give me any reason why you should not be in the penitentiary?'”

In 1975, Patman was voted out of his position as Chairman of the Banking committee by younger Congressmen, in a revolt against the 'Seniority system' which also removed Felix Edward Hébert and William R. Poage from their positions as chairmen. Patman was replaced by Henry S. Reuss by a caucus vote of 152–117. The main reason given for the caucus removing Patman was concern about his age and effectiveness. Fourteen months later, Patman died at the age of 82 in Bethesda, Maryland.

In the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, the Wright Patman Congressional Federal Credit Union is named after him. This credit union serves the banking needs of elected and former members of the House and their staff. In addition, Wright Patman Lake in Northeast Texas is also named for him.

Watergate inquiry
Wright Patman's eponymous committee played an important role in the early days of the Watergate scandal that eventually brought down President Richard Nixon.

The Patman Committee investigated the hundred dollar bills found on the Watergate "plumbers" upon their arrest, suspecting they could directly link them to CREEP, the president's re-election committee. The Patman Committee's 1972 investigation was stymied by pressure from the White House, in part aided by Congressman Gerald R. Ford. Despite these efforts to stop Patman, his investigative course ultimately proved to be Nixon's undoing in the sense that the money trail, as reported on in the Washington Post, helped lead to the establishment of the Ervin Senate Select Committee on Watergate in April, 1973.
(Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_P...)

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Rexford Tugwell



Rexford Guy Tugwell (July 10, 1891 – July 21, 1979) was an agricultural economist who became part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's first "Brain Trust," a group of Columbia academics who helped develop policy recommendations leading up to Roosevelt's 1932 election as President. Tugwell subsequently served in FDR's administration for four years and was one of the chief intellectual contributors to his New Deal. His ideas on urban planning during the Great Depression resulted in the construction of Greenbelt, Maryland and other new suburbs.

Later in his life, Tugwell served as the director of the New York City Planning Commission, the US-appointed Governor of Puerto Rico, and a professor at various universities, with lengthy service at the University of Chicago and the University of Santa Barbara. He wrote twenty books, covering the politics of the New Deal, biographies of major politicians, issues in planning and memoirs of some of his experiences.

Early life and education
Rexford Tugwell was born in Sinclairville, New York. In his youth he gained an appreciation for workers’ rights and liberal politics from the works of Upton Sinclair, James Bryce, and Edward Bellamy. Tugwell began studying economics in graduate work at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and completed his doctorate at Columbia University. At university, he was influenced by such professors as Scott Nearing, Simon Patten, Carl Parker, and John Dewey.

Academic economist
After graduation, he served as a professor at the University of Washington, American University in Paris, and Columbia University.

Tugwell's approach to economics was experimentalist, and he viewed the industrial planning of World War I as a successful experiment. He advocated agricultural planning (led by industry) to stop the rural poverty that had become prevalent due to a crop surplus after the First World War. This method of controlling production, prices, and costs was especially relevant as the Great Depression began.

Roosevelt administration
In 1932 Tugwell was invited to join President Franklin Roosevelt's team of advisers known as the Brain Trust. After Roosevelt's inauguration in 1933, Tugwell was appointed first as Assistant Secretary and then in 1934 as Undersecretary of the United States Department of Agriculture. He helped create the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) and served as its director. The AAA consisted of a domestic allotment program, which paid farmers to voluntarily reduce their production by roughly 30%, funded with a tax on processing companies that used farm commodities. Tugwell's department managed the production of key crops by adjusting the subsidies for non-production.

Tugwell was also instrumental in creating the Soil Conservation Service in 1933, to restrict cultivation and restore poor-quality land. This was especially necessary given the widespread damage of the 1930s' Dust Bowls. He additionally played a key role in crafting the 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

In April 1935 Tugwell and Roosevelt created the Resettlement Administration (RA), a unit of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. Directed by Tugwell, the RA sought to create healthy communities for the rural unemployed with access to urban opportunities. Some of the RA's activities dealt with land conservation and rural aid, but the construction of new suburban satellite cities was the most prominent. In her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities, the author Jane Jacobs critically quotes Tugwell on the program: "My idea is to go just outside centers of population, pick up cheap land, build a whole community and entice people into it. Then go back into the cities and tear down whole slums and make parks of them." She believed that he underestimated the strengths of complex urban communities and caused too much social displacement in "tearing down" neighborhoods that might have been renovated.

The RA completed three "Greenbelt" towns before the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit found the program unconstitutional in Franklin Township v. Tugwell. It ruled that housing construction was a state power and the RA was an illegal delegation of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration's power.

Tugwell had previously been denounced as "Rex the Red". The RA's suburban resettlement program earned him further condemnation as Communist and Un-American because of its social planning aspects.

American Molasses Co.
In the wake of the opposition to his policies, Tugwell resigned from the Roosevelt administration at the end of 1936. He was appointed as a vice president at the American Molasses Co. At this time he also divorced his first wife and married his former assistant, Grace Falke.

Director of New York City Planning Commission
In 1938 Tugwell was appointed as the first director of the New York City Planning Commission. New York's reformist mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia, created the commission as part of a city charter reform aimed at reducing corruption and inefficiency. The Planning Commission had relatively limited powers – all actions needed approval from the legislative Board of Estimate. Rexford Tugwell tried to assert the commission's power. He tried to retroactively enforce nonconforming land uses, despite a lack of public or legal support. His commission sought to establish public housing at moderate densities, yet repeatedly approved FHA requests for greater density. Robert Moses killed Tugwell's proposed fifty-year master plan with a fiery public denouncement of its open space protections.

Governor of Puerto Rico
Tugwell served as the last appointed American Governor of Puerto Rico, from 1941 to 1946. He worked with the legislature to create the Puerto Rico Planning, Urbanization, and Zoning Board in 1942. Tugwell also supported Puerto Rican self-government through the repeal of the Organic Act in 1948, and support for Luis Muñoz Marín’s Popular Democratic Party, the PPD.

As he prepared to retire from the Governorship, he was instrumental in getting the first Puerto Rican appointed to the job, Jesús T. Piñero, then Resident Commissioner. Tugwell also served as Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico.

Return to academia
After his stint as governor, he returned to teaching at a variety of institutions. Tugwell had years of service at the University of Chicago, where he helped develop their planning program. He moved to Greenbelt, Maryland, one of the new suburbs designed and built by the Resettlement Administration under his direction.

After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Tugwell believed that global planning was the only sure way to prevent a nuclear apocalypse. He participated in the Committee to Frame a World Constitution from 1945 to 1948. He also thought the national constitution needed to be amended to enable economic planning. Late in life, he drafted a constitution for the Newstates of America. In it, Planning would become a new branch of federal government, alongside the Regulatory and Electoral branches.

During this time, Tugwell wrote several books, including a biography of Grover Cleveland, subtitled: A Biography of the President Whose Uncompromising Honesty and Integrity Failed America in a Time of Crisis (1968). His biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt was entitled FDR: An Architect of an Era. A Stricken Land was his memoir about his years in Puerto Rico. This book was reprinted in 2007 by the Muñoz Marín Foundation.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rexford_...)

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(no image) How They Became President by Rexford G. Tugwell (no photo)
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Huey Long



Born, Winnfield, La., August 30, 1893; son of Huey Pierce Long, Sr., and Caledonia Tison. Education: University of Oklahoma (dropped out for financial reasons); Tulane University, special student for law studies, audited courses; read law and worked with tutor preparatory to passing the bar examination. Admitted to the Louisiana bar, May 15, 1915. Married, April 12, 1913, Rose McConnell. Children: Rose Lolita, Russell Billieu, and Palmer Reid.

Opened law practice in Winnfield, specialized in workmen's Compensation cases, land titles, oil and gas, and timber sales. Won election to the Louisiana Railroad Commission (later Public Service Commission), 1918. Moved law practice to Shreveport. Served on Commission, 1918-1928, chairman, 1921-1928. While a member of the Commission oil company pipelines were placed under the regulatory authority of the Commission; the Cumberland Telegraph and Telephone Co., ordered to refund almost one-half million dollars to telephone users in the state; streetcar fares were lowered in Shreveport; natural gas prices for Louisiana consumers reduced while severance taxes raised.

Ran unsuccessfully for governor, 1924. Elected governor, 1928, in contested race against incumbent O. H. Simpson and Congressman Riley J. Wilson. During his administration from May 21, 1928, to January 25, 1932, state massively increased expenditures for public education and raised appropriations to the state university. A medical school was established. Prisons were reformed and improved. A highway-building program added 2,500 miles of paved roads, 1,308 miles of asphalt roads, and 9,000 miles of gravel roads. Major bridges built across the Mississippi and other large Louisiana rivers. Free textbooks, charity hospitals, old-age pensions, free night schools for adults, sales taxes and higher gasoline, corporate, franchise, and severance taxes were approved by the legislature. Political oppostion grew amid charges of demagoguery and dictatorship, misconduct, blackmail, and usurpation of authority. Impeachment efforts failed, 1929.

Won election to U. S. Senate, 1930, but remained governor of Louisiana until January 25, 1932, when he took his Senate seat, after securing victory for the "Long" candidates to state office, headed by Gov. Oscar K. Allen. Became a major factor in national elections of 1932 as a supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt, but thereafter became a vigorous opponent of the New Deal. Developed the Share-Our-Wealth Program which would have eliminated personal fortunes in excess of $5 million, provided every family with $5,000 with which to buy a house, car, and radio, provided for old-age pensions, minimum annual incomes, veterans bonuses, and government-paid college educations. This program caused friction with New Deal. Long actively opposed New Deal candidates for public office, and Roosevelt supporters actively opposed Long candidates in Louisiana. Internal Revenue Service investigations attempted to undermine and discredit Long and his partisans. Explored candidacy for 1936 presidential election.

Career came to an end on September 8, 1935, when shot by Dr. Carl A. Weiss, Jr., in the state capitol. Long's political influence, however, extended for many decades as state politics became divided between "Long" and "Anti-Long" factions. His brother, Earl K. Long served as lieutenant governor, 1939-1940, and as governor, 1948-1952, 1956-1960. His son, Russell B. Long served as U. S. senator for nearly forty years. Died, Baton Rouge, September 10, 1935; interred capitol grounds.
(Source: http://www.hueylong.com/resources/bio...)

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by Huey Pierce Long (no photo)
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Random House On Line Interview by our author:

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Thank you, Bentley.