George Bancroft: Invisible Giant

By Dr. Ira R. Hanna
HRNM Volunteer

History is about people. Everyone has heard of Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, and Thomas Edison. Yet there are many who helped to shape American culture but remain relatively unknown. Invisible Giants: Fifty Americans Who Shaped the Nation But Missed the History Books provides fascinating biographies of some of these consequential figures. The chapter on George Bancroft provides some interesting connections to U.S. naval history. Bancroft was the first consequential American historian as well as a political boss, cabinet officer, diplomat, presidential ghostwriter, parlor radical, and bon vivant.

Invisible Giants

The first of Bancroft’s ten-volume History of the United States of America was published in 1864, the last in 1884. In 1885, he was elected president of the fledgling American Historical Association. Bancroft strongly believed that the nation had survived several trials and had a bright future. His writings implied that the voice of the people (their vote) was the voice of God.

Bancroft was the eighth of the thirteen children of Aaron Bancroft. He was very precocious and entered Harvard University at the age of 13. He graduated with honors and was offered a scholarship to study at Georgia Augusta University in Gottingen, Germany. In 1820, he was awarded a Doctorate of History, then returned to America and taught history at Harvard. Soon afterwards, he married Sarah Dwight, daughter of a prominent merchant/banker. Unfortunately, she died after the birth of their third child. In 1838 he married Elizabeth Bliss, a widow. During that time, as Collector of Customs of the Port of Boston, he helped form a Democratic Party “machine” in Boston that still exists today. In 1845, Bancroft was a leading figure in the Baltimore Democratic National Convention that nominated James K. Polk. When elected president, Polk rewarded Bancroft by nominating him to be Secretary of the Navy. During his short tenure as SecNav, Bancroft did two things for which Americans should be eternally grateful.

George Bancroft (National Portrait Gallery)

First, Bancroft supported the Mexican War and sent American ships to secure California ports from Mexican disruptions. This was partially responsible for California and Texas becoming states. Secondly, Bancroft realized that the Navy needed competent officers who were technically trained and understood how best to use the new steam-powered ships. He determined that the best way to do that was to combine the several naval schools into one that could keep up with the new technology as well as strategies to best use it. In 1845, he authorized the construction of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, which has proven to do that exceedingly well.

After only 18 months as SecNav, Polk offered Bancroft the Ambassadorship to Great Britain. There, he laid the groundwork for England’s support during the Civil War. He also served as Ambassador to Prussia during the term of Republican president Ulysses S. Grant. Bancroft wrote speeches for Stephen Douglas in 1860 and Andrew Johnson in 1866. His own writings formed the core of the Democratic Party’s platform that lasted for over forty years.

Although Bancroft criticized Lincoln when he was first elected, he changed his mind as the Civil War progressed. He agreed with emancipation in 1862 and voted for Lincoln in 1864 although he was still a Democrat. In February 1866, Bancroft gave a eulogy for Lincoln before the House of Representatives.

George Bancroft died in 1891 at the age of 90. John Adams was president when he was born and Theodore Roosevelt attended his memorial service. Of the many unrecognized persons in American history, Bancroft certainly deserves not only to be mentioned in our history books, but given a prominent place.

Reference:
Schlesinger, Jr., Arthur. "George Bancroft." Invisible Giants: Fifty Americans Who Shaped the Nation But Missed the History Books, edited by Mark Carnes. Oxford University Press, 2002, pp.23-31.

Douglas MacArthur and Chester Nimitz: Five-Star Leadership, Part 1

By Lee Duckworth
HRNM Volunteer 

A study of the background and early careers of General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz is essential to understanding the leadership styles and personalities of the two senior five-star officers in the Second World War’s Pacific Theater. MacArthur appears to have been born with the proverbial “silver spoon” and Nimitz came from a hard scrabble background. The marked differences in their upbringing and personality traits are reflected in their dissimilar leadership styles, yet both are venerated for their accomplishments during the Second World War.

The Early Years

MacArthur has an almost unmatched pedigree. On his paternal side, his grandfather was Lieutenant Governor of the state of Wisconsin and a Justice of the Supreme Court of Washington DC; his father was a Medal of Honor recipient and three-star army general (highest rank in the US Army at that time). From his mother’s side he was related to Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt. MacArthur’s mother, Mary “Pinky” Hardy MacArthur, played prominently in his career and unhesitatingly reminded senior officers who had served under her husband to see that her son was promoted. His father, Arthur MacArthur, was stationed throughout the West during the late 1800s, and that was the place where Douglas learned first-hand about riding horses, the cavalry, and the army.

A young Douglas MacArthur (Wikimedia Commons)

MacArthur was seemingly a shoo-in for West Point, although it took three attempts for him to be accepted. His father was stationed in the Philippines during much of the time Douglas was at the military academy, so his mother decided to spend all four years there and met almost daily with her son. Despite the hazing he received for being the son of a senior officer and having his mother watch over him, he rose to be the First Captain (head of the Corps of Cadets) and graduated first in the class of 1903.

By contrast, Nimitz came from a completely opposite background. His family was very poor and his father died before he was born. He too was raised by a strong mother, Anna Nimitz, who concentrated on keeping her son physically fit. Nimitz was strongly influenced by his paternal grandfather, Charles Henry Nimitz, who was a former Texas Ranger and Confederate Civil War veteran. The grandfather had served in the German merchant marine and was an innkeeper who loved to tell stories of his life at sea and in the military. He counseled his grandson to “…learn all you can, then do your best and don’t worry—especially about things over which you have no control.”[1]

Midshipman Chester Nimitz with his grandfather, c. 1905
(Naval History and Heritage Command)

Nimitz grew up in the land-locked German immigrant city of Fredericksburg, Texas, and was an excellent student. His family could not afford college so an appointment to a military academy was Chester’s only avenue for further education. He studied hard for the better part of a year in preparation for the Naval Academy’s entrance exam, besting all other candidates and was admitted to the class of 1905.

Commissioning and Early Careers

Nimitz in 1905
(Wikimedia Commons)

Both men were extremely intelligent and academy classmates sensed they were destined for great military futures. Nimitz graduated 7th in his class and immediately after graduation went to sea on a destroyer. He yearned for command as a young officer, receiving his first command as the CO of USS Decatur, a torpedo boat destroyer. As a 22-year-old ensign he managed to run it aground in the Philippines and was court-martialed for the incident. He accepted full responsibility and learned to never let down his guard. Because Nimitz had a strong engineering background and proficiency in the German language, in 1913 he was selected to serve in Germany, learning about diesel engines and their application in submarines. He later became a submariner, where he spent the majority of his career prior to reaching flag rank.

MacArthur as a student in 1897
(Wikimedia Commons)

MacArthur elected to go into the Army Corps of Engineers and didn’t distinguish himself initially. While stationed in Washington DC he was more interested in the social scene serving as a temporary aide in the White House--his evaluations reflected his less than enthusiastic interest in engineering. In 1905-1906 he served as aide to his father in the Philippines, and along with his mother, made a nine-month tour of Asia observing military capabilities and operations in various countries from Japan to India. This was the first of his four assignments to Asia, where he fell in love with the culture and people. He had the benefit of learning about leadership from a senior officer perspective at his father’s knee. From him he was urged to be bold, do the unexpected, and to act quickly and decisively.

An added benefit of being the son of a three-star general officer was that Douglas was asked for by name to fill vital positions. The posting that paid the most dividends was to Washington DC in 1912, where he joined the Army Staff and later served as its first Public Relations person (then called the Bureau of Information). He became a favorite of Secretary of War Newton Baker and his career soared.

World War I

MacArthur was in the trenches and on the front lines in Europe in 1917-1918 and was the nation’s most decorated soldier, earning two Distinguished Service Crosses and seven Silver Stars. He was promoted from major to colonel (skipping over Lt Col) and by war’s end, was a brigadier general. MacArthur saw firsthand the futility of fighting from the trenches and the use of direct assault. He applied those lessons in his World War II island-hopping campaigns.

Conversely, during World War I, Nimitz served on a surface ship that never saw combat. He was however, instrumental in pioneering the underway refueling of ships from auxiliary vessels, which stood him in good stead for World War II.

Check back next week for part 2 of the Nimitz and MacArthur story!

[1] Potter, E. B. Nimitz. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (1976)

120 Years Ago: The Redemptive Power of a Suicide Mission, Part 1

Richmond Hobson never quite fit in the Navy.

Midshipman Richmond Hobson, USNA, 1889. (Eleanor Cunningham)

According to historian William Garrott Brown, a fellow Alabaman who knew him before he departed for the United States Naval Academy, Hobson was usually “grave faced,” adding that “[h]is manner was stiff and formal; his conversation almost comically stilted.” He seemed incapable of small talk and never used icebreakers such as jokes or amusing personal anecdotes during the many speeches he would give during his lifetime.

His maxim, forged from a strict upbringing as the son of a judge, had been, “Do your whole duty every day.” That profoundly personal sense of duty led him to Annapolis in 1885, yet the way he carried himself and related to his fellow midshipmen there portended anything but a successful career ahead.

While many other midshipmen managed their duties and allegiances with fluidity, deciding whether to follow a particular order or regulation to the letter or report a peer who didn’t on a case-by-case basis, Hobson followed his orders with crystalline rigidity. His worldview had no shades of gray. He saw his duties and those of his peers in stark black and white. They were either carried out properly or improperly, honorably or dishonorably.  His meticulous reporting of the transgressions of other plebes quickly earned him ostracism from the Brigade of Midshipmen. It was said that only one other student there spoke to him (other than what was necessary in the performance of his duties) for two entire years.

Men like Hobson tend to excel at academics but struggle in environments requiring teamwork and cooperation. Today such a person might be found profoundly lacking in “emotional intelligence” and be steered away from a military career, where esprit de corps sometimes transcends regulations and orders. Although he never quite fit in at the academy (nor did he seem to care to), Hobson was by no means a misfit. He was a man of vision whose almost messianic zeal inspired those he led, somehow compensating for his inability to relate to them personally. “Throughout his life, Hobson placed himself in the forefront of movements that became, to him, crusades,” wrote biographer Walter Pittman. “Not only was he unafraid of the opposition to his ideas and of the ridicule they brought him, but Hobson seemed to almost welcome the opportunity to convince opponents of the error of their ways.”

Despite the fact that many in Annapolis evidently loathed the young crusader, Hobson graduated first in his class in 1889.

USS Chicago at anchor with other "New Navy" ships of the Squadron of Evolution in 1889. (National Archives and Records Administration, Still Picture Records Section, RG 19 via Wikimedia Commons)

Although he probably could have had his pick of assignments, Hobson rejected a career as a line officer, instead choosing the Naval Construction Corps. The next nine years were eventful, if unremarkable, as Hobson was selected for postgraduate training in England and France after his midshipman’s cruise aboard USS Chicago, flagship of the all-steel Squadron of Evolution, designed to test the concepts and doctrines of the “New Navy.” The experience had a great effect on him, as he emerged as a fierce advocate of removing all wood from naval vessels (which the Spanish navy failed to do and would pay dearly for it later). He became the first American to graduate with honors from the Ecole d’Application du Genie Maritime, another in a string of academic successes, which laid the groundwork for his selection as the first instructor of naval construction at Annapolis. He also proved himself a quick study as an observer in the Far East, sounding some of the first alarms about the rapidly modernizing navy of Japan.

Detail from a print of Newport News circa 1891, showing the Chesapeake Dry Dock and Construction Company (now known as Newport News Shipbuilding).  Its charter was approved by the General Assembly of Virginia on January 28, 1886.  The U.S. Navy first had ships refitted at the yard in 1889, but less than a decade later, no less than three modern steel warships were being built there at the same time. (Courtesy of Marcus Robbins/ Norfolk Naval Shipyard collection)

Hobson cemented a reputation for intellectual acumen, yet it was not yet clear whether he was actually a good naval architect in practice. The most embarrassing incident of his career occurred at Newport News Shipbuilding in 1897, where he failed to note casting flaws while helping oversee the construction of the battleship Kearsarge (BB 5). 

USS Kearsarge (BB 5) and USS Kentucky (BB 6) armor plan drafted in 1899, showing distribution of side and turret armor.  Both battleships were built at Newport News Shipbuilding and were launched on the same day, March 24, 1898. (Naval History and Heritage Command image)

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt. (Dickinson State University)

He appealed the reprimand he received from Superintending Constructor Joseph Woodward all the way up to Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt, yet the reproof was upheld and Hobson was forced to undergo an examination on machine tool practice to prove his competency. 

By then, war clouds between the United States and Spain were on the horizon, and Hobson strongly lobbied the Navy secretary for sea duty. It remains unclear whether his argument that naval architects such as himself should not only be overseeing ship construction but should also be observing their performance in combat won the day, or if it was just that Woodward was more than happy to be rid of him. 

What was clear, at least to Hobson, was that the upcoming fight against Spain was the crusade he had been waiting for.