William Halsey: Difference between revisions
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'''William F. "Bull" Halsey | '''William F. "Bull" Halsey''' (1882-1959) was a [[fleet admiral]] of the [[U.S. Navy]], a colorful and inspirational combat leader in the [[Second World War]]. He was also quite controversial in terms of his ability at the level of fleet command, especially at the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]]. One of his most authoritative biographers, E. B. Potter, had begun his work tending to believe that argument, but eventually saw him as <blockquote>a man not without shortcomings but with qualities of leadership, courage, judgment, good will and compassion that utterly outweigh his faults.<ref name=Potter-Halsey>{{citation | ||
| author = E. B. Potter | | author = E. B. Potter | ||
| publisher = U.S. Naval Institute | year = 1985 | | publisher = U.S. Naval Institute | year = 1985 | ||
| isbn = 0870211463 | | isbn = 0870211463 | ||
| title = Bull Halsey}}, p. xiii</ref></blockquote> | | title = Bull Halsey}}, p. xiii</ref></blockquote> | ||
As Halsey points out in his autobiography, "Bull" was the nickname of the press corps, not the Navy. Named for his father, he was first called "Old Bill", then "Bill" in the Navy, and "more recently I suppose it is inevitable for my juniors to think of me, a fleet admiral and five times a grandfather, as "Old Bill" Now that I am sitting down to my autobiography, it is Bill Halsey whom I want to get on paper, not the fake, flamboyant "Bull.""<ref name=Auto>{{citation | |||
| title = Admiral Halsey's Story | |||
| author = William F. Halsey and J. Bryan III | |||
| publisher = McGraw-Hill | year = 1947}}, p. 1</ref> It is a Navy legend, however, that an officer, entering Halsey's darkened command information center during a battle, muttered "is that old goat here?" and received a thunderous response, "Who are you calling '''old'''? | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist|2}} | ||
Revision as of 18:12, 19 June 2010
William F. "Bull" Halsey (1882-1959) was a fleet admiral of the U.S. Navy, a colorful and inspirational combat leader in the Second World War. He was also quite controversial in terms of his ability at the level of fleet command, especially at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. One of his most authoritative biographers, E. B. Potter, had begun his work tending to believe that argument, but eventually saw him as
a man not without shortcomings but with qualities of leadership, courage, judgment, good will and compassion that utterly outweigh his faults.[1]
As Halsey points out in his autobiography, "Bull" was the nickname of the press corps, not the Navy. Named for his father, he was first called "Old Bill", then "Bill" in the Navy, and "more recently I suppose it is inevitable for my juniors to think of me, a fleet admiral and five times a grandfather, as "Old Bill" Now that I am sitting down to my autobiography, it is Bill Halsey whom I want to get on paper, not the fake, flamboyant "Bull.""[2] It is a Navy legend, however, that an officer, entering Halsey's darkened command information center during a battle, muttered "is that old goat here?" and received a thunderous response, "Who are you calling old?
References
- ↑ E. B. Potter (1985), Bull Halsey, U.S. Naval Institute, ISBN 0870211463, p. xiii
- ↑ William F. Halsey and J. Bryan III (1947), Admiral Halsey's Story, McGraw-Hill, p. 1