James D. Watkins Quotes
In the Navy when you say right full rudder and everyone goes right. It's wonderful. In the private sector [and government] no one pays any attention to you.
James D. Watkins, Admiral, U. S. Navy, Chief of Naval Operations, U. S. Secretary of Energy, Chairman, Presidential AIDS Commission, Interview, PBS Frontline, October 20, 1992
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Lawrence of Arabia
Miles, a hero of the Indian Campaigns (although he led the atrocities at the massacre at Wounded Knee) and then the leading military figure in America was an opponent of the policies of the new young President and had political aspirations of his own for the Presidency. Miles’ opinions were printed in the press. He maintained that he was not speaking as the Commanding General of the Army but personally as a citizen. The President surprised almost all by publicly scolding and reprimanding Miles when he next came to the White House. Five days later Roosevelt made the reprimand official, effectively ending Miles career. The issue of when senior military officers can criticize the administration has been debated ever since. Roosevelt was also a war hero himself, and although the military was shocked by such “savage” treatment of a senior officer, the President had public opinion on his side. Every decade or so there is a military official who does not care for the administration’s policies and expresses himself publicly. President Truman’s firing to General Douglas Macarthur was the most dramatic case, but Truman was well aware of the Miles and TR precedent.
History is replete with instances of military coups. In the final analysis, in every country at all times, there is no force in a society that could cope with a military which decides to act on its own. The Founding Fathers were very conscious of this reality and history, hence the firm civilian control of the military in America.
James David Watkins was a United States Navy admiral and former Chief of Naval Operations who served as the United States Secretary of Energy during the George H. W. Bush administration, also chairing U.S. government commissions on HIV/AIDS and ocean policy. Watkins also served on the boards of various companies and other nongovernmental organizations and as the co-chair of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative.
