Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2002 12:23 am
I always try to be careful when it comes to 'bashing' any historical figure. It seems like there are waves of interpretations that happen. An example of such is the American Civil War.
Sometimes General Lee is seen as brilliant, other times he is seen as barely competent (relying too much on his subordinates, and when they were dead failing at the battlefield). However, in a few years he is back upon the podeum. Just like MacArthur, waves of protest on his actions are covered by inundations of his good qualities. It seems like we can only look upon historical figures as non-humans, subject to both good and bad acts. This occurs with our enemies. Historically, Albert Speer is seen as 'the good guy' in Nazi Germany, but recently his reputation is being tarnished. The truth is probably he was better then most Nazi party members, but not as innocent as he makes himself out to be.
Same with Halsey. Was he as good or as bad as some claim? It is hard to tell. He obviously was not incompetent, or else he would have been sacked, but he was not brilliant enough to come out of the war with a virtually unscathed reputation like Nimitz. If you read a Halsey biography, you will probably see his history much kinder, but one written on Nimitz will just show the bad points of Halsey. The truth is probably somewhere inbetween. He was a good commander, but subject to faults of assumptions and gloryhogging (wanted to kill the IJN carrier force).
Sometimes General Lee is seen as brilliant, other times he is seen as barely competent (relying too much on his subordinates, and when they were dead failing at the battlefield). However, in a few years he is back upon the podeum. Just like MacArthur, waves of protest on his actions are covered by inundations of his good qualities. It seems like we can only look upon historical figures as non-humans, subject to both good and bad acts. This occurs with our enemies. Historically, Albert Speer is seen as 'the good guy' in Nazi Germany, but recently his reputation is being tarnished. The truth is probably he was better then most Nazi party members, but not as innocent as he makes himself out to be.
Same with Halsey. Was he as good or as bad as some claim? It is hard to tell. He obviously was not incompetent, or else he would have been sacked, but he was not brilliant enough to come out of the war with a virtually unscathed reputation like Nimitz. If you read a Halsey biography, you will probably see his history much kinder, but one written on Nimitz will just show the bad points of Halsey. The truth is probably somewhere inbetween. He was a good commander, but subject to faults of assumptions and gloryhogging (wanted to kill the IJN carrier force).