"The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today" by Thomas E. Ricks

History has been kind to the American generals of World War II - Marshall, Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley - and less kind to the generals of the wars that followed. In part it is the story of a widening gulf between performance and accountability. During World War II, scores of American generals were relieved of command simply for not being good enough. Today, as one American colonel said bitterly during the Iraq War, "As matters stand now, a private who loses a rifle suffers far greater consequences than a general who loses a war."
In The Generals we meet great leaders and suspect ones, generals who rose to the occasion and those who failed themselves and their soldiers. Marshall and Eisenhower cast long shadows over this story, as does the less familiar Marine General O. P. Smith, whose fighting retreat from the Chinese onslaught into Korea in the winter of 1950 snatched a kind of victory from the jaws of annihilation. But Korea also showed the first signs of an army leadership culture that neither punished mediocrity nor particularly rewarded daring. In the Vietnam War, the problem grew worse until, finally, American military leadership bottomed out. The My Lai massacre, Ricks shows us, is the emblematic event of this dark chapter of our history. In the wake of Vietnam a battle for the soul of the U.S. Army was waged with impressive success. It became a transformed institution, reinvigorated from the bottom up. But if the body was highly toned, its head still suffered from familiar problems, resulting in tactically savvy but strategically obtuse leadership that would win battles but end wars badly from the first Iraq War of 1990 through to the present.
Tom Ricks has made a close study of America's military leaders for three decades, and in his hands this story resounds with larger meaning: about the transmission of values, about strategic thinking, and about the difference between an organization that learns and one that fails.
Length: 75 Minutes
Lecture Date: March 13, 2013

[@lisalasoya2898]

What a man! you give our soldiers respect including George Marshal-keep up the good work.

[@russellthompson6079]

This man is persuasive and brilliant

[@kmowl1994]

Excellent talk, very informative and he’s a great story teller too

[@Darkmind1970]

A superb, if deeply worrying, book.

[@jjforcebreaker]

Great talk. Sadly whatever Mr. Ricks talks about remains relevant many years later.

[@paulmicheldenverco1]

I throughly enjoyed the lecture and have enjoyed Dr. Ricks' The Generals so far (about 150 pages into it).

[@lawrencelortie]

The best command of big business.

[@TomF1970]

Just finished the book. Awesome

[@danr308]

A little late but... what do you guys use for worm bedding? Did i miss it? Y'all make me jealous. I wanna do what you do.

[@PrentissYeates]

Should a serving commander of JCS be interviewed for a book by Bob Woodward?

[@braddeicide]

I'd love to listen to the whole book but it's region locked out of Australia.

[@lisalasoya2898]

I just want to comment on your lecture about the military freaking out on the nuclear era. Don't believe it they're happy as could be, it is the new wave of combat.

[@georgewashington938]

but the generals were sure to have diversity training, when a focus on unity is what a military needs

[@twright3802]

Not sure if you can truly have unity if a diverse group of people cannot get along.

[@haroldkerrii6085]

42:30 retired Colonel cannot even use a mic?

[@KPC-123]

Yea! I HATE that type of ignorance, but the real fault lies w/ the guy who handed it to him.... why did he bother giving it to him, for sh*ts and giggles?!

[@cleanerben9636]

This guy is bang on. Surprised he lived and wasn't Epsteined.