As chief of the U.S. Army Ground Forces, Lieut. General Lesley James McNair had whipped millions of civilians into the greatest Army in the nation's history. A skeptical, gently dour little professional, "Whitey" McNair had done it without raising his voice, and with rare recourse to his considerable vocabulary of caustic profanity.
One of the youngest of U.S. generals (temporary) in World War I, a devoted student of his vocation in the frustrating days of peace and military parsimony, he had won his permanent brigadier's star by 1937. He had also won recognition as one of the Army's best officers.
George...