Nimitz-The Consummate Leader with special guest Admiral James Stavridis-Episode 104 

An aircraft carrier pilot off the Enterprise served under Admiral Kimmel and Admiral Nimitz. He described the difference between the two men. Kimmel gave you his support, but Nimitz made each officer and enlisted man feel like he was part of Nimitz's team and that he transferred a lot of positive energy to his subordinates. Spruance described the first staff meeting with Nimitz as if the windows were opened and fresh air came into the room.

This is a timeless, authentic and candid series. Taking my time, sipping it like a fine wine that it is.

After the war, Nimitz was in Japan playing golf with commander of Commonwealth Occupation forces in Japan, Horace Robertson (nicknamed Red Robbie). Robertson was a member of The Metropolitan Golf Club in Australia and told this story in the 1950’s to a young Brian Twite (new professional who was formerly from Sunningdale). Nimitz was hacking in the scrub around the coastal golf course and Robbie told him he was in charge of the land and Nimitz should stop damaging it. When Robbie hooked a tee shot into the ocean, Nimitz told Robbie he was in charge of the waters around Japan and Robbie should stop hitting balls into it. Australians who know their history, appreciate the role that Nimitz played in our country’s survival.

A's hire A's. B's hire C's.... Great line!

I am a huge Nimitz fan; he was one of the greatest leaders of WW2.

I found your channel just recently in 2024, and being the son of Hellcat pilot on the Enterprise in VF-20 from August to December 1944 and later the Lexington CV-16, it’s so interesting and so much fun to listen to you and guests talk about the Pacific. My father and I would get together in front of the TV every week and watch Victory at Sea when it first came out that was the beginning of us watching WWII documentaries together for almost 70 years.

I figured the small statue Admiral would be eaten up by little man complex. Very refreshing to see how he’s super confident and used his ability for the betterment of our nation. Thank you Admiral.

Fantastic episode - thanks from this viewer to ADM Stavridis. A very sobering discussion , with perfect content and the parallels with our two panellists' 9/11 experiences could not have been more relevant and illustrative. Two very humble gentlemen. Props to Seth for sitting back and allowing the conversation to flow. I wish RU-vid was like this more often.

Any competent review of Nimitz is invaluable especially from such capable and dedicated professionals. I am especially moved at your accounting of your 911 experiences in that context. It means much to me as a citizen of this nation. Thank you

Thoroughly enjoyed listening to Admiral Stavridis.

Bill thank you for your service for helping during 9/11. I live in ny and was a consultant with a 911 provider and saw so much that day

Army vet here...and a great admirer of Adm. Nimitz. I've been a student of the Pacific War since the 1960s and love your podcast. Are there going to be future episodes on Spruance, Fletcher, Mitscher, etc?

An excellent channel, Gentlemen. Well documented and well narrated. A real pleasure to follow and get more properly documented on what (in today’s language) largely boils down to an in-depth study of WWII senior Human Resource Management. The learnings from past leaders such as Chester Nimitz are totally actual, especially when it comes to his soft skills. Grateful greetings from Switzerland.

Great to hear the personal stories of 9-11 at the Pentagon! Thanks for being real educators with your work!!

I loved the 'A's hire A's' standard that was mentioned here.

THis is by far one my favorite podcasts of all time. Love this episode about one of my favorite military heroes.

Nimitz was the right man, at the right time, in the right place.

I happen to know of a signed phorograph of Adm. Nimitz. The one on board USS Missouri at the surrender. Its in a auto repair shop in San Diego of all places!

I honestly believe the biggest morale boost was the fact that Nimitz kept everyone on the staff in place upon taking command in Pearl Harbor! If anyone had been fired I don't believe the Navy would have won the Battle at Midway because Commander Edwin Layton wouldn't have been there to emphasize that the Japanese were coming in June 1942!

A great Admiral talking about our greatest Admiral.

VADM Willis A. Lee…most underrated, and overall most intelligent fleet commander in the US Navy. Regrettably, he died in a backwater command in Casco Bay, ME. Having said that, Fleet Admiral Nimitz was an amazing leader and a great man…

What a thoughtful, sharp Admiral. Wish we had leaders like him in politics it would bring some dignity to the whole thing.

One of the higher IJN admirals was asked what was the most impressive advancement the US NAVY had. He said it was refueling under way at sea. It gave us a bigger advantage than we knew.

That was absolutely wonderful! Love the channel!! Keep it up guys!

I was in the Army Operations Center in the Pentagon on 9/11. It was an event that changed my life forever. I remember the sudden revelation later that morning that everything had changed in an instant and that we were now a nation at war. I also remember getting into my soot covered car in the north parking lot the following morning, having stayed through the night, and looking back at the building. It was still burning and after going home long enough to shower, get two hours of sleep, and put on a fresh uniform, I went right back into the building. I personally lost a number of close friends that day and in the years that followed in Iraq and Afghanistan. My only regret is how we ultimately withdrew in disgrace from Afghanistan. Somewhere along the way the National Command Authority forgot to define what success looked like, which seems like a terrible repeat of the leadership failures of the Vietnam War. On a positive note, I have always admired Admiral Nimitz and I cherish the tailhook certificate that was presented to me after landing on CVN-68 in the Pacific back in 2008.

A year late, but what a great episode.

Lately, I have been looking at WW2 history. My favorite Admiral is Chester Nimitz. For the reasons everyone spoke on. Calm, cool and focused. Great in leadership. No ego here. Thank you to your guest and coverage.

Thank-you

I've been to his Museum in Fredericksburg (TX) and Pacific War Museum, highly recommend

Thanks well done.

Excellent. One minor point, as far as big personalities and Eisenhower having an easier job than Nimitz. Ike would, if he'd had enough, get the message to Patton and Montgomery, sometimes in not-so-subtle ways, that they were getting close to his line. He did not have that luxury with personalities like DeGuelle, Churchill, and other political personages, but he still had to deal with them. For some of this he had a buffer through FDR (and a buffer from FDR through Marshall), but it still occupied a good chunk of his time.

I personally think the carriers should be named after the great Admirals. There should always be an Enterprise, Nimitz, Halsey...etc

Craig Symonds and Trent Hone both wrote outstanding character/leadership studies of Adm Nimitz that should be read by any student of his career.

Nimitz, the greatest US Admiral of all.

Eisenhower and McArthur, of course, parted ways. But Ike was the one who put Mark Clark in his command and also Bradley,

Thanks!

I just discovered your channel a few weeks ago….. I love it! This is coming from an Army Brat who’s Dad and brother both retired as Lt Colonels…. Dad, from WW 2 and Ralph from Vietnam…. But I’ve always had a fascination of history. Growing up in Pittsburgh and Fort Duquesne/ Fort Pitt to Civil War to WW1 and 2 , Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan etc….. so interesting…. But the question always remains for me…. What would I have done or acted like in combat????

Thank you..

You guys are knocking it out of the park! Amazing work.

The city is Waco, TX in 1896, and the Ranger is Captain Bill McDonald

There are a lot of Nimitz signed articles on EBay, I just looked.

Sounds like Nimitz had a touch of Grant about him.

Phenomenal content. 🇬🇧

God Bless Texas

Great video and channel. Have you guys done a video on the Role that Admiral Leahy played during the war?

What Would Nimitz Do

Seeng the clip at the outset with Adm. Nimitz in his khakis evoked nostalgia in me for the years after WWII when I grew up. I miss the passing of the khaki uniform, have a picture of my daughter-in-law in her khakis, which she wore and had her picture taken in on the last day they were regulation. All those leather-skinned admirals in their khakis who led the fight across the Pacific- Spruance, Mitscher, Fletcher, Halsey. All things must pass, I suppose, but I don’t have to like it.

Nimitz's island hopping was great. But when Halsey told Nimitz to bypass Mindinao and take the lightly defended Leyte, that meant Palau could be bypassed according to some. But the Palau invasion was not scrubbed and produced a great number of casualties. Was this really a Nimitz oversight?

love the pod cast and really appreciate the depth of background knowledge you guys bring, however this episode kind of missed the mark for me, Admiral Stavrids dominated the conversation and really did not say anything. Would liked to learned more about Nimitz in the future if the op presents it's self please revisit Nimitz, keep them coming.

Nimitz kept his staff from Kimmel this action cemented his greatness as a leader of men!

America has been blessed with many fine miltary leaders during and after WW2. If you consider that "mutual assured destrction" was only made credible by nuclear powered submarines' ablity to stay hidden, you can appreciate the influence Nimitz had on world peace long after he left the service, even up to today.

👍👍

Captain Toti was his MIRROR UNIVERSE counterpart for the first three episodes, now we have prime universe Captain Toti.

Is it accurate to say island hopping was the naval equivalent of blitzkrieg?

When Margaret Thatcher became British PM the statement about 2nd class choosing 2nd class was made about her by an English Tory.

Stature

What is the name of the book that the admiral is writing?

Nimitz didn't have to deal with MacArthur because the UK gave him everything he needed. The UK projected almost no power at the time of the US entering, they could barely hold on in Africa. They couldn't defend their trade, struggled to control the Mediterranean, and projected 0 naval power in the Pacific. It guaranteed, Roosevelt and the military including Marshall were going to overcompensate the navy, those future ships needed men, a certain percentage were Marines. The US turned Japan into the UK with less than half of what the Navy eventually got a year and a half into the war, Japan had no ability to project power and struggled to maintain trade routes. It was built into the plan to project US power and get supplies and men where they wanted to without the problems and on the edge struggles the UK was facing. MacArthur struggled with Marshall and his plans for the remaining resources after the navy was taken care of.

Why pretend that the torpedo fiasco had no link to Nimitz?

Did he just say... No drama Obama.... What... Is that supposed to mean... I'm so confused

Are you both trying to claim the Admiral lol

Y'all lost me on this one, 15 minutes in and all I've learned is some guy is writing a book

Nimitz was a racist to the nth degree. He was also afraid of confronting MacArthur even when MacArthur’s antics impacted the war strategy in the Central Pacific. Nimitz banned women from serving in Hawaii while he was commanding the Pacific fleet. The man had many faults that his achievements cause us to over look.