The United States arrived late to the big-navy party. Mostly a land power until the late 19th century, the country did not authorize four-star admirals until after the Civil War. But the roster of American naval leaders ballooned during World War II, and in a short time the U.S. Navy produced admirals to rival Francis Drake, Lord Nelson and Adm. Togo.
With a soft voice and friendly demeanor, Adm. Chester W. Nimitz did not reach out and grab the public the way many of his Army contemporaries did. Biographers spilled comparatively little ink on the Texan until E.B. Potter’s “Nimitz” (1976), which launched the same year as the film “Midway,” starring Henry Fonda as Nimitz. Since then, Nimitz’s profile has grown with the release of the 2019 version of the movie (with fellow Texan Woody Harrelson as Nimitz), and in works like Walter R. Borneman’s excellent “The Admirals” (2012) and Adm. James Stavridis’s overview of naval leadership, “Sailing True North” (2019).
Craig L. Symonds, a U.S. Naval Academy historian, takes a deep dive into Nimitz’s leadership style and personality in “Nimitz at War: Command Leadership From Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay.” Mr. Symonds, whose previous works include “The Battle of Midway” (2011) and “World War II at Sea” (2018), is well-positioned to tackle the big decisions reached by the Eisenhower of the Pacific.
