9 Quotes & Sayings By Jean Edward Smith

Jean Edward Smith is the author of two acclaimed biographies, The Boys of My Youth and Go West, Young Man: The Life and Times of James J. Hill. He is also the author of three histories, one of which, General Albert Sidney Johnston: A Military Biography, won the Bancroft Prize. He has also published numerous articles in academic journals Read more

A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, he is a former associate editor at the New York Times Book Review and a professor at Columbia Law School.

1
Jealousy knows no logic, nor does it respect reciprocity. Jean Edward Smith
2
Eisenhower on Patton: "Fundamentally, he is so avid for recognition as a great commander that he won't with ruthlessly suppress any habit that will jeopardize it. Jean Edward Smith
3
As proof that HOW we see things matters, Gen. Montgomery took a preprepared text that had been deemed an innocuous complement to his American troops and delivered it in such a way that his condescension prompted more division than unity. Jean Edward Smith
4
Eisenhower and Patton, old friends and figures crucial to the Allies' upcoming success, conferred over yet another gaffe on Patton's part that could have cost him his command. Patton's head is on Ike's shoulder in gratitude, but the scene is rescued from being completely maudlin by Eisenhower's internal question as to whether Patton wears his ever-present helmet to bed. Jean Edward Smith
5
Author says that, while Eisenhower had other intellectual mentors, he learned how to lead men from Gen. Walter Krueger. Krueger was the first American enlisted man to rise to four-star general, and he so identified with those he led that he once invited a sentry out of the rain and gave him his own dry uniform. Jean Edward Smith
6
...if George Washington founded the nation, John Marshall defined it. Jean Edward Smith
7
Patton would have said a warmer goodbye to his horse, The author writes on Eisenhower's cold dismissal of his wartime lover. Jean Edward Smith
8
The loneliness of command had made Eisenhower emotionally self-sufficient. Jean Edward Smith