The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King--The Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea

by Walter R. Borneman

How history's only five-star admirals triumphed in World War II and made the United States the world's dominant sea power.

Only four men in American history have been promoted to the five-star rank of Admiral of the Fleet: William Leahy, Ernest King, Chester Nimitz, and William Halsey. These four men were the best and the brightest the navy produced, and together they led the U.S. navy to victory in World War II, establishing the United States as the world's greatest fleet.

In THE ADMIRALS, award-winning historian Walter R. Borneman tells their story in full detail for the first time. Drawing upon journals, ship logs, and other primary sources, he brings an incredible historical moment to life, showing us how the four admirals revolutionized naval warfare forever with submarines and aircraft carriers, and how these men-who were both friends and rivals-worked together to ensure that the Axis fleets lay destroyed on the ocean floor at the end of World War II.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Military History, World War II, War

522 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2011

About the author

Walter R. Borneman, b.1952, an American historian and lawyer, is the author of well-known popular books on 18th and 19th century United States history. He received his B.A. in 1974 from Western State College of Colorado, and received an M.A. in history there in 1975 for a thesis on "Irwin : silver camp of the Ruby Mountains"; in 1981 he received a law degree from the University of Denver, and practiced law. His latest book, published in May 2012, is The Admirals Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King--the 5-star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea.
wikipedia

Reviews

[Dj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading about Major Personalities generally comes in one of two types. Either their are very detailed individual views which focus on someones entire live or they are groups of people that are similar and are fairly broken up and the kind of synopsis you would expect to get out of a resume. Any book written about someone has a general trap that the author respects and admires the individual they are writing about. No surprise really, since why would you want to write about someone you did care much for.

Lately there has been a tend towards writing about more than one individual at the same time, with mixed results. Generally these books make for great launch pads to find out more about some individual that you generally don't know much about. Hitler's Generals is a fair example of this. Brief and for the most part laudatory, it is more a book that gets you started than one that gets you what you want to know. Another trend is to write about a few individuals as a group, Patton, Rommel and Monty for example and do a kind of compare and contrast on them. While this can prove quite interesting, in generally doesn't allow for much depth in the space allotted. Mostly due to the differences of backgrounds and systems.

The Admirals is along this last line, it takes four individuals, all of who achieved five star rank in the Navy. Since they are all members of the US Navy, the compare and contrast can be more full and since it doesn't just include the four who are named as the main topic of the book, but others like Spruance, Fletcher and even Kimmel, not as deeply but with how their careers and those of the Main topic individuals came into contact with each other it is a more fulfilling read.

As the author points out, these Admirals of the Fleet couldn't have been more widely different from one another. The book is very good at bringing forth those differences without denigrating any of them as individuals. The reader does get the feeling that the Author considers Halsey not as qualified for the fifth start as Spruance would have been, he doesn't make a really strong point of it and does in fact have a very good rationalization as to why Halsey got it. This is quite a remarkable book. Will have to see if I can find more books by the Author since this one was so impressive.

[Boudewijn · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the shooting starts, they have to send for the “sons of bitches.” - Ernest J. King

Borneman's book delves into the lives of World War II's four 5-star admirals, showcasing their unique personalities, leadership skills, and instrumental role in securing the Allied victory and establishing the US as a ...

Read more of my reviews here

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most people are aware of the five star Army Generals but few are aware of the five star Admirals. I have read the biographies of each of these men but this is the first book I have read that deals with the four together. All knew each other well; their military lives had intertwined for years; all were from middle-class backgrounds.

Borneman narrates their lives in sometimes intersecting parallels until World War II. King was from a Scots’ family from Ohio. He graduated near the top of his Annapolis class and also graduated from Sub School. William Leahy was from a Wisconsin Irish family. He graduated from Annapolis 14th out of 27. He was a gunnery officer aboard the Battleship Oregon during the Spanish American War. He spent 40 years on battleships. William Halsey was from New England. He graduated 43 out of 62 from Annapolis. His first assignment was on the Battleship Kansas. He then went to Aviation School and earned his wings. Chester Nimitz was from a German immigrant family from Texas. He graduated Annapolis 7th of 114. He was known as the calm strategist. They were all great leaders able to motivate subordinates and peers. During WWII FDR was skilled at placing key people in the right place at the right time. FDR appointed Nimitz as Commander in Chief of the Pacific; Halsey in Command of the Pacific 3rd and 5th fleets; King as Commander in Chief of the Navy and Chief of Naval Operations; and Leahy as FDR’s military advisor, titled Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief. This position was only used in World War II.

The book is well written and meticulously researched. The author deftly manipulates multiple narrative strands while providing lots of details. Borneman is a military historian and is skilled at archival research. It is amazing that these men who spent their lives in battleships were able to immediately realize that the days of the battleship were over and adapt to the aircraft carrier and submarine for warfare. I learned a lot from reading this book and also enjoyed reading the book. The book is fairly long at about 18 hours.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Brian Troxell does a good job narrating the book. Troxell is an actor, voice over actor and audiobook narrator.

[happy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt this was a good look at the four men who held the rank of Admiral of the Fleet (5 stars) Borneman makes the four men come alive. In the first part of the book, he traces the careers of the 4 men independently, but when World War II starts their stories become intertwined.
He traces both their professional lives and to some extent their personal lives as well. He seems to admire Nimitz and Leahy more than King and Halsey, but gives credit to all four men for their accomplishments during the war.
I liked the way he traced their prewar careers and how they were influenced by their choices. Halsey in destroyers and King bouncing around looking for command time, before both commanding Air Craft Carriers, while Nimitz came up in submarines. Leahy, being the oldest, had the longest career. He was on the USS Oregon at the Battle of Santiago during the Spanish American War and served as Truman’s Chief of Staff for 4 years.
In addition to the four Admirals, Borneman looks at the other personalities that played major roles in forming US strategy for the war. This includes the major Army generals, McArthur, Marshall, Eisenhower, as well as the lesser admirals of the Pacific War (including Spruance, Fletcher, McCain)
As this book looks more at the strategy of the war, Borneman does skimp on the descriptions of the battles that were fought, esp Coral Sea and Midway. However, he does spend some pages discussing Halsey’s failures in two typhoons in the later stages of the war and how he was able to overcome his mistakes. Basically he was too well known to the public to fire. He did receive a letter of reprimand
All in all a very good look at the difference in command styles and their effectiveness – obviously all were successful. I highly recommend this.

[Brian Eshleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just okay. Their respective personalities didn't really come alive and neither did the grain of the times in which they lived.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a look at some of the best-known naval officers of WWII. William Leahy was not well-known, but was an invaluable aid to President Roosevelt both at home and abroad. Probably the most well-known was William Halsey, the pugnacious officer who seemed to miss the great battles--Pearl Harbor, Midway, and the Philippine Sea. However, he will always be remembered for his efforts at Guadalcanal. On the other hand, he will also be remembered for the controversial decision he made at Leyte Gulf. Personally, I feel he was much at fault for his 'race north', which led to the San Bernardino Strait debacle, but like his equally controversial decisions about exposing the Third Fleet to the furor of two typhoons, he was 'protected' to some extent by his superiors, Nimitz and King. Halsey reminds me some somewhat of George Patton, a fighter and a man who needs war to show his mettle. He was the last of the admirals to receive his 5th star.

Chester Nimitz was from the hill country of Texas. I once visited the Museum in Fredericksburg, which honors him and the Pacific War. He is remembered as the man who took over as CINCPAC after Pearl Harbor. He was quiet spoken, but did his job, dealing not only with the men and materiel at his command, but also some of the foremost egos of the period. One of those was Douglas MacArthur, and another was another of the 5-star admirals, Ernest King.

King's fierce demeanor brooked few arguments as he endeavored to fight the Pacific War while competing for the supplies needed in the Atlantic. The tension between the British and Anericans caused some hard feelings, especially over slow use of convoys by the Americans, but the 'Europe First' decision was honored (rightly so IMO), which forced King and the U.S. Navy to 'make do' for awhile until the American industrial might came through. By war's end, Japan's navy was just a shadow of what it had been.

These were the men who had the 5 stars, although there might have been another-- Raymond Spruance, originally a cruiser man who was given his chance at Midway, and never looked back. Good at staff work and fighting, Spruance seemed not to have needed that extra star to know his worth. These men helped to win the war, and should always be remembered for their service.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book sets out to be a history of the four 5-Star Admirals of the US Navy, it ends up also chronicling the rise of the US Navy in the first half of the 20th century; how it started the century, what changes it went through, and how it became the highly efficient machine of war it was in WWII. More than a biography this book was an organizational history that proved just as compelling (to me) and the story of these four men.

For those who are not terribly familiar with the history of the US navy the story picks up for our four future admirals during the Spanish American War, a war that saw America announce itself and its navy on the world stage by kicking Spain's naval butt and claiming numerous overseas colonies. From there the navy aspires to be a first rate power and the four men this book follows are there to see it rise (growing under Teddy Roosevelt), change (growth of submarine warfare and aircraft carriers), and evolve into one of the most power fleets ever seen on Earth. These men were there and helped shaped the path of the navy and the country as a whole. Seeing the story through their experiences gave me a new appreciation for the events in the Pacific War.

One choice Borneman made that I thought was particularly illuminating was his ability to refer back to past events in these men's lives to explain their behavior and actions in their lives. Even though he was covering the lives and services of four men (more than that, really, given all the other people in their respective narratives he had to speak to as well) he wrote in such a way that made them flesh and blood, capable of mistakes and being shortsighted just like anyone else. While at times he may have swerved towards the edge of hagiography, he did not pull punches when they screwed up (such as driving a fleet into a typhoon not once, but TWICE in the case of Halsey).

Overall I gained a better appreciation for the process these men went through to attain the heights they reached as well as a better understanding of how the pre-WWII US navy operated as an organization. The book was both accessible and highly informative, giving me a better appreciation of the events leading up to the war as well as the men who would shape the US war plans.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

So why five stars? Because that is what was on the collar of the four men discussed within. Leahy, Nimitz, King, and Halsey. The great naval leaders of WWII. In my opinion, the greatest naval leaders were forged from that war. Leahy, the stalwart, behind the scenes political genius that stood in the shadows behind Roosevelt and later, Truman. King, the cantankerous master strategician that ran the navy on in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. Nimitz the cerebral mind executing the Pacific drive, and the diplomat behind Army and Navy cooperation. And Halsey, the street fighter thug whose only mission was complete annihilation of the enemy. Four different personalities that started on day one of WWII and did not finish until a broken enemy was pulled up alongside the MISSOURI and signed a document of unconditional surrender. They did it in four years.

This is the only book that will dive deep into the minds of these great men. How they took a 600 ship navy at the start of the war, and ended it with over 6000. They channeled the industrial output, the manpower of this nation, and combined strategic planning to come from the underdog position to a Super Power. The US Navy was larger then the next three navies combined at the end of WWII. A great book about great men.

[Dwight · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Admirals is an enjoyable read from a talented author. Borneman delivers another solid performance and demonstrates some versatility in tackling subject matter outside of his past wheelhouse, as well as the challenge of getting four big-time World War II actors to share limited space. The flow of the book starts out a little choppy as he jumps from one character to the next, but Mr. Borneman doesn't take long to hit his stride, delivering a narrative that flows smoothly as each admiral takes his turn in the forefront. The stories of Leahy, King, Nimitz and Halsey are ones of both contrast and teamwork that result in a winning lineup for the US Navy with role definitions that played to the strengths of each contributor.

Leahy, who grew up in the age of battleships, has been put out to pasture in the diplomatic corps before being called back to duty to serve as America’s highest ranking military officer at the outset of hostilities. During the war, he becomes FDR’s foremost military adviser and loyal consultant, eventually superseding Harry Hopkins in influence shortly before FDR’s death and acting with de facto presidential authority during Roosevelt’s final decline.

King gets passed over for his dream job of Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) shortly before retirement age only to be placed in the newly created role of COMINCH-CNO shortly after Pearl Harbor. Widely considered prickly and disagreeable, he forms an effective partnership with Marshall to oversee the unprecedented ramp up and deployment of American military forces across the globe. Among other accomplishments in implementing America’s two ocean strategy, he plays a key role in developing the plan to defeat the German U-boat menace in the Atlantic, while simultaneously launching America’s successful submarine campaign to strangle Japan’s industry in the Pacific.

Nimitz inherits the Pacific Command from a disgraced Kimmel to stabilize the situation and marshal the scarce resources available during the early months of the war throughout the uncertain encounters near Midway and Guadalcanal. He then builds at team of effective lieutenants to unleash the might of America’s industry and manpower across the vast expanses of the Pacific theater through the overwhelming use of naval air power.

Halsey is the brash, aggressive sailor the navy needed to raise morale take the fight to the Japanese. His relentless determination displayed in multiple engagements around Guadalcanal wore down the Japanese and reversed the momentum of the conflict in the Pacific. He was also a thorn in the side of his superiors after questionable decision-making off Leyte Gulf and in the face of two typhoons, but his positive attributes were usually weighed more heavily than his mistakes by his superiors.

This isn’t a book about battles. In fact, if you skip a page, you might miss Midway. It’s a book about the personalities and leadership dynamics between the title characters along with a cast of dozens of other key World War II era personalities: FDR, Marshall, MacArthur, Eisenhower, Kimmel, Fletcher, Spruance, Ghormley, Turner and many others. Borneman takes on a broad topic with a high degree of complexity and pulls it off capably.

[John Bohnert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot about these five-star admirals, especially King and Leahy.
Over the years, I've read many accounts of generals, but this is my first look at any admirals.
As a Navy veteran, I should read about more Navy men.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for the Five-Stars! 😉

[Urey Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leahy, USNA class of 1897 - King, class of 1901 - Halsey, class of 1904 - Nimitz, class of 1905... these remarkable men are the only five-star Admirals in US history. Borneman relates their biographies (mostly professional), their career histories and their momentous achievements in World War II, interweaving their individual narratives to create a compelling story. Their interactions over the years, the events and people that influenced them in their careers, their strengths and weaknesses - their early careers, successes and mistakes, and the war years.

It is a gripping, perceptive, informative and well crafted story fleshed out with anecdotes, vignettes, contemporary observations that personify the four as well as the people they interact with - superiors and subordinates. FDR is here, as is Churchill, Marshall, MacArthur, Spruance, Eisenhower, Fletcher... and so many others. Early years in the turn of the century Navy - Spanish/American War, Battle of Tsushima, World War I, early submarine and naval aviation development, carrier development and tactical evolution - and the influences that carried over into World War II. The author is fair and objective - he presents the strong points of the historical personalities populating his narrative, but also lays out their flaws and mistakes. He makes no value judgments - leaving that to the reader - but he does give a balanced, fully fleshed-out characterization. Borneman does justice especially to the historical records of Leahy and King. Leahy was a far more important and influential Presidential adviser than conventional historical wisdom recognizes - and King was singularly responsible for much of the most important strategic decisions that shaped the course and success of World War II - equally unrecognized by conventional historical wisdom. Borneman sets the record straight, doing great (and overdue) justice to both men. Nimitz and Halsey have been far more recognized and applauded by that same conventional wisdom - not unjustly - but Borneman gives a far more balanced and nuanced basis for judging their merit. Nimitz historical evaluation is significantly improved beyond its admittedly high esteem - Halsey not so much. The conventional esteem for his place in WWII history was/is inflated, much as was done with MacArthur - and for the same reasons - the creation of battlefront heroes for public consumption. Halsey's actual record was excellent - and certainly nowhere near as problematical to the war effort as MacArthur's ego and limitations... but inflated, nevertheless. Again, Borneman lays out an objective record - he leaves such judgments to the reader.

This is easily one of the best history books I have read in years, combining the best of biography with history. If you have an interest in WWII - read this book! If you have an interest in the navy - read this book! If you just like history - or want to read a wonderful narrative - read this book! Hope I'm being clear here...

[Bruce Hesselbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone has heard about Admiral Halsey and Admiral Nimitz, but Admirals Leahy and King are less well known. These four were the men that spearheaded America's successful campaigns against Japan. In part, they did this by their willingness to change and adapt to new ideas, to throw over everything they knew about the importance of battleships in war, and embrace new strategies with aircraft carriers and submarines.
Borneman does an excellent job in telling the intertwining stories of these men. You see their personalities, their challenges, and, above all, how they rose to the occasion and performed so well under pressure. Key decisions include the timely reinforcement of the Coral Sea, to save Australia from invasion, and the timely reinforcement of Midway prior to that fateful battle. These moves arose not from luck but from the instincts of men who were born to lead.
The book, however, is not mere hero worship. You see the challenges and disappointments of these men, and share some of their lighter moments. Borneman does a great job in making history come alive.
My only criticism of this book is that there could have been more detail on some of the exciting battles in the Pacific, especially Midway. Since the book focuses on the big picture, and overall strategy, it does not give you a blow by blow description of every major battle. Most notably he glosses over Midway because Halsey was on medical leave and that battle was fought by Fletcher and Spruance. The battle of the Coral Sea and the fighting around Guadalcanal get much more detailed treatment.
Overall this was a very well-written, informative and enjoyable book.

[Todd Voter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the lives and careers of Americas 5 Star Admirals loses a little steam from a focus on conferences over combat.

[Ron Wroblewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a fantastic book. I probably would never have picked it up if it weren't for my goodreads friend Sarah who had it on her list. The combined biographies for 4 US Navy 5 star Admirals of WWII, there achievements, blunders (very few), and interactions with each other not only in the war but throughout their careers. One thing I praise Halsey for was his elimination of the wearing of ties for the officers. I HATE TIES - the worse, most useless piece of men's clothing.
It was remarkable how quickly after the Wright Brothers first flight 1903 that a French inventor wrote about the concept of aircraft carriers in 1909 - "the deck will be cleared of all obstacles, will be flat and as wide as possible and it will look like a landing field" - which still describes the carriers of today. And a year later the first plane flew off of a ship.
It was at the end of the book that I realized that Chester Nimitz was the author of my freshman NROTC textbook - "Sea Power", which I still have. Time to revisit that book.

Thank you Sarah for a great book recommend. To our continuous reading together.

Ron

[Steeljaw Scribe · Rating 4 out of 5]

book follows the paths of four Naval officers who rose to hold the highest rank in the US Navy at the end of the Second World War – the five-star rank of Fleet Admiral. Borneman uses an interesting approach for this comparative biography, but in a manner different than what Larrabee took in his work (Commander in Chief: FDR His Lieutenants and Their War). While Larrabee’s work bound several biographies together, Borneman instead follows all four of his subjects through the epochs that preceded the Navy’s involvement in WW2, an approach that works very well for gaining an understanding of the changes that brought the Navy from the Olympia at Manila Bay, to the massive Fleet extant in 1945, barely 47 years later. With wide ranging backgrounds (Nimitz was born to German immigrants in Texas while Halsey hailed form a family of sailors) each had a particular style and means to accomplish their goals – and personalities to match. Borneman carefully weaves the personal stories through the larger narrative of societal and technological changes in the world as seen through the Navy’s lens. The faults and shortcomings of each are found alongside their triumphs as we follow the progression of their respective careers. I am especially pleased at the inclusion of Leahy – an oversight I thought on Larrabee’s part. Nimitz, Halsey and King have all been pretty well highlighted for their efforts during the war – especially the first two. To a degree, that is expected given that those three were acting directly in the Service – from Halsey at the lead, Nimitz overseeing a vast theater and actions as disparate as fast carrier task group operations to amphibious landings, an active submarine war against the Japanese merchant fleet and the logistics to make it all work; and King in the dualist role of man/train/equip that is the CNO’s portfolio and balancing with the operational oversight of a Navy engaged in a global fight. Leahy, retired and serving as Ambassador to France was recalled as FDR’s Chief of Staff and had the task, if not the formal title, of being the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, compelling the Navy, Army and Army Air Force to work the joint fight (not always successfully). Another contribution of Leahy, highlighted in the book, was his insistence on including State in planning, especially for the post-war years. An important aspect of historical works is their ability to provide insight and application in the here and now – otherwise it is merely an academic exercise. One of the first observations of today’s reader would be that each of these individuals had one or more events or personality traits that would lead to early termination in today’s Service (to wit, the almost weekly detailing of CO firings found in Navy Times). It is worth noting, however, the values and ethics these four shared remain relevant today – perseverance in the face of adversity, dedication to personal technical and warfighting competency, devotion to Service and those under your command, and personal accountability along with a certain openess to new ideas, new technology and different ways of doing business. At the risk of using a word that is justifiably pilloried today, they nonetheless developed and implemented transformational plans, policies and operations without transformation becoming an end unto itself. Criticisms are few – I would, for example, have liked a bit more about King’s work in fighting the Battle of the Atlantic and there were a few editorial discontinuities to be expected in a pre-publication edition. Overall – a very good work and one worth including on a list of professional reading. On a scale of 1-5 stars I would rate it a 4.5 and definite buy.

[Porter Broyles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Walter Borneman is one of the best Naval Historians I've encountered and this book did not disappoint!

This book tells the stories of the four men who have been five star admirals in the U.S. Navy:

William Leahy --- Leahy was arguably the most powerful and influencial military leader during WWII. He had the presidents ear moreso than Marshall or Eisenhower and didn't have to share his realm of authority with the leadership of other countries like they did. Leahy was one of the oldest people to serve in the US military in the 20th century having reached and exceeded the mandatory retirement prior to the start of WWII. FDR valued his leadership to the point that he recalled him from his ambassadorial post. When it came time to promote to 5 star where date of seniority matters, he was the first in any branch.

Ernest King --- King was a difficult person to work with. He told the truth as he saw it and it told it bluntly. While he and Eisenhower came to respect each other, Eisenhower had more than a few choice words in his journal for King. At the start of WWII, prior to Leahy being reinstated, King was the most power naval officer in the US. He was the only person to be Chief of Naval Operations and Commander in Chief US Fleet at the same time. He and MacArthor didn't get along, and King resisted British involvement in the Pacific operations.

Chester Nimitz --- Wasn't accepted in West Point, but acquired an Anapolis slot instead. Possibly the only ensign to be convicted of neglect during a court martial inquiry to go on to become a leading admiral! Nimitz got his hands dirty. There are stories of him rising through the ranks, but doing the grunt labor. He was a key in the conversion to diesel fuel.

William "Bull" Halsey --- Halsey is a man whose legacy is tarnished. He missed the Battle of Midway due poison ivy. Later he was the commander in charge of the Battle of Leyte Gulf---a military victory tarnished by a blunder. A blunder that was never seriously raised by his leaders, but by future historians playing are Borneman puts it "armchair quarterback." Halsey also lead his fleet into to hurricaines. The first brought about a court martial inquiry and changes in how the navy approached storms. The second time was a violation of those changes and not supported by the logs of other officers. Still, he was one of the best Admirals during the war and rewarded with 5 stars.

This book tells stories that WWII and Naval buffs may be familiar with---but it also tells the stories of the admirals including their youths and post war period.

Definitely recommend this book.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have often wondered why and how the great have become such. Be they political leaders, industrialists, military and/or naval; how did they achieve the level? This read was an attempt to answer that question.
The book follows the career paths of the four famous World War II Admirals to reach “5 Star” status. In short, I will tell you now it did not answer my question of How or Why they reached it other than to say each was capable and driven, yet all in possession of what I would call a differing skill sets. From the “Brain” to the “Miserable Letch”, from the “Bull Dog” to the “Calm and Controlled” each one of these men differed in personality yet each lead, by dictate or by example, they influenced a world at war with successfully.
The book, as noted, goes from their beginnings and follows through to their passing with the focus on their naval careers and their zenith during WWII. Readable and informative, I enjoyed the presentation by paralleling life periods and the events, both positive and negative they encountered. As a naval office myself, I found great pleasure in reading of how my 2 favorites in the group were both up for court martial sometime in their careers. I further found it interesting one was described by his daughter as only having one mood – BAD. In respect that might be an understatement when joined with his other personal shortcomings. Read the book if you’re a Naval History buff or simply to gain an insight into these great men and History they made.

[Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

A five-star rating for a book on five-star admirals! This was great; I’ve read a lot about the Pacific War, but the focus here on the four major US Navy admirals provided a high-level view that’s often missing in the more granular accounts of the various battles. I was especially interested in how changing technology—these men were all born in the 1800s—affected naval power and how they thought about it, from submarines to aircraft carriers to atomic bombs. Though the book lacks the action of more zoomed-in Pacific War books, Borneman’s writing keeps it engaging and lively, giving the reader a clear picture of the admirals’ personalities.

[B T Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great review of some of the most influential leaders of WWII. Definitely a great read/listen.

[Rick Cheeseman · Rating 5 out of 5]

In awe of the men who we now name our ships after...

[Mal Warwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

They were children of the Victorian Era. Annapolis graduates around the turn of the twentieth century. Junior officers in World War I, captains by 1927. They gained their first admiral’s stars by the 1930s, and all four were near or past retirement age when war broke out. Yet they rose to the pinnacle of leadership in that war and played outsized roles in the Allied victory. And one by one, as their talents became unmistakably clear, they each received a fifth star, becoming the only five-star admirals in American history. Walter Borneman engagingly tells their stories in his joint biography, The Admirals.

The four five-star admirals

Chester Nimitz

Chester W. Nimitz (1885-1966) was Commander-in-Chief of the US Pacific Fleet and led all Allied air, land, and sea forces in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. (General Douglas MacArthur commanded American forces in the Southwest Pacific, a second operational area.) Nimitz was the US Navy’s leading authority on submarines, and in World War I, he pioneered the new technique of refueling ships at sea, which proved to be crucial in the later war in the Pacific. Nimitz was even-tempered and rarely overruled subordinates. His personal visits to sailors and soldiers in the field consistently boosted morale. After the war, he served briefly as Chief of Naval Operations and then moved to Berkeley, California, where he and his wife lived from 1947 to 1964.

Bill Halsey

William (Bill) Halsey Jr. (1882-1959) commanded the United States Third Fleet in the South Pacific. He was one of the US Navy’s most aggressive and successful leaders at sea and became far better known to the American public than his superior, Chester Nimitz. He led allied forces during the Battle for Guadalcanal (1942-43) and played a leading role in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, considered by some military historians to be the largest naval battle in world history. Because of controversy surrounding some of his decisions during the war, he was the last of the four five-star admirals to gain that rank—more than a year after Japan’s surrender.

Bill Leahy

William D. Leahy (1875-1959), the least well-known of the nine five-star military leaders, met then-Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War I. The two became friends, and in 1942 Roosevelt recalled him to active duty as his personal Chief of Staff. He served in that position throughout the war and was at FDR’s side at many of the nine Allied war conferences where the President met with Winston Churchill and other British and Allied leaders.

Leahy was also the de facto Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff both in Washington DC and in joint meetings with the British military. Late in the war, as Roosevelt’s congestive heart failure limited his work day to four hours or less, Leahy, already the equivalent of national security adviser as well as chief of staff and the nation’s most senior military officer, increasingly spoke for the President himself.

Ernest King

Ernest King (1878-1956) “may have been the most overlooked strategist of the Allied planning councils.” He commanded the US Navy during World War II and was a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. After William Leahy, he was the most senior naval officer in the war. Like Leahy, he served from his post in Washington, DC. King was notoriously short-tempered and intolerant of those he deemed intellectually inferior. Like a great many other naval officers, he was contemptuous of Douglas MacArthur and often found himself at odds with the army over the general’s self-promoting proposals. However, he worked effectively with Army Chief of Staff George Marshall.

The army’s five counterparts to the four five-star admirals were (in the order they were named) George C. Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Henry H. (“Hap”) Arnold, and, much later, Omar Bradley.

The Big Picture in 1942

When Chester Nimitz took command in the Pacific as CINCPAC (Commander in Chief, Pacific) in January 1942, most of his fleet lay on the bottom of the ocean. Japanese forces were running rampant throughout the vast region, and a lesser man might have quailed at the challenge. Yet despite continuing Japanese advances, the United States Navy went on the offensive almost immediately, with morale-building “nuisance raids” at Kwajalein and Marcus Island (both in February 1942), Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle‘s PR-motivated bombing of Tokyo (April 18, 1942), and the Battle of the Coral Sea (May 4-8, 1942), where the Americans stopped the Japanese advance in the South Pacific.

Within six months of Pearl Harbor, Nimitz’s forces already began to turn the tide with a brilliant victory at the Battle of Midway (June 4-7, 1942). There, the admiral adroitly made use of intelligence findings that enabled the US Navy to ambush a top-secret Japanese advance on Midway.

America had long prepared for war

In hindsight, none of this is a surprise. Since his first year in the White House, President Franklin Roosevelt had been steadily building the military capacity of the United States despite intense isolationist pressures. Long before Pearl Harbor, American shipyards laid the keels of a new generation of warships, budgets for the Army and Navy were greatly increased, the Selective Service Act of 1940 was signed into war, the scientific community began to mobilize, and the foundation was established to ramp up industrial production to meet the exigencies of a vast new war. When Japan struck on December 7, 1941, the United States wasn’t ready to strike back—but it would be very soon. And the leadership shown by the four five-star admirals ensured the US response would be powerful and effective.

In fact, “during the 1,366 days between December 7, 1941, and September 2, 1945 . . . the fleet grew from 790 vessels to 6,768, and its complement of officers, sailors, and marines swelled from 383,150 to 3,405,525.” At the outset, the US Navy in the Pacific boasted just three aircraft carriers. By the end of the war, there were 21 fleet carriers and 70 escort carriers, and the American Navy dwarfed every other nation’s forces on the seas.

For the United States, the war in 1942 was mostly in the Pacific

Despite Roosevelt and Churchill’s agreement at the Arcadia Conference (December 22, 1941-January 14, 1942) on a “Germany First” strategy, the American effort in the war during that first year largely took place in the Pacific. US troops didn’t actively engage the Axis elsewhere before November 1942, when Dwight Eisenhower launched the Allied invasion of North Africa.

The Pearl Harbor attack was a strategic failure

Japanese Admiral Chuichi Nagumo‘s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor had failed as a strategic effort, and his boss, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of the plan, knew it. He was perfectly well aware that Nagumo’s failure spelled defeat for the Japanese Empire after what would clearly become a long war. Nagumo’s planes had failed to destroy the strategically important oil storage tanks on Oahu, which contained 4.5 million barrels of fuel oil. The attack had also left nearly intact the dry docks, maintenance facilities, and submarine base.

Japanese forces were spread thin

From the outset, the Japanese Empire spread its forces dangerously thin over an area that covered an enormous slice of the Earth’s surface. Since 1937, Japan already had millions of soldiers on the Chinese mainland, where none of its leaders’ hopes for a quick victory had panned out. Elsewhere, its forces sprawled from Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan to the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), the Philippines, and hundreds of small islands scattered throughout the Pacific. It was hubris to imagine that the Empire could successfully defend it all against the gathering might of the world’s biggest industrial power.

American strategy was set early in the war and followed consistently throughout

Ernest King’s operational orders to Nimitz were “to secure and hold the communication and supply lines between Midway, Hawaii, and the West Coast” and, second, “maintain a similar lifeline between the West Coast and Australia.” Those orders governed the Navy’s strategy in the Pacific throughout 1942 and beyond. Despite a raging debate over whether to move against the Philippines or Taiwan—a debate MacArthur won—US forces held that line in 1942 and steadily moved west and north from it on the way to Tokyo during the following three years. The strategy couldn’t have been clearer.

It’s difficult to escape the impression that, as challenging, bloody, and costly as were those three succeeding years, the die was truly cast for Allied victory in the Pacific by the end of 1942. Midway was, indeed, the turning point—and the four five-star admirals had a great deal to do with making it that.

Leahy and King’s unique roles in the war

For two of the five-star admirals, Leahy and King, the war was global. While Nimitz, Halsey, and their colleagues prosecuted the war on the Pacific, Leahy and King held strategically central positions in the American hierarchy and became deeply involved in the European war as well.

William Leahy

As FDR’s chief of staff and personal representative, William Leahy chaired meetings of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, mediating between Ernest King and George Marshall. The two men managed to work together after initial friction, but they communicated almost exclusively by memo even though the buildings in which their offices were located stood side by side. (The fourth member of the Joint Chiefs was General Henry H. (“Hap”) Arnold of the Army Air Force, but he answered to Marshall and was not an equal.)

Internationally, on the numerous occasions when the Joint Chiefs met face-to-face with their British counterparts, Leahy chaired that body, too. (It was also known as the Joint Chiefs of Staff.) There, his role often boiled down to minimizing the conflict between Sir Alan Brooke, chief of the Imperial General Staff, and General Marshall, which frequently grew contentious. He also took it upon himself to increase the flow of resources to Nimitz in the Pacific and to work around Winston Churchill’s obsessive interest in directing the Allied attack toward the Eastern Mediterranean. It was largely Leahy’s patient diplomacy which ensured that the Prime Minister didn’t divert resources from the impending invasion of France.

Ernest King

Admiral King was the Navy’s most senior leader during the war and thus was forced to devote much of his time and energy to monitoring and supporting Admiral Nimitz in the Pacific. At meetings with the British, he fought fiercely for increased support for Nimitz and managed to increase the allocation of resources from fifteen percent of the overall effort to thirty percent. However, his role in Washington was global. He had parallel responsibility for naval operations in the Atlantic, where he was credited with providing crucial support to the British struggle against the Nazi U-boats that threatened to starve the British people. And, like Leahy, he assisted in the American push to move ahead with the Normandy Invasion against British opposition.

Assessing Douglas MacArthur

With the hindsight of seven decades, it’s tough not to conclude that Nimitz’s counterpart in the Army, General Douglas MacArthur, was more trouble than he was worth. And Walter Borneman makes that clear in The Admirals. Had another general been in charge in the Philippines in December 1941, he would surely have been relieved of his command for dereliction of duty. Unaccountably, although he knew war was coming—and had nine hours’ warning after the attack on Pearl Harbor—MacArthur left his airplanes sitting wingtip-to-wingtip on the tarmac, where they were destroyed by the Japanese. Then, in another misguided move, he marched all his troops onto the Bataan Peninsula, where they were vulnerable to Japanese attack. But MacArthur was a legend, and America needed a hero.

Although MacArthur performed admirably for the most part as American “proconsul” in Japan, he showed his true colors a few years later when he took command of United Nations forces in Korea. Once he started threatening to drop atomic bombs in China along the Yalu, President Truman finally fired him on April 11, 1951.

About the author

Walter R. Borneman (born 1952) is the author of five popular books about American history in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. The Admirals won the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature. He lives in Colorado, where he has pract

[Jaap Hoogenboezem · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book. The biographies of Leahy, King, Nimitz and Halsey are woven together to tell the story of the US Navy before and during WW2. It is much better than the comparable Nineteen Stars by Forest Pogue for the famous US Army generals of WW2 (Marshal, Eisenhower, Patton, MacArthur) which consists of four separate biographies and focuses on character and leadership (an American obsession anyway, and even that book makes it hard to escape the impression that both Patton and MacArthur were insane, but that is a side issue). The Admirals gives much more historical and strategic context.

[Jeff Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really strong history of these 4 Fleet Admirals

This was a good review of the strengths and weaknesses of the four men. I did have a slight issue with a quirk in the narrative. I kept feeling he was miss pronouncing Tarawa. Then did a little search to find he was using British pronouncement.

The book revealed many things I had not heard of these four. And really two of them are less well known in general.

[Jason Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exhaustively researched and covering both oceans before, during and after WW II, this was an enlightening and compelling read. I do wish Borneman spent a bit more time on individual encounter machinations, though. He did teach me about Bill Leahy, an Admiral I don’t think I knew of before and who was arguably the most influential military figure of the war.

[Marc Gingras · Rating 5 out of 5]

five incredible men with incredible duties for one goal.....victory....amazing story about US Navy in WWII!

[Kevin Dinh · Rating 5 out of 5]

FINALLY FINISHED THIS. Such a great book that outlines the lives and impacts of the major Admirals during World War 2. Highly recommend reading this if you're into Naval History.

[David Lubin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is well researched and very thorough covering the four five star Admirals who entered the US Naval Academy in the late 1890's early 1900's and who then went on to become the keys to victory over the Germans and Japanese in World War 2. The emphasis on these gentlemen is not just on their military exploits, but also covers the logistics necessary to build a military from 300,000 to 3,000,000 combatants in just four years. Transportation, billeting, feeding and supplying this many Naval personnel is extremely complex and a lot of very good judgement had to be available to get the job done. Additionally, the political elements between both the other US branches (Army and Air Corps) as well as the other Allied Nations (Britain and Russia) were equally complex and in many ways just as frustrating. I found that most of my previous evaluations of these men was incomplete at best and off the mark at worst. If WW 2 history is of interest to you, this book should be read and efforts to read Winston Groom's "The Generals" will also be of value.

[James F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fantastic rendition of the four Five Star Admirals in charge of the US Navy during World War II. Anyone who is interested in history of the United States Navy's role in the Pacific Theatre needs to add this remarkable book to their library and read it. I just finished this book today and it was well worth my time in reading it. Five Stars for The Admirals.

Anyone interested in the History of our nation and the way the United States defeated the Japanese in World War II needs to read this book. It takes a great look at the upbringing of, Admiral's Halsey, Nimitz, Leahy, and King in this well-documented story of how the Pacific Theatre was fought and won. Not just on the open seas but on the administrative level as well.

Well written and well researched. Great choice.

[Amarjeet Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading about the lived experiences of great personalities arms us in two ways:

1.) It prevents us from committing the same mistakes.
2.) It empowers us to hone some fundamental principles of leadership and life to make our own existence worthwhile.

Borneman successfully brings out the above two factors in his The Admirals, a biographical retelling of the lives and leadership of the United State's four only five-star Admirals who while transforming the face of Naval Operations also transformed their country into the Marine juggernaut it is today. These four were the pugnacious Fleet Admiral William "Bull" Halsey who commanded the Third Fleet in the South Pacific region; the innovative Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz, the CNC for the entire Pacific Naval theatre of war; the bellicose Fleet Admiral Ernest King who was appointed CNC for the entire United States Navy and the laconic Fleet Admiral William Daniel Leahy who became the White House's de facto Chairman of the then embryonic Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Borneman lucidly underscores the origins of these four, the tragedies which shaped them and their perseverance in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds threatening to deaden their careers. For Halsey, Naval aviation and the ability envision a radical progression from battleships to Naval carriers proved his salvation; for Nimitz advances in submarine warfare heralded the ressurection of his career while King and Leahy found lifelines in the world of strategic policy making. The Admirals convincingly argues that these were not random cards dealt out by a careless twist of fate but rather reorientations which all four men tightly embraced having forecast that technological innovation would forever alter the role of the Navy in future conflicts.

The most groundbreaking facet of this book, besides its easy to understand language and avoidance of over-the-top maritime lingo and detail, is its exoneration of Leahy from baseless charges of political kowtowing and substantiation of the fact that all four Admirals harmonized their efforts to crush the Axis on both land and sea in WWII. King's strategic vision allowed him to preserve marine lifelines which allowed the unhampered movement of men and material to various battlefields across the Atlantic and within Europe. Nimitz worked hard and fast to upgrade submersible capabilities to render death blows to both German and Japanese marine combatants targeting these lifelines. Halsey pursued the Japanese Navy tirelessly with his hit hard, hit fast and hit often tactics to keep them away from Nimitz's plans while Leahy focused the White House's military-industrial policy without devolving into a yes man as many uninformed historians are wont to accuse him of.

Overall, The Admirals is a grand lesson in the craft of leadership. Leahy led by bluntness and voicing his opinions to the President of the United States; King focused on encouraging tactical initiative in his men; Halsey narrowed in on battlefield deficiencies while Nimitz merged technology and tradition to annihilate the foe. In their own way all four collectively reimagined American maritime dominance over the world's oceans and worked to generate the marine power required to make their homeland superior in both the Atlantic and the Pacific.

While the ending is anticlimactic given that the deaths of all four were rapid, one is left with a sense of awe at being allowed an ephemeral glimpse into the hearts and minds of four Admirals who found themselves pitted against two sanguinary foes on multiple fronts and effectively annihilated them. Well worth a read for all would-be leaders and professional soldiers.