End Athletic Admissions to Military Academies — Minding The Campus

End Athletic Admissions to Military Academies — Minding The Campus: Secretary Peter Hegseth’s first order to the Department of Defense promised “a focus on lethality, meritocracy, accountability, standards, and readiness.” To the extent that the Service Academies—West Point, Annapolis, the Air Force Academy, the Coast Guard Academy, and the Merchant Marine Academy—take this directive seriously, they should end athletic admissions. Such a move would change […]

In Memoriam. Jimmy Carter.

James "Jimmy" Carter died on December 29. He was, of course, the 39th President of the United States.

I'm late to noting his passing and therefore everyone has already read tributes to him.  Even Donald Trump, to my surprise, lauded him and indicated he'd attend his funeral. Carter did, it might be noted, feel that the early criticism of Trump was unfair.  I don't know what he thought about Trump later.

I've listed to a lot of the audio obits and read a few, and what I'll note is that, as so often, they approach being hagiography and tend to omit somethings that should be of real interest.

I'll start with the biggest.  Carter was a failure as a President.  Coming into office with an American public sick of inflation (sound familiar?) and disgusted with the Republicans due to Watergate (sound unfamiliar?), and also fatigued by the Vietnam War, he really didn't accomplish much.  He proved incapable of tackling inflation, which would fall to Reagan, and the US military, probably not surprisingly, lapsed into a weakened state, which Reagan also would address.  

While he was not a success as a President, he was one in life, however.

Carter, it was often noted, was from a peanut farm in Georgia.  What's oddly less often mentioned is that he was a Naval Academy graduate and a submariner.  To enter the submarine service you must be an engineer and a genius.  He was both.  He may be the smartest man to occupy the office since the Second World War. 

He was certainly the most moral.

He was a dedicated Baptist Christian, which nobody could rationally doubt.  The degree of his devotion was such that its almost surprising that he was elected, particularly as he gave an interview to Playboy during the height of its influence, noting how deeply Christian he was.  After he lost his bid for reelection, he devoted his remaining long life to public service, often to the poor.

Like the law, politics is an occupation that frequently initiates people into compromising their morals and attracts a certain percentage of people who are willing to do so.  And power, as is so often noted, corrupts.  Carter was unique in that he was a deeply moral man and the office did not change him.

Thursday, March 23, 1922. The loss of the H2, the nomination of Holley

Babe Ruth, March 23, 1922.

The HMS H42, a British submarine, was lost near Gibraltar when she surfaced in the path of a destroyer by accident during torpedo run drills.  In spite of its best efforts, the destroyer sliced her in half, and she went down with all hands.

Emile Treville Holley was nominated to the United States Naval Academy, making him the first black nominee to the academy since 1871.  He did not attend, however, as it became clear the all white student body would not accept him, something that would repeat the experience of nominees from 1873 through 1875.

Holley went on to enroll at Middlebury College in Vermont and went on to become a college professor.

WEY went on the air in Wichita, making it the first station in Kansas to do so.

June 2, 1921. Riding the tiger.

The United States Naval Academy's Class of 1921 graduated on this day.  Dignitaries included President Harding and Gen. Lejeune.

The class was the last of the Great War accelerated classes to graduate and, given the date of its graduation, those who remained in the service were right at the twenty year mark, when military retirement was first changed to allow for retirement at that age in an effort to encourage the retirement of older officers as the US built up its military for World War Two.  Not surprisingly, therefore, this class saw a significant number of combat losses due to World War Two, although it also saw a surprisingly large number of losses due to interwar accidents as well.  

The disastrous violence in Tulsa hit the news everywhere on this day in 21.  

The IRA emerged victorious from one of the numerous raids that were a feature of the Anglo Irish War, a guerilla campaign that saw more raiding than Customshouse burnings.  In this instance, the Royal Irish Constabulary suffered 8 killed and 16 surrendered.

On the same day J. C. Leyendecker's Life magazine illustration featured a comely lady wearing what we'd call a bikini top, sitting on tigers.  Ostensibly an animal trainer, the riding the tiger and salaciously depicted female figure seems now like a sign of the oncoming, and long range, times.

The United States Naval Academy Class of 1917 Graduates.

And two months early.

The looming war caused the Naval Academy to graduate its class of 1917 on this date, in anticipation of the increased need for Naval officers.