W. Averell Harriman Quotes


He is a very handsome man, and a very impressive one, and he is always wrong.


Context

Describing General Maxwell Taylor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:


Citations

W. Averell Harriman, 1891-1986, U. S. Ambassador to Russia and to England, New York Governor (Democrat), U.S. Ambassador-at-Large, U. S. Secretary of Commerce, 1967

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that MacArthur should command the final assault on Japan. The Atomic Bomb later made the final assault unnecessary. Almost every officer who worked with MacArthur—except those on his personal staff—found him an overbearing egomaniac who was militarily capable, but nowhere near as capable as he saw himself. In success he rarely shared the limelight with anyone else, but would rarely take the blame when things were not as successful as all had hoped. Stimson and President Roosevelt had decided that MacArthur should lead the invasion on Japan, and discovered all this hostility amongst MacArthur’s colleagues. It was much easier to place MacArthur in charge of Post War Japan where he would not work that closely with so many senior officers throughout the services. He did a brilliant job governing Japan but still alienated other senior officers. MacArthur was so egotistical that he thought that he could run the country far better than FDR and in 1944 thought of running against the President.


Referring to Admiral Lewis Strauss, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission who was nominated by Eisenhower as Secretary of Commerce and then rejected by the Senate:


This quotation illustrates a scientific principle that is at the heart of several political issues. Specifically the debate over whether creationism should be taught in science classes along with evolution. The major reason that almost all serious scientists (religious and secular both) oppose teaching creationism is that it is not a “falsifiable” set of statements—that is there is no way to prove it or disprove it. There are scientific statements that can be proved or disproved but have not yet been so. To be a scientific statement, it must be falsifiable—logically provable or disprovable. And this is the logic which the Federal Courts have used in ruling that creationism may not be taught in science classes in public schools. This quotation, Pauli is saying that the paper is not falsifiable—it cannot be proved and cannot be refuted. As such it is not scientific and belongs in the realm of philosophy, literature, theology, or other disciplines, but not science. An example of non-falsifiable statements are: “Blue is the most attractive color.”; “Freedom is essential to capitalism”; “Monarchy is more efficient than theocracy”.


The President told McNamara that if the administration does not send the troops the Generals want, they will be blamed for any military failures that occur. If they do send all the troops that the Joint Chiefs wanted, they would be going far beyond the limits that the Defense Secretary recommended and the President would have preferred. JBJ felt he really had no political choice. He authorized the wanted troops further escalating the war. See his special assistant’s question about that decision in {617151}.


While running for office he was trying to win the support of Republcian Conservatives who were very unhappyt with their percieved lack of progress in fighting ISIS. However, this was insulting to many military people--especiually since ISIS was being deprived of they sources of funding and oil trade, their leaders were being killed at a rapid rate, and they were losign most of their territory. After he won the Presidency, on the very night of his inaguration he then flip flopped and paraised the general leadship of the military. While most politicans had a certain degree of hypocricy, Trump could make totally contrdictory statements without any embarassment. See Quote 644331..


Cunningham was part of an American Diplomatic Delegation negotiating with the Vietnamese. He had been an Naval Ace Fighter Pilot during the Vietnam War. He was notorious for his lack of tact.


W. Averell Harriman
W. Averell Harriman
  • Born: November 15, 1891
  • Died: July 26, 1986
  • Nationality: American
  • Profession: Politician

William Averell Harriman, better known as Averell Harriman, was an American Democratic politician, businessman, and diplomat. The son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman, he served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman, and later as the 48th Governor of New York. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1952 and 1956, as well as a core member of the group of foreign policy elders known as "The Wise Men".