Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay by Craig L. Symonds

Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay Reviews

• 
  Matt

  “Never a religious man, [Chester] Nimitz asked that his headstone be inscribed with the five-star emblem of his rank as a fleet admiral rather than the Christian cross. He purchased a plot with space for six graves for himself, his two friends [Admirals Charles Lockwood and Raymond Spruance], and their wives…It is noteworthy that Nimitz’s principal lieutenants wished to immortalize their association with their wartime commander, and he with them. They had shared much together – the war in the Pacific was, after all, the great adventure of their lives. In addition to that, however, there is in their decision a recognition that Nimitz was the centerpiece of that adventure…In 1941, [Admiral Ernest J.] King had feared that Nimitz wasn’t tough enough for command. Over the ensuing four years, Nimitz had demonstrated that humility, careful listening, calm assessment, patience, and the ability to recognize when to accept calculated risk, brought military success as well as the admiration of those who executed his orders…”
  - Craig Symonds, Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay
  
  At the time of the 1941 air raid on Pearl Harbor, the commander of United States Naval Forces in the Pacific was an admiral named Husband Kimmel. Not surprisingly – given that Pearl Harbor was one of the greatest disasters in American military history – Admiral Kimmel soon found himself out of a job.
  
  Ever since, there has been a low-key movement to rehabilitate Admiral Kimmel’s reputation. Part of this has been motivated by a desire to damage President Franklin Roosevelt, who has been accused of knowing in advance about the Japanese assault, and withholding valuable information. Others, however, including Kimmel’s family, have more genuine motivations in attempting to rectify what they perceive as a historical wrong. Kimmel, they argue, has been made a scapegoat for a whole chain of errors, with only some of the links attributable to him.
  
  Whatever the reasons, the campaign has never really gained any traction. The reason, I believe, is that the man who took Admiral Kimmel’s job turned out to be one of this nation’s greatest commanders.
  
  That man – Admiral Chester Nimitz – is the subject of Craig Symonds’s aptly titled Nimitz at War.
  
  ***
  
  As the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and also the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Ocean Areas, Nimitz had a massive responsibility analogous to that of Dwight D. Eisenhower in Europe, but over a much wider area with far greater logistical challenges. A deliberative, unflashy man whose exterior belied a go-for-the-throat mentality, Nimitz belongs in consideration as one of the indispensable men of the Second World War.
  
  In keeping with its no-nonsense title and straight-down-the-middle approach, Nimitz at War unfolds in a strictly chronological fashion. It begins with Nimitz en route to Hawaii, where he will take charge of the battered Pacific Fleet, much of it sunk at its moorings, and ends with his participation in the Japanese surrender aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. This is not, by any means, a true biography of the soft-spoken Texan with the snow white hair and missing left ring finger. Of course, Symonds makes reference to Nimitz’s past, especially as it impacted his demeanor and decisions. But if you want to follow the man from bassinet to boneyard, you will have to look elsewhere (Symonds himself recommends E.B. Potter’s Nimitz).
  
  Between the bookends of Pearl Harbor and Japan’s capitulation, Symonds takes us through the Pacific War, as seen from Nimitz’s perspective, and analyzed based on Nimitz’s contributions. Symonds does a fine job of setting the stage of the various battles fought on Nimitz’s watch, but because Nimitz was not personally involved in combat, tactical discussions are – with some exceptions – kept to a minimum. Thus, if you aren’t already familiar with the heavyweight clash between the United States Navy and the Imperial Navy of Japan, you will likely want to read an overview or two before grabbing this one. There are numerous recent, excellent volumes on this struggle, including Symonds’s own World War II at Sea.
  
  ***
  
  You will probably not find yourself copying down Symonds’s prose in your diary, and then reading it aloud in the darkness of the night before drifting off to sleep. At least, I never found myself doing this. I don’t mean this to sound churlish. It’s just that there are a lot of superb author-historians who have tackled this subject matter, and who have brought more vim and vigor to the proceedings.
  
  With that said, Symonds is incredibly accessible, combining a gift for storytelling with an ability to seamlessly integrate more in-depth discussions into the narrative, without breaking the flow. Readability is an underrated virtue, mainly because it’s not something you think about if a book is ably constructed. Having read more than my share of history books, I can fairly say that not every well-educated professor has Symonds’s talent for writing in a manner that doesn’t call attention to itself, because the mechanisms are working as designed.
  
  ***
  
  It should not spoil anything to say that Symonds believes Nimitz to have been pretty damn good at his job. Certainly, you cannot argue with the results.
  
  According to Symonds, Nimitz was not a brilliant master of strategy – however that might be defined – yet had many other attributes just as important. He had a Lincolnesque ability to take the advice of many, while also sticking to his own gut instincts. He used humor to diminish tension and make a point, and often gave subordinates second chances in different jobs, matching talent to task. He was a considered risk-taker, refusing to plunge off a cliff without checking the water’s depth, but definitely willing to leap once he received intelligence estimates that he wouldn’t break his neck. The best example of this is the Battle of Midway, in which Nimitz okayed an ambush of Admiral Yamamoto’s massive invasion force based on Joseph Rochefort’s cryptographic breakthroughs.
  
  Though it is never explicit, Symonds subtly compares Nimitz to General Douglas MacArthur. As each was in charge of his own prong of America’s “Twin Axis” strategy, it makes for an interesting juxtaposition.
  
  MacArthur is clearly one of the most talented and successful soldiers ever produced by the United States. He is also immensely troubling. No one gets to the highest military ranks without some understanding of political machinations. MacArthur, though, inserted himself into ongoing domestic politics while serving in uniform, overtly defying article one, section two, clause one of the United States Constitution. MacArthur’s refusal to read this single sentence would eventually lead to his firing and disgrace in Korea. During the Second World War, it was simply unseemly and disrespectful. Unsurprisingly, given his temperament, Nimitz did not treat the war as a steppingstone to the presidency, or as some massive career opportunity meant to edify his ego.
  
  ***
  
  None of this is to say that Nimitz was perfect. As Symonds points out, Nimitz had no problems with a racially segregated Navy, and saw no use for women in the service, meaning that he had a major blind spot when it came to fully utilizing available talent.
  
  Nimitz also had a blind spot for Admiral William “Bull” Halsey, who Symonds criticizes frequently. Though he provided an early bump to civilian morale, Halsey came down with a skin condition before the turning tide at Midway. When he rejoined the fight, he nearly caused a major disaster at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, then sailed unprepared into not one, but two different typhoons. The losses from those storms – as Symonds stresses – amount to two extremely lopsided naval defeats, given that U.S. ships sank without delivering any blows to the Japanese. Despite Halsey’s blunders, he was good with a quote and popular with the press, and Nimitz protected him to the point that he allowed Halsey to share arguably the most powerful naval fleet in history with the far more competent Raymond Spruance.
  
  ***
  
  For a layperson, it can be difficult to conceptualize Nimitz’s accomplishments. He did not position himself at the front line, matching an opponent in actual battle while bombs whistled and torpedoes sped through the water and men screamed and died around him. Instead, he helped to draw up the overall mission, put the right people in place, and then let them complete their tasks without his interference.
  
  Because he is writing for a general audience, Symonds doesn’t get deep into the day-to-day staff work that took up Nimitz’s waking hours. Yet he does a wonderful job evoking Nimitz’s qualities: his equanimity with both prickly superiors and headstrong subordinates; his grasp of operational concepts, and a knack for getting people to achieve them; his embrace of comprehensive training programs; and his nerveless willingness to gamble big when the opportunities arose.
  
  These traits allowed him to take a battered U.S. Pacific Fleet from a few outnumbered task forces desperately trading carriers for time, to the ultimate force projector in the world.
• 
  Jean

  I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I have read everything I can about Chester Nimitz over the years. This book technically is not a biography as it only covers one item about Nimitz, his leadership skills.
  
  Nimitz was Commander In-Charge of the Pacific Fleet and the Pacific Ocean Areas from 1941 to 1945. He had a difficult job implementing General George Marshall’s strategic plan for the war on Japan. Adding to his challenges were two difficult men, his boss, Admiral Ernest J. King, and the Army Pacific Theatre Commander, the egocentric General Douglas MacArthur. Nimitz’ leadership skills were on full display in leading his mercurial admirals such as Halsey, McCain, Mitscher, Fletcher and the methodical Spruance.
  
  If you are interested in learning more about Nimitz, I recommend “Nimitz by E. V. Potter, 1976 and “Admiral Nimitz, The Commander of the Pacific Ocean Theatre” by Brayton Harris, 2012.
  
  I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is fourteen hours and twenty-six hours. L. J. Ganser does an excellent job narrating the book.
  
• 
  Thomas George Phillips

  Mr. Symonds well documented his account of Admiral Chester Nimitz's years as Leader in the USN Pacific Theater during World War Two.
  
  Something of note that I was unfamiliar with, before reading this book about Nimitz, was his previous years as a Submariner. I was a surface sailor; and the term we used to describe Submarine Sailors was "Bubblehead."
  
  Evidently, also, Nimitz possessed a wit similar to that of Abe Lincoln. One example of Admiral Nimitz's sense of humor goes as follows: "It seems there were two men in a hotel, perhaps a hotel like this one, who found themselves pacing back and forth in the hallway, each of them obviously conflicted by a difficult problem. Back and forth they walked, passing each other frequently. Finally one stopped and asked the other what problem he was dealing with. The man replied that he was a doctor and he had a patient in one of the rooms who had a wooden leg that needed to be attached. Alas, the wooden leg had come apart, and the doctor could not figure out how to put the leg together. "Great guns! "the other man replied. One leg apart? That wasn't a problem. "I have a good looking gal in my room with both legs apart and I can't remember the room number."
  
  
  
  
• 
  Urey Patrick

  Nimitz is (was) arguably the most under-appreciated figure from WWII – he was instrumental in the successful campaign against Japan, and one of those uniquely relevant historical figures, the perfect man in the perfect place at the perfect time to affect the course of human history (as was Churchill!). And yet, the recognition due his time in command is lacking, certainly in the popular mind. Part of this may be the fact that he declined to write a memoir – he was confident in the correctness of his actions, and his decisions, and was content to let history judge his efforts without him putting a thumb on the scale. He may be the only major figure out of WWII to eschew the opportunity to tell his side of the story from his perspective with the underlying intent of making himself look as good as possible in the eyes of posterity.... that alone is illustrative of his extraordinary status and personal confidence. Even Churchill felt it necessary to “write history” in such a way as to make himself look even better than perhaps was warranted.
  
  Nimitz was a leader in the Eisenhower mold – spending as much time greasing the gears of inter-service cooperation as he did the actual nuts and bolts of running the war. His decision-making and leadership were exceptional, and Symonds captures that. His ability to engage with and incorporate disparate egos, rivalries and command sensitivities was amazing, and essential to the war effort. As with so many huge, historically significant human undertakings, human nature always intrudes – and never in a way conducive to the efficient attainment of desirable or necessary goals. Nimitz juggled and manipulated and facilitated them all, for the ultimate sake of victory over Japan. Eisenhower did the same, although he had an even bigger chore given the necessity for him to manage conflicting international allies in addition to inter-service rivalries and assorted egos.
  
  Symonds captures it all – explains it all. He gifts the reader with an intimate, perceptive and in-depth exposure to the issues, the personalities, and the command environment fostered by Nimitz and its consequences to the conduct of the war. This is a superb history – part biographical, part leadership and command oriented, and largely personality driven. Nimitz deserves far more recognition than he has been given... he was the indispensable man in the single most critical post of the war in the Pacific. Symonds gives him his due credit – and the book is totally engaging, often revelatory, inspiring and gratifying.... a must read as much for what you will learn about Chester Nimitz as what you will learn about his contemporaries in the Pacific campaigns!
• 
  Cathi Davis

  An interesting perspective on the a pacific portion of WWII. A reminder that even in war (maybe especially in war) personnel issues arise and must be dealt with. Almost need an organization flow chart with boxes and arrows showing who worked for whom and when and where they were transferred. (Many many reassignments) And yet again the bloody price paid to win this war not just by the US but also her Allies. I cannot remember any reference to Chinas civilian fatalities in hs history. But they were staggering.
  And in this book sometimes the price paid was summarized as number of ships lost with no reference to the number of lives lost with them.
• 
  DJ Bowen

  I don’t have a way with words nor am I creative when it comes to writing reviews. However I thought this book was fantastic. Not very long, but full of great info and flows wonderfully. Highly recommend for anyone from the serious history buff to someone who just enjoys casual military history or has a interest in the subject!
• 
  Ryan

  This book snuck under my radar initially as I've been a fan of all of Symond's books so far but hadn't heard about it until it was out for a month. I also had a bit of Pacific War fatigue, but I didn't want to let this one pass me by. This is a great book if you are looking for complementary reference and a solid documentary on THEE Chester Nimitz. I knew he was not a bigger then life figure like MacArthur, but had a quiet dignity and was widely respected. What intrigued me about him was juggling that personality while also project managing one of the largest operations in human history. This is where the book excels. When the book focuses solely on Nimitz and his relationships, his letters home, and his personal life it's very good. When it strays into heavy context around the conflict itself I tended to lose a bit on interest because then I felt that Nimitz was a bit tacked on to the story as a whole. With that said Symond's is still a master historical writer and I'm giving this book a excellent grade. Anyone who wants to learn about Nimitz can't go wrong here, and anyone interested in the Pacific definitely would further deepen their education on this topic as well.
• 
  Scott Resnik

  A first-rate history of Adm Nimitz and his importance to the Allied victory over Japan in WWII.
• 
  David Shaffer

  I finished Craig Symonds, Nimitz At War: Command Leadership From Pearl Harbor To Tokyo Bay. A short but outstanding history which details the command and leadership style of Admiral Chester Nimitz.
  
  Not a detailed military history of the either the naval or land war but a history of Nimitz leadership style. At first thought by CNO Ernest J. King to be to much of a conciliatory in his leadership style to make the tough and necessary decisions needed of a theater commander he won him over and after the war King endorsed Nimitz as the most qualified man to take over as CNO.
  
  Largely a man who quietly led but was firm in conviction and after getting all available information and input from his gifted team of subordinates which included a wide variety of individuals including Ray Spruance, William “Bull” Halsey, Marine General Holland “Howlin Mad” Smith, Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner, Army General Robert C. Richardson, and Admiral Charles Lockwood in charge of the submarine forces under Nimitz, but in the end a man who was confident to make his own decision even when in conflict with his subordinates. Able to work with General Douglas MacArthur, a true testament to his leadership style.
  
  A wonderful short history coming in at 396 pages. A definite must read.
• 
  Mark Mears

  Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay
  
  Craig L. Symonds
  
  There are certain historical luminaries who receive repeated attention in biographies or histories, The Founding Fathers, Presidents, Military Commanders such as Admiral Nimitz.
  
  If you are a history fan, you find yourself reading basically the same narrative by different authors, who attempt but fail to shed new light on their subject.
  
  That is not the case with Professor Symonds. I have read the major biographies about his life, and several histories in which he necessarily played an ancillary role.
  
  Symonds did not attempt to tell Admiral Nimitz’ entire inspirational story, thankfully.
  
  With his extensive background, his military experience and talented prose, Professor Symonds brings to life the most important phase out of an important life. The time between President FDR telling Nimitz to get out to the Pacific and not come back til the war is won to finessing who’s battle flag will fly atop the Battleship Missouri while the Japanese surrender.
  
  Symonds does a magnificent job describing how Nimitz managed relationships with non-nonsense hard-asses and domineering egotists, people who didn’t think he deserved his job to the flat squirrels of life who couldn’t make a decision.
  
  Symond shows you how a stoic Texan handles all that, getting all those diverse people to pull in the same direction while coordinating the largest Navy, the largest war effort, in human history.
  
  Whether you’re just a history buff, or you are in the military and business and could use some leadership tip, here ya go.
• 
  Bob Grove

  I am a big student of World War II in the Pacific. I loved this book. “Nimitz At War” is part biography, part overview of the Pacific War, and part study in command leadership. I found the book succeeds in all three areas. The author dives right into the topic, and all the background information is provided in context. If you want to know about Nimitz’s early life, I recommend E. B. Potter’s “Nimitz.” The author covers the key events of the war from Nimitz’s command perspective. The author highlights the Nimitz approach to leadership, which was to let his subordinates fight the battle. There was an adequate amount of information about most of the significant actions fought to give you knowledge of what happened. I especially found the authors dealing with the USS Hornets flight to nowhere events and Admiral Marc Michener’s solo after-action report to be outstanding and unique handling of the event and its aftermath. “Nimitz at War” is a real page-turner. The book is exceptionally well written, including references and reminders to key subordinates and other players. The author’s primary source is the Nimitz Gray Book which encompasses eight volumes and is a treasure trove of primary source material. The excellent maps are a big plus.
• 
  Jim Cullison

  The Nimitz who emerges from Symonds' rivetingly readable naval history is indispensable to victory over Japan, utterly bereft of bluster and bombast, and deceptively unassuming in demeanor. His soft-spoken manner masked a steely resolve and the wily cunning of a master riverboat gambler. His management of meager resources in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor should be studied by any and all who aspire to administrative positions in either the public or private sectors. Symonds is admiring, yet honest in his portrayal of this low-key, high achieving military mastermind. If a there has ever been a real-life historical embodiment of Jedi mind-trickery, it was Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, and Symonds' stellar book is THE place to start for great reading about a giant of The Second World War.
• 
  Tore

  Brilliant account, very well written. Interesting all the way through, and gives a real feel of how difficult it was, to get both Navy and Army to work together. Highly recommended, if you want to get a feeling for how good leadership is conducted, in a high pressure environment. You'll also learn how stubborness cost lives, and how people like Halsey, even when they f*** up, gets promoted, because their good qualities overshadow their bad, and then other people who just followed orders, are made scapegoats and are pulled out. It's infuriating to hear, but all in all, even if Nimitz made mistakes, his exceptional good leadership helped enourmously in getting the war to an end.
• 
  Mike Glaser

  A good look at Nimitz’s approach to dealing with Joint and Combined Operations throughout the Pacific campaign in WW II. The focus on the early part of the campaign, before American manufacturing superiority made itself fully felt, is especially interesting as the Japanese armed forces matched up very well against the US. In fact, this was the last time that the US faced a peer adversary in an actual shooting war which makes it required reading for anyone who wonders what might happen the next time the US Navy finds itself in this type of situation.
• 
  Jim

  Mr. Symonds does an excellent job in describing Admiral Nimitz in a manner that makes the reader feel like they know the Admiral before they finish the book. While not the first biography written on this great Naval Leader is probably the best one, I have read on the Admiral. It covers his leadership in dealing with his junior and superiors alike. Well worth the time investment for historians everywhere.
• 
  Ronald Golden

  “Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay” by Craig Symonds is a quintessential study in leadership. A person is given a monumental task, the stakes could not be higher. Out classed, out gunned and out manned. Given inadequate resources, low morale, and poor organization. AND finally having to manage inter-organizational as well as inter-personal rivalries and conflicts between often volatile personalities, that was exactly Admiral Chester Nimitz’s assignment. Arriving to take over the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor days after the infamous attack on December 7th, Admiral Nimitz was directed by President Franklin Roosevelt to go to Hawaii and “not come back until the war is won.”
  In his management of the war in the Pacific, Admiral Nimitz demonstrates the highest possible leadership skills. He managed a war across a vast geographic area, many times larger than the European Theater. He started out at a tremendous disadvantage against a seemingly superior adversary that had him outmatched in every category. People often forget that the Pacific was NOT the number one priority for most of the war. Yet he put together the necessary organizational team with the logistical support to back it up to accomplish his mission. You really need to read this book to appreciate the enormity of the task Nimitz had to undertake.
  But what really makes Nimitz stand out in my eyes was his handling of the people he needed to deal with to accomplish this task. People like Admiral “Bull” Halsey, General “Howlin’ Mad” Smith and Admiral Richmond “Terrible” Turner were some of the players on Nimitz’s team. Nimitz had to use their respective strengths and at the same time mitigate their often-volatile personalities and keep them from detracting from the war effort. Nimitz had to deal with an unrelenting boss in Admiral Ernest King, striving to meet and manage his expectations. And of course, Admiral Nimitz had to deal with the most out-sized personality of the entire war, General Douglas MacArthur. As a co-prosecutor of the Pacific War, Nimitz had to work out a mutually cooperative relationship with the often-demanding MacArthur.
  As I stated at the beginning of this review, this book is a quintessential study in leadership. I can think of no better resource then this book, and books like it that feature great leaders from history to learn and develop leadership skills.
• 
  George Tonzetich

  Before reading this book, I had the impression that Nimitz had a clear mandate to prosecute the Pacific naval war as he saw fit from FDR. Was I ever wrong! The amount of politics he had navigate with the greatest American egos of WWII - King and MacArthur - seemed insurmountable as I got deeper into this account of WWII American Pacific leadership. As I abhor politics in general due to its total counter productivity in our society, it amazed me how Nimitz could sooth the massive egos, satisfy the Press without going after them, and get all the "children"/military areas of his command- navy, army, air force - to play nicely together! Maybe, in a way, he was a create diplomat as well? Or, dare I say it, an effective politician (if there is such a thing LOL)? Whatever the case, this author made me consider the enormous task this man had to handle outside of the clearly naval objective(s) he accomplished!