When in boot camp in San Diego I met Admiral Nimitz who was long-since retired. He was a very small, frail man when I met him but very warm and friendly. The officers were trying to rush him to the VIP stand but he wanted to stay and talk to us white hats.
I served with Cmdr. August Hubal who later became the skipper of the U.S.S. Amberjack. The A’jack was patrolling in the Eastern Med. when the U.S.S. Liberty was mistakenly attacked by Israeli aircraft. Cmdr. Hubal was involved in the investigation of the attack.
Wow. You know, I think Nimitz is one of the finest men ever to serve this country, and most capable.
I use his story all the time, the one about running his destroyer aground somewhere near the Phillippines as a young Ensign. He convinced the Court Martial to not destroy his career (as was usual) and was eloquent enough to make his point.
Years later, he was fond of using the saying “Every dog deserves a second bite.” when showing leniency in a judgement.”
That just blew me away, a man in his position could have just been an imperious hardass and nobody would have said boo to him. But he took that stuff seriously and gave it a lot of sober thought.
What told me the most about Nimitz, though, was his handling of Admiral Ghormley in 1942 when he had him relieved by Halsey. He did it humanely and with respect, so much so that Ghormley took it as such, and remained on excellent terms with both Halsey and Nimitz.
Ghormley was able to take it as he did, because of the enormous respect that Nimitz evoked from people he dealt with. It is almost as if Ghormley had just said “Well, if Chester says this is the way it has to be, then...this is the way it will be because he has been fair in his evaluations. I can TRUST that he makes the right decision.”
THAT.
IS.
LEADERSHIP.
PERSONIFIED.