Forrestal and the Navy

Forrestal and the Navy
Author: Robert Greenhalgh Albion
Publisher:
Total Pages: 388
Release: 1962
Genre: History
ISBN:

Presents a study of James Forrestal and the United States Department of the Navy to show the importance of having a well-qualified person holding an important job at a critical juncture in American history.

The Forrestal Diaries

The Forrestal Diaries
Author: James Forrestal
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
Total Pages: 869
Release: 2015-11-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1786256932

James Vincent Forrestal (1892-1949) was the last Cabinet-level United States Secretary of the Navy and the first United States Secretary of Defense. These fascinating diaries begin in 1944 shortly after James Forrestal became Secretary of the Navy, and end with his resignation in March 1949 as America’s first Secretary of Defense. Blunt and forceful, Forrestal reveals the American strategy that he helped shape with verve. Expertly edited by seasoned historian Walter Millis, the American high command as is seen in a rare light as the Second World War finishes and the Cold War begins and gathers pace.

Driven Patriot

Driven Patriot
Author: Townsend Hoopes
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Total Pages: 612
Release: 2012-04-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1612512453

A haunting portrait of one of the most fascinating and influential figures of the mid-twentieth century, this biography takes a penetrating look at James Forrestal's life and work. Brilliant, ambitious, glamorous, yet a perpetual outsider, Forrestal forged a career that took him from his working-class origins to the social and financial stratosphere of Wall Street, and from there to policy making in Washington. As secretary of the navy during World War II, he was the principal architect in transforming an obsolescent navy into the largest, most formidable naval force in history. After the war, as the nation's first secretary of defense, he played a major role in shaping the anti-Communist consensus that sustained the U.S. policy of containment during the Cold War. Despite his many achievements, Forrestal's life ended in tragedy with his suicide in 1949. This absorbing study not only takes an understanding look at the many-sided man but presents an authoritative history of the great but troubled years of America's rise to world primacy. Winner of the 1992 Roosevelt Naval History Prize, the book enjoyed wide acclaim when first published and is now considered a definitive work.

The Assassination of James Forrestal

The Assassination of James Forrestal
Author: David Martin
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2021-06-15
Genre:
ISBN: 9780967352152

Using primarily information provided in the Navy's official investigation of the death of America's first Secretary of Defense, which had been kept secret for 55 years, The Assassination of James Forrestal thoroughly demolishes the widely believed view that Forrestal's fall from a 16th-floor window of the Bethesda Naval Hospital on May 22, 1949, was an act of suicide. The official report, in fact, did not conclude that Forrestal committed suicide. It concluded only that the fall caused his death and that no one in the U.S. Navy was responsible for it. A major reason why the suicide thesis is still widely believed is that the news of the release of the official report, which the author obtained through the Freedom of Information Act in 2004, has been effectively suppressed. Building upon what he has long made available on his DCDave.com web site, and in the manner of his 2018 book, The Martyrdom of Thomas Merton: An Investigation, co-authored with Hugh Turley, David Martin breaks through the wall of silence and misinformation. This meticulous examination of the violent death of the leading government critic of American support for the creation of the state of Israel is vital to an understanding of U.S. and world history since the mid-20th century.

Sailors to the End

Sailors to the End
Author: Gregory A. Freeman
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 514
Release: 2009-10-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 0061856568

The aircraft carrier USS Forrestal was preparing to launch attacks into North Vietnam when one of its jets accidentally fired a rocket into an aircraft occupied by pilot John McCain. A huge fire ensued, and McCain barely escaped before a 1,000-pound bomb on his plane exploded, causing a chain reaction with other bombs on surrounding planes. The crew struggled for days to extinguish the fires, but, in the end, the tragedy took the lives of 134 men. For thirty-five years, the terrible loss of life has been blamed on the sailors themselves, but this meticulously documented history shows that they were truly the victims and heroes.