"Above all these sailors was the Commander in Chief, Franklin D. Roosevelt- a remarkable leader indeed. Unlike Winston Churchill, Roosevelt never imagined himself to be a strategist. In general he followed the advice of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which included King, Marshall, and his own chief of staff, wise old Admiral Leahy. Thrice at least he went over their heads- refusing to redeploy American forces into the Pacific in 1942, insisting that Guadalcanal must be reinforced and held at all costs, and inviting a British fleet to participate in the Okinawa campaign. He also threw his influence in favor of MacArthur's desire to liberate Leyte and Luzon against the Navy's wish to bypass them. He was a tower of strength to Marshall, King and Eisenhower against insistent British pressure to postpone OVERLORD and shift DRAGOON from Marseilles to Trieste. The Navy was his favorite service- I heard him once, in his true regal style refer to it as "my Navy"- and he did his utmost to build it up and improve its efficiency both before and during the war."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Military leaders from the United StatesUnited States Navy peoplePeople from IowaNavy Cross recipientsUnited States Ambassadors to France
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Samuel Eliot Morison, The Two-Ocean War: A Short History of the United States Navy in the Second World War (1963), p. 583
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_D._Leahy
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
William D. Leahy
30 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by William D. Leahy →
Related Quotes
"[MacArthur's "Old Soldiers Never Die" speech was of] such a superlative quality of excellence... that there is no oth…"
"I did not see Julius Caesar's return to Rome, but I am sure that in comparison it looked like a deuce of spades."
"I was there."
"Throughout the war, the four of us- Marshall, King, Arnold, and myself- worked in the closest possible harmony. In th…"
"In the Pacific we gave our enemies a costly lesson in amphibious warfare, just as in Europe we, with our allies, demo…"
"Once it had been tested, President Truman faced the decision as to whether to use it. He did not like the idea, but w…"
"The lethal possibilities of atomic warfare in the future are frightening. My own feeling was that in being the first …"
"Perhaps there is some hope that its capacity for death and terror among the defenseless may restrain nations from usi…"
"Far less known than other leaders of World War II, Leahy was content to perform his services for his country and for …"
"Everybody may have peace if they are willing to pay any price for it. Part of this any price is slavery, dishonor of …"