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Naval War College Review Volume 63 Article 19 Number 1 Winter

2010 LeMay: The Life and Wars of Curtis LeMay Roger Ducey

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Recommended Citation Ducey, Roger (2010) "LeMay: The Life and Wars of General Curtis LeMay," Review: Vol. 63 : No. 1 , Article 19. Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol63/iss1/19

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BOOK REVIEWS 165 Ducey: LeMay: The Life and Wars of General Curtis LeMay

The Americans, meanwhile, built a Warren Kozak captures the true essence more balanced fleet, able to starve Ja- of General Curtis LeMay. Like many panofsuppliesaswellasdefeatits great leaders, LeMay was a paradox, a forces on land, in the air, and beneath vivid contrast of unique strengths and the sea. debilitating weaknesses. He was inse- When Kuehn writes of being collegial cure, afraid of failure, always question- and collaborative, this reviewer thought ing his own decisions. LeMay hid his of a perpetuation of the status quo, insecurities beneath a stern and gruff since I was of the opinion that military demeanor that gave the impression of innovation is only the by-product of confidence and strength. The antithesis egotistic individuals who are unable get of the stereotypical dashing American along with their fellow officers. Billy flyboy, “LeMay was dark, brooding, and Mitchell, J. F. C. Fuller, George Patton, forbidding. He rarely smiled, he spoke and Pete Ellis readily come to mind. even less, and when he did, his words Kuehn points out yet another irony as came out in a snarl.” well—that the U.S. Navy of the 1920s Always seeking to learn as much as he thrived because of financial constraints. could, LeMay not only flew airplanes All naval officers with pulses and open but took time to service and repair eyes could see that they could no longer them alongside his maintenance crew. rely on their navy’s simply being bigger He made himself the best navigator in than its prospective opponents. Hence the U.S. Army Air Corps. For example, the institution entertained all serious he successfully located the USS in ideas of reform, so that the rebels, so to a 120,000-square- area of the Pa- speak, became the norm. cific, and he found the Italian ocean Although this is an excellent book, it is liner SS Rex in a large Atlantic storm. not perfect. The discussion of flying- As the United States entered World deck cruisers (a model never put into War II LeMay commanded the 305th production) is too long. Chapter 8, Group, which began with only however, which compares innovation three aircraft to train thirty-five crews. or lack of it in the navies of Britain, Ja- He was a stern disciplinarian who pan, and , is about the best demanded excellence. writing I have seen on military develop- LeMay was always able to cut to the ment in the interwar years. heart of the matter. He devised radically new tactics that improved bombing ac- MICHAEL PEARLMAN Lawrence, Kansas curacy and reduced aircraft losses. To U.S. Army Command and General Staff College build trust and confidence within his (Retired) crew, he led the missions himself. His success was noticed, and as Generals Hap Arnold’s and Ira Eaker’s “fireman” he was given the toughest challenges to overcome. Kozak, Warren. LeMay: The Life and Wars of Gen- Kozak goes on to describe LeMay’s de- eral Curtis LeMay. Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2009. 434pp. $27.95 velopment of (SAC), which supported his long-held

Published by U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons, 2010 1

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166 NAVAL WAR COLLEGE REVIEW Naval War College Review, Vol. 63 [2010], No. 1, Art. 19

vision that the best way to avoid war whom he believed would cut the U.S. was through strength and readiness, as deterrent until the Soviets could win a reflected in SAC’s motto: “Peace Is Our general war. Profession.” LeMay felt he was one of This book’s greatest value might be that the few people who understood that the it offers an opportunity to consider ob- United States was at war with the Soviet jectively the impact that Curtis E. Union and that the only way SAC could LeMay (the youngest general in modern provide the security that the nation American history and its longest serv- neededwastobepreparedtogotonu- ing) had on the events that shaped this clear war at a moment’s notice. Every- nation for many years to come. thing he did was focused on that objective. ROGER DUCEY Naval War College After relinquishing command at SAC, LeMay served as the U.S. Air Force’s vice chief of staff and then chief of staff during the Dwight D. Eisenhower, John

F. , and Lyndon B. Johnson ad- Willmott, H. P. The Great Crusade: A New Com- ministrations. In the later years, LeMay plete History of the Second World War. Dulles, Va.: worked for Secretary of Defense Robert Potomac Books, 2008. 520pp. $17.60 McNamara,who,ironically,hadonce The Great Crusade is a comprehensive worked for LeMay as a targeting ana- military history of World War II. With a lyst. The relationship between these two focus on strategic-level military opera- men was often confrontational, but de- tions and a global perspective, this work spite their differences McNamara called provides a particularly complete and na- LeMay “the finest military strategist this tionally balanced account of the war. H. nation ever produced.” P. Willmott achieves his ambitious goal The last chapter in LeMay’s life is of providing “a basic reference and guide the one probably best remembered and to the war” that offers balance among yet least reflective of LeMay’s internal the major fronts of the conflict and illu- values. LeMay’s decision to run for vice minates “why events unfolded in the president on the Independent ticket manner in which they did.” with Alabama’s Governor George The Great Crusade discusses conflict Wallace confounded everyone, includ- between countries and systems, not ing his own wife, daughter, and closest between leaders or equipment. It is associates. Kozak maintains there is no about “how states make war and the ba- evidence of LeMay being a racist and sis on which services planned, executed maintains that the only reason he chose and either won or lost campaigns.” to run was to split the vote, ensuring Willmott distinguishes between the use that Democratic presidential candidate, of available forces by military com- , would not win the manders to win campaigns and the use election and so continue the policies of of national power to win wars. National the Johnson administration. By run- and international political factors, be- ning, LeMay believed, he was taking ginning in 1931, get the attention they “one last chance to rise up and do bat- deserve. How and why countries joined tle” against the “defense intellectuals,” and left the conflict (including the

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NWCR_Winter2010_john.ps C:\Documents and Settings\john.lanzieri.ctr\Desktop\NavalWarCollege\5294_NWC_Review_Winter2010\NWCR_Winter2010_john.vp Tuesday, November 24, 2009 11:28:47 AM