The Second Most Powerful Man in the World: The Life of Admiral William D. Leahy, Roosevelt's Chief of Staff

by Phillips Payson O'Brien

The life of Franklin Roosevelt's most trusted and powerful advisor, Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief

"Fascinating... greatly enriches our understanding of Washington wartime power."--Madeleine Albright

Aside from FDR, no American did more to shape World War II than Admiral William D. Leahy--not Douglas MacArthur, not Dwight Eisenhower, and not even the legendary George Marshall. No man, including Harry Hopkins, was closer to Roosevelt, nor had earned his blind faith, like Leahy. Through the course of the war, constantly at the president's side and advising him on daily decisions, Leahy became the second most powerful man in the world.

In a time of titanic personalities, Leahy regularly downplayed his influence, preferring the substance of power to the style. A stern-faced, salty sailor, his U.S. Navy career had begun as a cadet aboard a sailing ship. Four decades later, Admiral Leahy was a trusted friend and advisor to the president and his ambassador to Vichy France until the attack on Pearl Harbor. Needing one person who could help him grapple with the enormous strategic consequences of the war both at home and abroad, Roosevelt made Leahy the first presidential chief of staff--though Leahy's role embodied far more power than the position of today.

Leahy's profound power was recognized by figures like Stalin and Churchill, yet historians have largely overlooked his role. In this important biography, historian Phillips Payson O'Brien illuminates the admiral's influence on the most crucial and transformative decisions of WWII and the early Cold War. From the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, and France, to the allocation of resources to fight Japan, O'Brien contends that America's war largely unfolded according to Leahy's vision. Among the author's surprising revelations is that while FDR's health failed, Leahy became almost a de facto president, making decisions while FDR was too ill to work, and that much of his influence carried over to Truman's White House.

Genres: Biography, History, World War II, Nonfiction, Military History, Politics, American History

544 pages, Hardcover

First published May 7, 2019

About the author

Phillips Payson O’Brien is a Professor of Strategic Studies at the University of St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland, where he has taught since 2016. A graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, O'Brien earned a PhD in British and American politics and naval policy before being selected as Cambridge University’s Mellon Research Fellow in American History, and a Drapers Research Fellow at Pembroke College.

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admiral William D. Leahy (1875-1959) was a friend of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945). They met in 1913 when FDR was Assistant Secretary of the Navy. They remained friends over the years and in 1937 Leahy became Chief of Naval Operations. During World War II FDR appointed Leahy as his Chief of Staff.

The book is well written and researched. This book was published in May of 2019. I noted that O’Brien disagrees with the majority of historians over who was America’s most influential military man. Most historians list General George C. Marshall (1880-1959); whereas, O’Brien lists Admiral Leahy. He uses this book to state his reasons. His main reason was Leahy’s daily influence of FDR. Which is not the criteria most historian used. When Truman became president in 1945, he retained Leahy. Leahy found he did not have as much influence over Truman as he did a sick FDR. Truman listened to Leahy and his other advisors and made up his own mind. Leahy retired in 1949. I found this to be an interesting biography of FDR’s closest advisor. This is a hagiographic biography. I think this will be a controversial biography because of the treatment by the author of the other key leaders such as Generals Marshall and Eisenhower. According to O’Brien Leahy ran the entire war himself. The position FDR created for Leahy was divided into two positions, that of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (military) and that of National Security Advisor. This biography would make a good resource for teachers in teaching the risk of giving one man in our democracy too much power. We were very lucky that Admiral Leahy was a man of extremely high standards and ethics.

Phillips Payson O’Brien is a professor of Strategic Studies at the University of St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland. He was a Cambridge University Mellon Research Fellow in American History.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is nineteen hours and fifty-eight minutes. Christopher Grove does a good job narrating the book. Grove is an award-winning actor and audiobook narrator.

[Aaron Million · Rating 2 out of 5]

Forgotten to history, Phillips Payson O'Brien makes a relentless case that Admiral William Leahy was the behind-the-scenes power in WWII, instrumental in assisting Franklin Roosevelt as he led America through the war. It is clear that O'Brien has a great deal of admiration for his subject. While not ignoring any personality flaws or prejudices that Leahy had, they definitely were not emphasized. And there is surprisingly little about what Leahy's contemporaries thought of him. But if one is wondering just what O'Brien thinks of Leahy, look no further than the title of this book. To consider him to be more powerful than either Stalin or Churchill seems questionable.

O'Brien moves at a brisk pace through Leahy's early life and career – and continues that pace well into his middle age. Only once he has to retire from the Navy (upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 64) does the narrative slow down. Leahy then turns his focus to Leahy's relationship with FDR. No doubt FDR, who first worked with Leahy during the Woodrow Wilson Administration, trusted and liked Leahy. As WWII deepened, and FDR's health declined, Leahy assumed more and more power. O'Brien even refers to him as an acting president for most of 1944, when FDR became ill and began sleeping more and more.

But for me O'Brien goes way too far with his premise of Leahy being the closest person to FDR, and amassing the most power. It is like O'Brien is out to correct the prevailing narrative that George Marshall, Ernest King, and Harry Hopkins had equal influence with FDR. Did they? Who really knows, other than those men? O'Brien frequently refers to the number of meetings that FDR and Leahy had, both alone and with others, and contrasts that with the number of meetings the others had with FDR during the same time period – repeatedly trying to assert that Leahy met with FDR way more often, and thus was far more influential. It is possible that this is true. FDR did give Leahy a lot of authority and latitude. But FDR was shifty, and from anything that I have ever read about him, he was not fully comfortable with anyone. Plus, he seemed to enjoy watching his advisers, Cabinet officers, and military chiefs play against each other – often with him creating the situations that would pit one against the other.

O'Brien especially seems obsessed with proving that Leahy had more influence than Marshall. He consistently denigrates Marshall's authority and ideas, each time comparing him unfavorably with those of Leahy. He does this with King as well, and to a much lesser extent, Hap Arnold. Marshall is the main comparison though. At one point, he says that Leahy “swatted” Marshall away, as if he were a fly! On page 281, he even makes a chart with the columns “Date/Issue”, “Leahy Position”, “Marshall Position”, and “Roosevelt Choice”. Of course, each row showed FDR siding with Leahy's position. I have a difficult time believing that the influence of these two men was that lopsided. Or have most of the things written about Marshall been incorrect? Was he really second fiddle to Leahy? A man that was not as great as people were led to believe? I have no particular admiration for nor antipathy toward Marshall. I do know that he was a major player in WWII and for the next half-dozen years following the war's conclusion. Perhaps Marshall was lionized too much? I really do not know. But I suspect not, at least not nearly to the extent that O'Brien wants us to believe, and not each and every time at Leahy's expense. O'Brien does not leave this alone either; on the very last page of the book, he is still writing how misleading it is that Marshall overshadows Leahy even today. At times this seemed as much an anti-Marshall book as it was a biography of Leahy.

After FDR's death, Leahy retains his role and most of his influence in Harry Truman's first few years as President. Yet once again, O'Brien attempts to paint Leahy as the one with all of the knowledge and experience, calling Truman a “bush-league politician” (page 331) while he was a Senator. Really? I hardly think so. Slowly, Leahy lost influence the longer Truman remained in office. However, he was still influential and Truman went to him for advice on a regular basis. It is just that Leahy was no longer the main adviser, like he had been at times to FDR.

While I did not care for this book, as you can probably tell from the above, I do appreciate that O'Brien decided to shine a light on a forgotten historical figure. I do think that Leahy was influential: his proximity to power clearly proves that. He attended all of the major wartime “Big Three” conferences as well as several others between FDR and Churchill. If his opinion didn't matter, he wouldn't have been there. And, there has been so much written about many of the major players from that era that a book about someone who did matter but – at least partially thanks to his own personal style of remaining in the background – is no longer remembered except perhaps by historians, is welcome. However, I would have preferred it to have been less about tearing down George Marshall and inflating William Leahy, and more about showcasing Leahy's considerable abilities, as well as examining what his contemporaries thought of him.

Grade: D

[Socraticgadfly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This at first seemed a tough book to review. But O’Brien’s own hack job later on made it easier. I was first leaning four-star, but … finally settled on three, and, had it not been for the middle section of the book, I’m not sure I’d even give it that.

Fair chunks of it were solid four to four and one-half star quality. I am assuming all of Leahy’s childhood, his early military service, everything else is correct. His 1930s “battleships first, but don’t neglect naval air” attitude seems to be well summarized.

Everything within World War 2 up to 1944 seems correct. He is right about Marshall being wrong about an early Overlord. He is right that Leahy helped guide the Chiefs of Staff toward Torch, and rightly so. He is right about who had power, and who did not, within Roosevelt’s Cabinet and sub-Cabinet.

After that, the book is a mix of two, three, and four, star material, most of it two and three star level.

First, while FDR grew more distant from Harry Hopkins, there were other elements to what happened than Leahy cutting him out, or Hopkins being too “pink” for FDR or anything else. He ignores that Hop had faced GOP attacks claiming he was using his position for personal enrichment in 1943. Also, starting with the beginning of 1944, his health went seriously downhill and never fully recovered for the rest of his life, so he couldn’t serve FDR more. Third, other people, like Ickes, when they could, help cut Hop out of the loop.

And, the fact that FDR had originally intended Hopkins to help him write a speech about Yalta, but Hopkins wanted to, and did, stay in Morocco to rest, rather than return on the Quincy with FDR, should make it clear that, up until the last week’s of FDR’s life, when Hopkins’ health allowed, he was still indeed part of the inner circle. https://www.historynet.com/harry-hopk...

It took me just 15 minutes of Googling to find that. At this point, O’Brien’s treatment of Leahy “versus” Hopkins looks uninformed at best and mendacious at worse.

Second, though he has James Frank’s “Downfall” in his bibliography, O’Brien appears to have ignored entirely its actually cogent findings, and along with that, ignored how Leahy was wrong on his stance. O’Brien also quotes not a word about Leahy’s opinion on the firebombings of Tokyo or Dresden, too, even though, near the end of the book, he claims Leahy would have considered these to also be weapons of mass destruction.

Next, the “Marshall Plan.” While Stalin may have agreed to uphold his 1945 agreement with Truman on Greece, such was not the case on Turkey, even if he wasn’t planning on invading in 1948. In late 1945, Molotov (at Stalin’s orders, of course), tried to force Turkey to surrender Turkish Armenia territory to it. It also tried to get a UN mandate over formerly Italian Libya.

Marshall and China? The issue is more complex than O’Brien paints. Many people, including “old China hands” at State, cautioned Chiang to settle for the rest of China and let Mao have Manchuria. There’s indications Stalin would have signed off on this. I’ve reviewed other books about post-WWII and pre-Revolution China. "China 1945" by Richard Bernstein is pretty good. O’Brien is, as with Hopkins, either uninformed or mendacious. Update: As I now start reading through James Bradley's "China Mirage," I'm leaning more and more toward mendacious. Don't be surprised if at some point soon, I take this review down another star.

O’Brien does correctly interpret that Anglo-American hard lines on “Bizonia” contributed to Stalin’s blockade of West Berlin, so one small kudo there.

Kirkus notes that this is an “opinionated” life of Leahy. It is indeed. No biography is neutral. But this one falls apart precisely at the point in history where Leahy becomes the central player in the White House.

And with that, three stars.

And maybe two, after all?

He was really the second most powerful man in the world? Setting aside that he did not have undivided and unchallenged power oozing from FDR, this kind of ignores Stalin and Churchill. Within the war, one might put someone like Lend-Lease genius Harriman ahead of Leahy, too.

As for his title? Technically, yes, he was chief of staff: "Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy." (That's per Wiki.) In other words, a military title. Yes, he later took on some civilian-side trappings, but never took that over en toto, or close to it.

Finally, his "Strategists" book is worse, and I recommend aganist reading O'Brien.

[KOMET · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I decided several months ago to borrow this book ("THE SECOND MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE WORLD") from my neighborhood library, its subject William D. Leahy was someone I regarded as a peripheral figure in history. I had had some prior awareness of Leahy. But I had assumed that he, a naval officer, had been Franklin Roosevelt's physician during the Second World War. And so, I didn't give him a second thought.

But once I began reading this biography, I began to see that Leahy was a remarkable man on so many levels who selflessly devoted his life in service to the United States. Born in 1875 in Wisconsin, a second-generation Irish American, Leahy went on to attend the Naval Academy at a time when the U.S. Navy was in the midst of transitioning from the Age of Sail to a modern navy run on coal --- which in turn would give way in the 20th century to warships powered by gasoline derived from petroleum --- graduating in 1897. Leahy would later see action during the Spanish-American War and over the next 52 years would rise through the Navy, having commanded various warships in home waters and overseas and engaged in a variety of administrative and diplomatic roles. Indeed, as a young naval officer, Leahy in 1913 made the acquaintance of Franklin Roosevelt, who was then Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the Wilson Administration. The two men were to form a deep, special bond over the years. And though their paths would diverge during the 1920s, the men kept in touch. So that when Roosevelt was elected President in 1932, Leahy would become a confidante and adviser to FDR, who furthered Leahy's naval career. Before the decade was out, Leahy would serve as the Chief of Naval Operations, the highest rung in the Navy's hierarchy.

I was also impressed that Leahy, unlike many of his contemporaries in the post-World War I era who were wedded to the battleship as key to naval doctrine and tactics, grew to appreciate the potential that aircraft represented as they became increasingly sophisticated, capable of travelling great distances and showing their worth as offensive weapons at sea. Leahy would also serve in 2 key political posts - first as Governor of Puerto Rico (1939-40), in which capacity he oversaw the development of several military bases, assumed the stance of not interfering in local politics, and made an effort to understand and respect Puerto Rican culture; and later as the U.S. Ambassador to Vichy France (from 1941 to May 1942).

But Leahy's greatest role -- which was to be the capstone to his naval career -- was as the nation's first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Second World War. There was hardly any aspect of wartime grand strategy in which Leahy did not leave his stamp. This is where the book title of "THE SECOND MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE WORLD" is most apt. In this role, Leahy's relationship with FDR deepened further, becoming, it seemed to me, almost symbiotic. Leahy deeply admired and respected FDR and never sought power for himself. He worked incredibly hard and put in long hours as a matter of routine.

And then upon FDR's death in April 1945, Leahy would stay on to serve in the Truman Administration, developing a close relationship with President Truman. He helped to shape what would become the Truman Doctrine (along with the National Security Council and the CIA - which he felt should not engage in clandestine activities but restrict itself to gathering intelligence for the government; unfortunately, after Leahy retired, the CIA - due to the influence of Allen Dulles who led it during the Eisenhower years - would later have as its remit, clandestine activities and other nefarious doings) in the early Cold War years, retiring in January 1949.

What I also appreciated from reading this biography was learning about Leahy the man, how he thought and felt about the various famous and not-so-famous personages he dealt with -- as well as his attitudes on people and the various travels he embarked upon throughout his long life. (Leahy kept a rather extensive diary through most of his life.)

And now that I've read this delightful book, I would urge anyone who wants to learn about a signficant historical figure deserving of wider recognition, pick up "THE SECOND MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE WORLD." It's one of the best biographies I've ever read.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Comprehensive but an overly boastful & ultimately tiring bio of “Uncle Bill.”

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it, but the author was a bit too pushy in his theories of how influential Leahy was. I'm not sure he has all the evidence to back it up. I liked his use of the White House visitor logs, though, especially in the early days of Leahy's role as chief of staff, to show how much access Leahy had to FDR.

Also, I thought that in order to make his arguments, he took unnecessary shots at Marshall and his legacy.

Note: the narrator had an annoying partial accent. "R"s in the middle of words got cut off - "intuhnational," but "r"s at the end of words were pronounced.

[Jarrod · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm so glad this is over. This book seemed to drag on and on and on and on.....

The main title of the book is "The second most powerful man in the world" - what a laugh. In a time of Roosevelt (The author's #1), Stalin, Churchill, Hitler (though evil, he was very powerful), Mussolini, Petain and Tojo the author does not rise to his own proclamation. And those are only the political persons. He does not explain how Leahy was the 2nd most powerful man in the world in the slightest. If anything he establishes how Leahy influenced Roosevelt's decisions and helped with some policy, but there is little to no evidence that he swayed the war in Europe or had major influence in the battle in the Pacific.

What was his role in Midway? Guadalcanal? The development of the island-hopping campaign? He's woefully absent where as King and Nimitz took most of the tactical operation and lead the charge. I don't discount Leahy's role, but to say that he was the second most powerful man in the world, yet didn't have over-arching power of the Pacific campaign even as a Naval person, reeks of an overblown perspective.

While chief of staff is an important role, the author continues to overstate Leahy's contribution. He was simply Roosevelt's right-hand man and helped to give confidence. There is little espoused by the author to say the Leahy drove policy decisions and helped shape the course of military operations. Heck, there wasn't even a major naval leader (4*) running the largest amphibious landing of the war (it was an army guy) and there is no evidence that Leahy had any influence of the operation itself. None was presented in the book.

Most of the book details are good and detailed, which I like, but many of his conclusions are wrong. China for instance. Leahy's influence wasn't greater than Marshall's or Ike's. While he was present during a lot of the conferences, little is presented that he was more than "present" during them.

Overall, it's not a bad book and I'm glad I experienced it, but knowing what I know now - I'm glad I listened to it instead of reading it.

[John Vandike · Rating 2 out of 5]

William D. Leahy: the first US fleet admiral, Governor of Puerto Rico, ambassador to Vichy France, chief of staff to FDR and Truman, first chief of the JCS, friend to Churchill and even a suspicious admirer of Stalin's negotiation skills it would appear at first blush that very little leavening would be necessary for the story to carry itself.

This book, while mostly fairly interesting, glosses over almost all of Leahy's early and most formative years. The period of 1875 (his birth) to 1937 (his appointment as Chief of Naval Operations) are covered briskly in the first six chapters (of 33). At this point the book becomes just shy of a hagiography of Leahy as the author consistently credits Leahy not only with directing Roosevelt's decision-making, but with the general grand strategy of America in WWII. One especially interesting moment has the author claiming that Leahy argued against the invasion of Japan and against the use of atomic weapons in Japan, but entirely excluding what exactly Leahy was in favor of doing.

Leahy the man bleeds through amongst the author's unnecessary attempt to rescue him from obscurity. Leahy spent his life as a behind the scenes operator, perhaps even a manipulator, but the author spends so much time attempting to cast him as some kind of eminence gris that he neglects to develop for his subject any kind of intellectual underpinnings. Instead, Leahy is always set up be so exceptionally prescient that he always has the right idea at the right time and finds himself in a position to manipulate his peers into accepting that idea.

Leahy was, without a doubt a fascinating human being who is deserving of study, unfortunately O'Brien falls short of really exploring the subject.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have enjoyed other books that covered Leahy in large part but I did not enjoy this book. The author's point is to show how Leahy was the greatest advisor to FDR, how he was always able to win every argument and how all good ideas pretty much started with him. The book was written to prove a point and just beat it to death. The author may be right but I found this too much. I have much preferred he others books that put the great admiral in more context.

[Bill Manzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book on the life and impactful military and political career of Admiral William Lahey. Lahey had an extraordinary naval career, holding a multitude of operational and administrative jobs in the Navy, including all of the top Navy jobs. During his naval career he became friendly with then Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Roosevelt. This relationship with Roosevelt would be rekindled when FDR became President, with Lahey serving Roosevelt in many roles.

The author repeatedly points to Lahey’s many key roles as the world headed to war, and he is not wrong about Admiral Lahey’s many achievements. as well as his central role in all military matters in the Roosevelt Administration. Admiral Lahey served as Chief of Naval Operations, as FDR’s Governor of Puerto Rico, and as the U.S. Ambassador to Vichy France, where his efforts to keep the Vichy government on a diplomatic path that would limit Nazi Germany’s influence largely failed. Lahey was eventually recalled to Washington, where he served as military Chief of Staff to the President, a job described as the precursor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He essentially “directed the traffic”, so to speak, for FDR on all military matters. Lahey, in fact, was the first naval officer to achieve five-star status, and the most senior of all American five stars, regardless of branch. Lahey was also designated as the senior American to the joint British-American military chiefs after U.S. entry into the war against Germany. Lahey’s central role in WWII cannot be in doubt. After the death of FDR President Truman kept him on, and while his influence was never quite the same Lahey was at the center of all major military decisions, including the use of nuclear weapons on Japan, which he strongly opposed. In his central role Lahey was at most of the major allied conferences during WWII, and he was with Roosevelt at Yalta.

As a biography of Lahey I rate the book as excellent. I do question the author’s insistence on denigrating the contributions of other major American military figures in WWII and attempting to build Lahey up at others expense. The author is very hard on George Marshall, criticizing him throughout the book, and minimizing his influence on FDR. Marshall, without question, knew how to gather positive media, as did Douglas MacArthur, but the author was over the top in this effort. He attempted to make Harry Hopkins and Lahey rivals for influence with FDR, but this effort to minimize Hopkins just did not ring true to me. The author seems upset by the lack of historical footprint for Admiral Lahey, and he may have a point, but the constant ripping down of Marshall and others took something away from this effort for me. The description of Lahey’s position on China was, to me, especially convoluted and did not make sense. I saw another reviewer with the same thought who recommended “China 1945” by Richard Bernstein, and I concur. Lahey appears to be more isolationist post-war, and from my vantage point appears largely incorrect in his policy recommendations to Truman on how to deal with the challenge from Stalin.

This book covers some of the most momentous times in U.S. history, and brings a figure largely forgotten by history back to life. Admiral William Lahey led a very dedicated life of service, and I agree that his major contributions to the U.S. war effort have been overlooked. This time in our history had so many gigantic personalities, egos, and talents that it is not a mystery that a behind the scenes operator like Lahey might be lost in the shuffle, but he deserves better. I just wish the author had not made that rehabilitation a zero sum game.

[Spad53 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was excellent. I've always thought (wrongly) that Pug Henry in War and Remembrance was based on Admiral Leahy, I'm sure there were aspects of Leahy in him, but I guess those aspects are what makes a good boss. And a good boss was very much what Admiral Leahy was, and it turned out he was an even better second in command to Presidents Roosevelt and Truman.
It's quite surprising how forgotten he has been, he ranked above the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff George Marshall, Ernest King and Hap Arnold, and thus also higher than any of the other famous wartime leaders like Nimitz, Eisenhower and MacArthur. When Roosevelt was ill, it was Leahy who steered the war effort, thus the title of this book. If I have any complaint about this book, it is that the author spends too much time emphasizing how important Admiral Leahy was, that shouldn’t need saying, on the other hand it really is about time Admiral Leahy gets a bit more credit.
The Second Most Powerful Man in the World is well-written, very informative, full of things I didn’t know, and utterly fascinating, a very good read.

[B T Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great review of a man on the inside and a great look at a lit of unknown, or little known, parts of history.

[Dave Ricard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, a thorough yet dragged out read. While a minor point, the author erroneously claims that during the navy buildup plans of the late 30's early 40's, that only three of the four Iowa class battleships were completed; Iowa, Wisconsin and Missouri. Having just visited the New Jersey this week, that seems a glaring error. Also, the author mentions the debate between Leahy and FDR in regards to the preferred gun sizes on the new build battleships and once 16inch was decided on, only the Iowas are mentioned. Hmm, North Carolina, Washington, South Dakota, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Alabama were left out. Again, a small part of the overall narrative, but if these facts are confused, the remainder of the book's accuracy is now in doubt in my mind.

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to read this book, but wound up disappointed by the author’s biased views. He seemed to find it necessary to denigrate the abilities of those around Admiral Leshy to cast him in a stronger light. In some ways, he seemed to be indicating that FDR was Leary’s puppet in foreign affairs. That was disquieting, particularly in view of how few people knew anything about him and his position at the time, and even later. It’s probably fortunate that he didn’t misuse his power more than he did.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite a head spinning experience after finishing, last week, Nigel Hamilton's "War and Peace". They could not have been two more different takes on who ran World War II. In this book by O'Brien, he makes clear that every decision that worked out well for the US seemed to come from William Leahy's brain. He also has nothing good to say about General George Marshall. It was an interesting read, I'm just not sure about the conclusions.

[JL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read about a man "forgotten". but I'm unsure that all the rest of Roosevelt's advisors were as unaccountably ineffectual as the author portrays.

[Hugolane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I followed up with this after reading O'Brien's previous book How the War Was Won because I knew so little about Leahy, in fact as I think I mentioned in my review of the earlier book I don't think I had ever heard his name before I started following O'Brien on Twitter. This is a very readable book, and O'Brien clearly likes his subject. He paints Leahy as something close to the ideal of American Civil Servant perfect to work with Roosevelt the greatest president of the Twentieth Century.

O'Brien is most interested on Leahy's public life, and the narrative moves fairly quickly through his youth and early career in 40 pages, before getting to the meeting FDR, which is the transformative event in Leahy's life. That said, there is some meat in those early chapter, we get a sense of who Leahy is, how he approached his life, and O'Brien notes ways in which Leahy was very much a creature of his time in respect to race and such matters.

The friendship developed between FDR when the future president was serving as under secretary of the Navy in the Wilson administration. That said, it seems pretty clear that Leahy had impressed many other people before and after that allowed him to rise without spending that much time at sea. It isn't just that meeting FDR ended up helping Leahy's career, it also shaped how Leahy looked at the world. O'Brien characterizes him a conservative, fiscal conservative with isolationist tendencies. That will change somewhat, though if one pidgeon-holed Leahy, he would best be seen as on the right-wing of the Roosevelt coalition.

Leahy's path to chief of staff and chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was not a straight line. In fact, he had kind of two careers under Roosevelt. The first was the one that built the navy that would fight WWII, including a focus on aircraft carriers with the Iowa class battleships along the way. After that Roosevelt sent him to Puerto Rico to serve as governor, a task O'Brien judges to have been quite successful. The outbreak of war leads Roosevelt to bring Leahy back to the White House, and it is there that Leahy becomes the key player in setting the American and the Allied strategy to win the war. Much of the the work O'Brien did in lifting up Leahy's importance was done in How the War Was Won, but the extent to Leahy overshadowed other players like George Marshall and the British leadership including Winston Churchill is discussed here, with more focus on the various personalities and how Leahy worked around them to get much of what he wanted.

It was inevitable that FDR's death would undercut Leahy's influence. FDR had come to value Leahy as a friend long before he was president, and Leahy could draw on that considerably. Truman though continued to value Leahy, but as a former army man, he was partial to George Marshall, and that would play a big role in Leahy losing influence. Interestingly, O'Brien paints Leahy as skeptical of FDR's ability to manage peacetime relations with Stalin, and yet Leahy's seems to have actively seems sought to keep that going without turning the US into the World's Policeman, while remaining suspicious of Stalin. He supported the Berlin Airlift as the best option. Curiously we don't hear anything about the what Leahy thought about the Marshall Plan-- it isn't even listed in the index-- and that seems an oversight, especially given the attention to how Leahy felt Marshall mishandled China.

As presented by O'Brien Leahy offered a feasible alternative to America's postwar drift into interventionism. He was vehemently opposed to nuclear weapons, though we don't hear what he thought about the USS Nautilus. He was tough on communism, but thought the Truman Doctrine and intervention in Greece was unnecessary, and indeed he had hoped the CIA would not get caught up in secret operations but focus just intelligence gathering. He cared about Asia, especially China, and while also being skeptical of US involvement in the Middle East. I'm not entirely convinced. It isn't just that time was passing Leahy by, the US dependence on Europe as a trading partner was bound to lead to postwar Eurocentrism even without Marshall, and that meant being concerned with the Middle East, if only to insure Europe had the oil it needed. It is shocking though that such an important man is so little known, and we should thank Phillips O'Brien for reminding us of such a significant figure.

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent, and highly informative book about a relatively unknown but at the time enormously influential figure. Having worked in politics myself I can easily see both how Leahy amassed the power he wielded and also how he is now very obscure. He served as Chief of Staff to FDR from 1942 to the end of Churchill's life and then performed the same function for Harry Truman. At the time this was much more a military role than the way we conceive of the White House Chief of Staff today. He was, effectively, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff though he reported directly to the President rather than the War or Navy Secretary's. He might also be considered a joint White House CoS with Harry Hopkins at the time though Hopkins' health and dissolute living eventually reduced his relative power significantly. The position that Leahy occupied was so powerful that in the National Defense Reorganization Act he worked hard to eliminate it entirely, and today the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs reports to the Secretary of Defense.

This book is an excellent study of the acquisition and exercise of power in a political organization. Like Stalin, Leahy had a major role in the selection of personnel (in Leahy's case within the Navy, as opposed to Stalin's purview over the Communist Party.) This control over offices gave him large power which he used effectively on behalf of FDR when he was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, earning FDRs lifelong trust and loyalty. When Leahy reached the mandatory retirement age, FDR sent him first to govern Puerto Rico, (where he spread around WPA money to build up the Democratic Party) and then as ambassador to Vichy France, one of the most difficult diplomatic posts. After Pearl Harbor, he returned to the US and FDR made him his personal representative to the service Chiefs and also his main advisor with regard to the war, and ultimately to other political aspects as well.

He played a HUGE role in determining US, and through US predominance, Allied strategy in the war. He had a huge influence on where to spend the money Congress appropriated for the war, which created the combination of capabilities the US could deploy which in turn determined the strategy. He attended all the major conferences, the only person to do so, and so had long lasting relationships with all the major players including Stalin and Churchill (whom he advised on the Iron Curtain speech which Churchill asked him to edit.) The relative amount of effort between the European and Asian theaters was largely his decision.

Most interestingly, he was also aware of the Manhattan Project from very early on and worked on planning for its consequences. For most of the project he assumed that the bomb would not work. In the final meetings for how to end the war, he argued for the US to neither invade Japan, nor to drop the atomic bomb, but to slowly starve out Japan or to relax the "unconditional surrender" terms. Marshall and King argued for an invasion of Japan but their arguments relied on serious logical errors to reduce casualty estimates. Leahy punched huge holes in these arguments showing that if you took the average of the kill ratios in the Philippines and Okinawa and applied them to the size of the Japanese army in Kyushu that the US was going to lose something like 300,000 men in phase one of Olympic and probably over a million overall.

With that, Truman announced that he was convinced that the atomic bomb was the way to go without giving Leahy the chance to make the argument against the bomb. Leahy was also a strong proponent of "no first use" of atomic weapons, and had a major influence on the development of early US cold war strategy. While George C. Marshall is widely known, Leahy is an invisible figure even though throughout the war Marshall reported to Leahy. This is a fascinating look at power and fame and the difference between the two.

[Michael Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Second Most Powerful Man in the World is an eye-opener for World War II history enthusiasts. An academic biography that reads like a popular history, the book fills in many gaps I had in my understanding of America's overall strategy of World War II. The subject, Admiral William Leahy, is somehow an obscure figure despite being the highest ranked officer in U.S. naval history. The Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson somehow managed to completely ignore Leahy in his history of the North Africa campaign, An Army at Dawn. Similarly, Ian Toll, an engrossing writer who is about to finish his three volume naval history of World War II, mentioned Leahy only in passing in his first two volumes. O'Brien has fixed these and other omissions (he takes Doris Kearns Goodwin to task in one passage). He reveals Leahy as the one indispensable adviser to Franklin D. Roosevelt during the preparations for and the execution of the complex and exhausting world conflict America was forced into after Pearl Harbor.

Leahy emerges as the unsung influence on the fading FDR. He helps overrule the strong wishes of General George Marshall to pursue a "Germany first" strategy. Leahy convinces FDR that the U.S. would not be ready for a 1943 assault on Normandy or Brittany, and that America needed a more balanced strategy, with the Japan fight receiving equal weight. He understands that a campaign in North Africa would not only divert German resources, but would be a winnable start to the war, and provide valuable experience for American forces. At the same time, Leahy has enough influence with FDR and Winston Churchill that he can persuade the reluctant British prime minister to commit to a spring 1944 D-Day launch date. Although Marshall receives much of the attention from historians, O'Brien's extensive examination of his sources shows conclusively that Leahy and Roosevelt were the nexus of decision-making power, and Marshall was on the outside looking in.

Later in the war, Leahy's understanding of naval strategy helps Roosevelt to concentrate on destroying the Japanese economy through a step by step choking off of its sea lanes. Similarly, Leahy's advice prevents FDR from overcommitting Army and Marine divisions, thus avoiding higher casualties. Even though the landings at Iwo Jima and Okinawa result in heavy U.S. losses, Leahy's caution helps Roosevelt and his successor, Truman, avoid the catastrophe of an invasion on the main Japanese islands. On the other hand, Leahy cannot stop the use of the atom bomb in August 1945. Truman, who later scotched Army and Air Force enthusiasm for first strike a-bomb plans against the Soviet Union, is initially enthralled by the bomb's ability to end the war. The failure to stop the atom bomb attacks marks the beginning of the end of Leahy's profound influence on American military and foreign policy. From that point, Leahy's position in the Truman administration erodes, and he bows out soon after the successful 1948 campaign.

This biography is an outstanding read, and has garnered respect from the likes of Madeleine Albright and Douglas Brinkley, both of whom contribute jacket blurbs. Phil O'Brien is a professor of Strategic Studies at the University of St. Andrew's. He has also written How the War Was Won: Air-Sea Power and Allied Victory in World War II (another long title, but I've ordered it on Amazon nonetheless.) I recommend it highly not only for WWII buffs, but also for duffers like me who love a good biography.

[R G · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent biography of an unquestionably overlooked, highly influential figure during a crucial time in US history. After reading some of the other reviews, I wanted to write my own review, primarily to respond to some of those comments. In particular, there is a theme through many comments that the book is somehow disrespectful to George Marshall, or Harry Hopkins. It is not. It is simply a fact that William Leahy had greater influence during this crucial time.

First, the title “The Second Most Powerful Man in the World”, refers to a specific period, running from somewhere from the middle of 1943 until the death of FDR. During that time, the author builds a persuasive case that William Leahy deserves that title. O’Brien’s exhaustive research proves, beyond doubt, that Leahy was the public official, who spent more time with Roosevelt than any other individual. The records prove that case. He had more meetings, and longer meetings than any other person. He had access to a breadth of records and communications that were only surpassed by FDR himself. He accompanied Roosevelt on lengthy trips, including personal excursions. Leahy’s title, Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Army and Navy of the United States, placed him as a role superior to that of any other military officer, and a more powerful position than any White House staff position that existed prior to or since that time in history. Leahy’s combined the jobs of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with the job of Chief of Staff. Leahy himself recognized that there were dangers in combining so much power in one position. Since he left that office, partly based upon Leahy’s own recommendation, separate individuals have served our presidents in those positions.

Beyond issues of time and title, O’Brien also diligently records the opposing positions that various military officers, including Marshall, took on key strategic decisions. Once again, the records clearly indicate that Leahy’s recommendations prevailed most of the time over those of Marshall and other generals and admirals. Leahy was the key player.

None of this diminishes the contributions of George Marshall or Harry Hopkins. Marshall played a key role in leading the army during this time. He just didn’t prevail on many of the big strategy calls. The author isn’t being mean to George Marshall. Those are just the facts. From the moment that Harry Truman took office, O’Brien clearly states that Marshall was much more influential than Leahy. Similarly, several commenters point out that the reason Harry Hopkins had a reduced level of influence was that his health began to fail. O’Brien attributes Hopkins reduced role to both failing health, and a reduced social role after Hopkins got married and moved out of the White House. Whatever the reasons, there is no question that Leahy played a more important role than Hopkins by mid 1943. Similarly, the change during the Truman administration doesn’t diminish Leahy’s service. Truman was thrown into a crisis, with little preparation from FDR. It made sense. To learn, Truman would listen to many voices, rather than rely upon one person. And Truman had high regard for Marshall’s role leading the army. As readers, we are left to wonder how the war with Japan would have proceeded, and whether the US would have used the atom bomb had FDR lived longer and Leahy’s influence prevailed.

Leahy, by his nature, did little to promote himself to the press or public, and used his low profile and discretion to make FDR trust him even more. As a result, he got a little press during the course of his career.

There is an old saying that history is written by the winners. I think this book proves a corollary. History is written about people that are easy to research. If you want to write a book about George Marshall, you can find most of his papers in one place. That’s true of many other historical figures. William Leahy cared little about public perception during his service and little about his place in history after he was done. He just wanted to make a difference. Leahy’s papers are scattered all over the place. This author had to travel to numerous locations to piece together the evidence that persuasively shows the role Leahy played during the end of the Roosevelt administration. I’m sure it was difficult and tedious work. But as a result, he crafted a history that has been largely overlooked during a time that has been studied quite intensely.

[Stirling Ewing · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I enjoyed the book and the subject matter, its flaws and shortcomings were the most damning a history book can have. I felt that the author was heavily biased in favor of William Leahy and wrote with an agenda rather than to objectively outline historical events and the life of an admirable historical figure.

The book's purpose is to convince you of the greatness and influence of Admiral Leahy, and while I may agree with that argument, the author took it upon himself to make that conclusion for you by cherry picking evidence and inserting commentary as fact. Some mild criticism of Admiral Leahy was thankfully included but typically glanced over and downplayed. Upon finishing the book, one is left with the impression that Leahy was at once the most intelligent policy maker in the world, an oracle, and completely correct on every matter of lasting importance.

Perhaps the most frustrating part for me was the book's apparent need to attack any figures that could have possibly competed with Leahy for influence or historical importance. I even found myself defending contemporaries of the Admiral that I don't particularly like because the criticism was so unfair. Of particular note, the author spent so much time lambasting George Marshall that I at times forgot he wasn't the subject of the book. Some criticism of the General is warranted, appropriate, and even relevant, but not the endless pages in which I cannot recall even a single positive thing said about Marshall. Although only a moderately well-read armchair historian, I was able to pick out skewed facts and even outright falsehoods used to convey the impression that Leahy was always right and Marshall was always wrong. That the two typically worked well together and even got along is apparently irrelevant.

I enjoyed learning about Admiral Leahy and getting another perspective on leadership and policy making in the WWII era, but I greatly regret that this book left me looking for another biography on him by which to confirm what was fact and what was purely the author's opinion.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

During World War II, Admiral William D. Leahy was constantly at FDR's side, advising him on daily decisions, and working to carry out his strategy and decisions. Leahy routinely downplayed his influence on the President, out of respect for the Office and because of his leadership style. The two men, had been friends when working together in the Navy office and their families regularly socialized. Roosevelt made Leahy the first presidential chief of staff, a role that was created so that he could Chair the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And when FDR's health failed, Leahy became almost a de facto president, sheltering the President and making the difficult decisions for him.

Why I started this book: Love WWII and was eager to read more about Admiral Leahy and FDR.

Why I finished it: Great audio, and O'Brien made a compelling case... until I finished it and started thinking. This book really beats the drum that Marshall was too short side to see how he was mucking up everything; that Leahy was an old canny sea dog secretly pulling the strings behind everyone. Which contradicts everything else that I've read. And ultimately it reminded me that political infighting has always been a part of history, and that human nature doesn't magically change because the country is facing a huge crisis... and that rose cover glasses and nostalgia cover a lot of egos when you are looking back. And that a historian can easily be biased by his sources, taking up grudges from decades past, and that it why it is vital to get all sides of the story and to read multiple histories by different historians.

[William Troy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will start with the admission that I an a retired Army Officer so I have some bias here. I am a Marshall man when it comes to World War II. Phillips Payson O'Brien is obviously not a Marshall fan. That said, it doesn't make this book less important a read for those who enjoy the Grand Strategy and interplay of the major actors of the Second World War. Fleet Admiral Leahy is an ambiguous figure among the well known military leaders of the US Army, Navy, and Air Corps. There hasn't been much written about Admiral Leahy. This book rectifies that lapse. The book is well researched and interestingly written. One gets the picture of an experienced, reasoned advisor to President Roosevelt and later, President Truman. Recalled to duty by President Roosevelt, Leahy became his most trusted advisor about military subjects, national security and even politics to a lessor degree. Admiral Leahy chaired the US Joint Chiefs and was Military Advisor to the President. Mr. O'Brien points out the many influences that Admiral Leahy had throughout the war on strategic emphasis, manpower and even production. Admiral Leahy became the Chief of Staff to President Roosevelt and controlled most access especially in messages and reports. He provided the daily briefing to the President and often wrote responses for the President's signature. The author is not kind to General Marshall disputing his influence. The author does present an different perspective on the major players of the war. It is a fascinating read and I encourage all those interested in WWII to read it.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book, providing a revealing biography of Admiral William D. Leahy, prominent American military leader in WWII. The author, historian Philips Payson O’Brien, delivers a revisionist history on the direction of America’s strategic leadership during WWII and the relationship of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to his military leaders. Through an informative understanding of how politics worked in FDR’s Washington, the author shows that Leahy successfully held powers that today are carried by three different positions: the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, National Security Advisor, and Director of National Intelligence. The other prominent war leaders, especially Marshall, were, under Leahy, regulated to a secondary role, contributing regularly but rarely listened too. WWII from beginning to end was fought, if you believe the author, in a manner determined by Leahy. The book suffers from making few deep criticisms of Leahy himself, while much of the revisionist analysis stems from presumptions made from comments in diaries or meeting notes. Despite this O’Brien manages to weave together a history that is both highly informative and educational. A great book for hearing an opposite view of Marshall and Eisenhower’s contribution in WWII. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to better understand the politics and processes behind WWII’s strategic decision making.

[Richard Walden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Certainly Leahy was a great man who was responsible for the construction and the development of America's powerful navy leading up to WWII. He became FDR's closest adviser during the war, which the author proves by comparing the number of meetings the admiral had with the president with the meetings attended by Marshall, Stimson, and others. According to the author, Leahy never ever made a mistake, although he did state, "I know explosives, and the atomic bomb will never work." O'Brien makes much of Leahy's opposition to the the bombing of Hiroshima, but oddly never mentions his reaction to the bombing of Nagasaki. The book as a whole is a hagiography of a humorless bigot. There a few howling errors: all four battleships of the 'Iowa' class were constructed, not just three; Princess Margaret of Norway was indeed a frequent guest of FDR at Hyde Park and the White House, but there is no evidence in any other works on FDR that she was ever his 'mistress.' Re sources, too much reliance is made upon Leahy'a autobiography, an ill-received work written in his dotage while residing at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Read instead Nigel Hamilton's remarkable trilogy on FDR's war leadership, starting with "The Mantle of Command."

[Bill Wagner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was fairly impressed with the first quarter or so of this book. Even the author admits that his subject , Fleet Admiral William Leahy, was not the most exciting topic in the world. But he had managed a very readable account of the Admiral’s early life and career.

Unfortunately, things changed. Though still readable, the book began to take on some less attractive characteristics. The foremost of these was the manner in which the Mr. O’Brien consistently compared his subject and his importance with that of General George Marshall. He goes to great lengths to point to the closer relationship Leahy had with FDR. I don’t believe it was a contest and both men were crucial to the United States success in WWII.

A couple of other factors showed up as well. Leahy was against an invasion of Japan as too costly but was also against using the atomic bombs as being unethical. But no explanation was forthcoming as to how or when the Pacific War would have ended. Nor did the author fully explain his book’s title. Was Leahy more powerful than Churchill? More powerful than Stalin? I don’t think so. All in all, still a decent read about an often overlooked World War II figure.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The life of Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy is an interesting read. The last of his kind serving his country for close to five decades. From World War II through the beginning of Teumams full term in office. No was closer to Roosevelt, nor had earned his blind faith, like the Admiral. Through the course of the war, constantly at the president's side and advising him on daily decisions, Leahy became the second most powerful man in the world. A stern-faced, cooked noses, salty sailor, his Navy career begun as a cadet aboard a sailing ship. Four decades later, Admiral Leahy was a trusted friend and advisor to the president and his ambassador to Vichy France until the attack on Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt made Leahy the first presidential chief of staff--though Leahy's role embodied far more power than the position of today. The book is easy to read and relates the story of an almost forgotten key figure from America's past. Well worth the time investment to read, especially for history buffs.

[Mark O'brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot from this book -- about World War II and the start of the Cold War through Lahey's eyes. (The man was a diligent diarist.)
I also liked the way the author did not sugarcoat the admiral, who had his flaws, as we all do. "He kissed ass," blindly insisted the atomic bomb would never detonate, and became a cranky old man.
But O'Brien recounting of Lahey's life, from a huge variety of documented sources, makes a strong case for Lahey's remarkable value to our country and to President Franklin Roosevelt and President Harry Truman.
I note from comments on this thread that some readers feel Lahey may not have been as powerful as the author posits. I don't know enough to have an opinion about that issue, but I certainly am glad that Lahey was where he was and did what he did in WWII.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this was a great book, and it discussed an element of WWII leadership that has been largely unexplored. The author's thesis is that Admiral Leahy was the most significant advisor to FDR during WWII, and had a significant impact on the (initial) direction of US strategy during the early Cold War. He certainly proves the former hypothesis thoroughly, though students of the period may feel unease as the Marble Man Marshall is reduced in proportion, but it is almost inarguable. As to the second thesis, this is a little more difficult to assess, as Leahy did not leave a significant paper trail, and his talent was getting things done subtly during the early portion of the Truman administration.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book and also an important one, since it focuses on a man (Admiral William Leahy) who did not seek attention or leaving a legacy and has therefore become somewhat of a forgotten man, even though he was unquestionably an essential advisor to FDR during WWII as well as an influential chief of staff in the first Truman term. I learned much by reading this book.

That said, I think the author could have made the case for the importance and influence of Admiral Leahy without denigrating George Marshall, an equally important person from this same time frame. I was disappointed in the author's treatment of General Marshall, and did not feel it was always warranted or necessary.