Terrific piece. For similar musings about the ethos at West Point and the Civil War history of the institution, see the excellent book, "Robert E. Lee and Me" (2021), by Ty Seidule, longtime head of the History Department at West Point.
Great article, Chris. I think Thayer Academy in Braintree was another of his creations. West Point sounds amazing. I do wish they'd produced a few more generals who realized Vietnam was a lost cause (at best) and were able to convince LBJ of that. I wonder what Thayer would have made of that war. Since this forum is for "What's Gone Right", I'll leave it at that and hope that your U.S. Public Service Academy is built and you become the next Thayer.
Yeah, it is hard to find much that went right with our misadventure in Vietnam. LBJ made great strides on many domestic policies, but he simply could not see the futility in Vietnam.
Not much hope for the Public Service Academy at this point, alas.
Sylvanus Thayer - I had never heard of him, but I'm grateful he made West Point into a model military academy. Thanks for the profile. It's nice to learn the history associated with our military leaders
Terrific piece. For similar musings about the ethos at West Point and the Civil War history of the institution, see the excellent book, "Robert E. Lee and Me" (2021), by Ty Seidule, longtime head of the History Department at West Point.
Great article, Chris. I think Thayer Academy in Braintree was another of his creations. West Point sounds amazing. I do wish they'd produced a few more generals who realized Vietnam was a lost cause (at best) and were able to convince LBJ of that. I wonder what Thayer would have made of that war. Since this forum is for "What's Gone Right", I'll leave it at that and hope that your U.S. Public Service Academy is built and you become the next Thayer.
Yeah, it is hard to find much that went right with our misadventure in Vietnam. LBJ made great strides on many domestic policies, but he simply could not see the futility in Vietnam.
Not much hope for the Public Service Academy at this point, alas.
Sylvanus Thayer - I had never heard of him, but I'm grateful he made West Point into a model military academy. Thanks for the profile. It's nice to learn the history associated with our military leaders