On the desk of the Secretary of Defense in Washington, one morning last fortnight, a bulky sealed packet plopped down. It was from General Eisenhower's headquarters in France. Inside were three letters: one addressed to the President of the U.S., one to the chairman of the NATO military standing committee in Washington and one to Defense Secretary Robert Lovett. Lovett delivered the other two with top-secret precautions, then sliced open his own.
"Dear Mr. Secretary," wrote Eisenhower, "I request that you initiate appropriate action to secure my release from assignment as Supreme...