Lucius D. Clay: An American Life

by Jean Edward Smith

Soldier, statesman, logistical Lucius D. Clay was one of that generation of giants who dedicated their lives to the service of this country, acting with ironclad integrity and selflessness to win a global war and secure a lasting peace. A member of the Army's elite Corps of Engineers, he was tapped by FDR in 1940 to head up a crash program of airport construction and then, in 1942, Roosevelt named him to run wartime military procurement. For three years, Clay oversaw the requirements of an eight-million-man army, setting priorities, negotiating contracts, monitoring production schedules and R&D, coordinating military Lend-Lease, disposing of surplus property-all without a breath of scandal. It was an unprecedented job performed to Clay's rigorous high standards. As Eliot Janeway "No appointment was more strategic or more fortunate."If, as head of military procurement, Clay was in effect the nation's economic czar, his job as Military Governor of a devastated Germany was, as John J. McCloy has phrased it, "the nearest thing to a Roman proconsulship the modern world afforded." In 1945, Germany was in ruins, its political and legal structures a shambles, its leadership suspect. Clay had to deal with everything from de-Nazification to quarrelsome allies, from feeding a starving people to processing vast numbers of homeless and displaced. Above all, he had to convince a doubting American public and a hostile State Department that German recovery was essential to the stability of Europe. In doing so, he was to clash repeatedly with Marshall, Kennan, Bohlen, and Dulles not only on how to treat the Germans but also on how to deal with the Russians. In 1949, Clay stepped down as Military Governor of Germany and Commander of U.S. Forces in Europe. He left behind a country well on the way to full recovery. And if Germany is today both a bulwark of stability and an economic and political success story, much of the credit is due to Clay and his driving vision.Lucius Clay went on to play key roles in business and politics, advising and working with presidents of both parties and putting his enormous organizing skills and reputation to good use on behalf of his country, whether he was helping run Eisenhower's 1952 campaign, heading up the federal highway program, raising the ransom money for the Bay of Pigs prisoners, or boosting morale in Berlin in the face of the Wall. The Berliners in turn never forgot their debt to Clay. At the foot of his West Point grave, they placed a simple stone Wir Danken Dem Bewahrer Unserer Freiheit- We Thank the Defender of Our Freedom.

Genres: Biography, History, World War II, American History, Biography Memoir, Military History

993 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Jean Edward Smith was the John Marshall Professor of Political Science at Marshall University and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto after having served as professor of political economy there for thirty-five years. Smith also served as professor of history and government at Ashland University.

A graduate of McKinley High School in Washington, D.C., Smith received an A.B. from Princeton University in 1954. While attending Princeton, Smith was mentored under law professor and political scientist William M. Beaney. Professor Beaney's American Constitutional Law: Introductory Essays & Selected Cases, became a standard text and was widely used in university constitutional law classes for several years. Serving in the military from 1954-1961, he rose from the rank of Second Lieutenant to Captain (RA) US Army (Artillery). Smith served in West Berlin and Dachau, Germany. In 1964, he obtained a Ph.D. from the Department of Public Law and Government of Columbia University. Smith began his teaching career as assistant professor of government at Dartmouth College, a post he held from 1963 until 1965. He then became a professor of political economy at the University of Toronto in 1965 until his retirement in 1999. Professor Smith also served as visiting professor at several universities during his tenure at the University of Toronto and after his retirement including the Freie Universität in Berlin, Georgetown University[2], the University of Virginia’s Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and Foreign Affairs, and the University of California at San Diego.

Reviews

[Jerome · Rating 4 out of 5]

I joke that this is a biography of St. Francis in a General's uniform. Born in the Reconstruction South, he is largely responsible for the reconstruction of Germany after Hitler. His organizational abilities combined with compassion and a clear vision of how to create a democracy from ashes has a lot to teach us today. Interesting reporting of the creation of the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex and of the division of Europe after WWII. Human scale history.

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible story of a fascinating man.

[Lloyd Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucius D Clay, what a man. Big shout out to author , Jean Edward Smith, who introduces us to the this brilliant man who gave us himself so unselfishly. I can’t imagine any other American who had such a profoundly positive impact on us/US but who is virtually unknown. A real get-it-done guy whose integrity was above reproach. His sense of honor, duty, and obligation is all too rare. 5 stars, essential reading for all Americans.

[David Shaffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished Lucius A. Clay: An American Life by Jean Smith.

A full life biography. Some of us know his name, but I for one knew next to nothing about him.
It briefly covers his childhood and time at West Point. An engineer by training who spent much of the interwar years in his professional alin multiple sites with much of it on Washington DC. During the interwar years and during World War II he worked closely with Sam Rayburn, Harry Hopkins and Jimmy Byrnes.


He spent the bulk of World War II in a staff job being extremely involved in Lend Lease and Deputy Director of War Mobilization and worked on military procurement and at the end of the War he worked briefly under Eisenhower as his Deputy.

He transitioned and became the Military Governor of Germany and Commander of U.S. Forces in Europe. He wzs heavily involved in the de-Nazification program and attempt to fully reunify Germany and later to creation of the West German state. He was in charge during the Berlin Crisis and later returned to assist with the second Berlin Crisis under John Kennedy.

Again as someone who knew little about General Clay I heartily recommend this as a future read.

[Jeni Enjaian · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a few historians whose works I will pick up without knowing a single thing about the subject, David McCullough, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Barbara Tuchman, and Jean Edward Smith. I picked up this book at a large book sale benefiting the local literacy association not recognizing the man on the cover, the subject of the biography but trusting Smith's historiographical prowess. Smith did not disappoint. For as much as I have read and studied World War II, I knew nothing about Lucius D. Clay or the occupation of Germany after the war. This book brought significant light to the matter. Smith also deftly wove the narrative through an extensive interview with Clay himself, although the date and circumstances of said interview(s) was never mentioned.

I highly recommend this book.

[Jim Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The man I knew nothing about

Mr. Smith writes great biographies. This one wss unique in that General clay was an active participant. It dealt almost entirely with his professional accomplishments and personal demeanour-both were quite colorful.

[Lorena A. Boylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Good civil affairs reading material, better life management and skill sets. A distinguished officer, true to the Army his. Entire life.

[Maryellen Cyr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive biography of a great American.