American Generalship: Character Is Everything: The Art of Command

by Edgar F. Puryear Jr.

“What does it take to make a great general or a great leader in any field? . . . An excellent contribution to the study of leadership among those who make life-and-death decisions in the most challenging situations—one that could well serve as required reading in both military and business schools.”— Kirkus Reviews

Throughout his life, Edgar F. “Beau” Puryear has studied America’s top military leaders. In his research for this book, he has sought to discover what allowed them to rise above their contemporaries; what prepared them for the terrible responsibilities they bore as the commanders of our armed forces during World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf, and on to today; how they are different from you and me. Ultimately, first and foremost, Dr. Puryear discovered that character is the single most important and the most distinctive element shared by these that character is  everything!

“Beau Puryear again reaches into his gold mine of research and comes forward with the essence of great generalship. . . . Well-done and a worthy read.”—General Colin L. Powell

“We can always learn more about the importance of character to successful leadership. With this book, we do just that.”—General H. Norman Schwarzkopf

Genres: Leadership, Military Fiction, History, Nonfiction, Military History

396 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Buck Dopp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book on leadership and teaches the lesson that character is everything. A leader must have the highest moral and ethical values to succeed in the long run. My favorite chapter was Chapter 3 on the sixth sense, the intangible gut feeling that great leaders follow. Favorite lines are:

1) Make us choose the harder right over the easier wrong.
2) The first duty of a leader is to create more leaders.
3) Character is what you are, reputation is what people think you are.

[Relstuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book written by as author who interviewed many of the top generals of WWII and the Cold War. He writes here about what makes a good leader, how to exercise the art of command. Well worth reading (especially for military members) if you want to learn from some of the best leaders American history has to offer.

The book delves into making decisions, avoiding "yes" men, proper delegation, taking the blame, giving praise, mentoring, self education, and creating leaders.

"Making decisions is the essence of leadership." Dwight D. Eisenhower

[Loree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forget Oprah’s mantra: ‘If there’s doubt don’t do it.’ We make little decisions all day long everyday – which eventually culminate to a big decision. Often these big decisions need to be made quickly, with very little time to mull over the pros and cons. Often there is no right or wrong decision, or you are choosing between a good decision and a better one, or a bad one and a worse one. Through stories of great American generals Puryear shows how it is the persons of strong character who are able to consistently make good decisions. He advises to practice developing character through daily our habits – those little decision we make all day everyday. Then the big ones will be easy.

[Nathan Kitzke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal read!

[Ryan Barnum · Rating 4 out of 5]

It got long at times, but overall I loved the insights from so many of our past 4-star generals.

[Jeff Reffert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Edgar Puryear does an amazing job telling the stories of generals many of us budding officers have come to revere and admire. The two most compelling stories I would say were the stories of Generals Schwarzkopf and Eisenhower who spent hours visiting their junior officers and troops. Another compelling point the book made was the idea of being a life-long reader. Truly inspired me to read more. The point that really stuck with me, is that of an officer being unselfish. Unselfishness, Puryear adds, is essential in enabling leaders to disagree with superiors and put their careers on the line when they think their commanding officers are wrong. Making decisions has often been called the essence of leadership.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book with some new insights into famous leaders. I particularly like the passages on George Marshall.

I hate to say this is dated as these principles on leadership are timeless but there was something about this book that somehow felt stale. I think this book would be good if you have not read many books on leadership and are not put off by a very military centric look at leadership.

[Patrick Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two leadership development recommendations stood out that I still remember 10 years after reading this book: 1) spend time around leaders who are making important decisions, ideally for mentorship but even just for observation, and 2) read widely but especially history and biography. I was surprised how well-read many of the generals they interviewed were.

[Paul Mulner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book. I like the anecdotes and quotes, I like the theme, and I don’t mind that it is a bit longer than it needs to be. I have some favorite chapters for sure (decisions, yes men, fix the blame) but I’ve read it several times and it’s always worth it.

[Paul Kunkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding leadership book with abundant history, examples and real world stories. A must for anyone who aspires to be a leader. Well organized and a great read for any military member or admirer.

[Derek D · Rating 4 out of 5]

All about character


Great read for leaders.This book gets into what make up a great leader. Some of the greats were in the military

[Stephen Sikorski · Rating 1 out of 5]

I believe that this book may speak to high-level management at a corporation, but this does not apply to a normal manager or leader. I actually found some of the distinguishing characteristics highlighted by this book for successful Generals to be abhorrent. Leather jackets, signing with multiple pens and being a rebel by breaking rules does not make a leader. These things may be additional characteristics or byproducts of that personality, but not the root of their success. Yet they were highlighted. Also, the things "sacrificed" at that level as outlined in the book pale in comparison to the sacrifices made by the troops and leaders on the ground for each of those given circumstances. For anyone in the service, I assure you there are far better books to teach about leadership (The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell is a great one). Cross this off your list and move on.

[Karan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful...learned a great deal about famous American Generals -Eisenhower, Patton, Marshall, Washington, McArthur, etc...Amazing tidbit is that most took time to read, even in the height of WWII.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author interviewed hundreds of general officers and distilled their leadership recommendations into this book. There is a lot of good material here for the aspiring leader, with the preponderance of the material drawn from interviews with iconic generals of World War II.

[Glen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great advice for anyone who ever intends to manage, or more importantly--lead, anyone in the future.

[Ned Kindler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author interviewed several key military people about what it takes to be a great leader. An excellent book about leadership.

[Rick Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Puryear has done a great job tying together the theme of the book: character. The interviews he conducted with senior military personnel add incredible value to any leader's knowledge.