Driven Patriot: The Life And Times Of James Forrestal [Audio Cassette]

T. And Brinkley, D. Hoopes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1993

Part One Of Two Parts

DRIVEN PATRIOT recounts the life of one of 20th-century America's great--though ultimately tragic--public figures. A man who mastered both Wall Street and Washington, James Forrestal was a brilliant financier and military organizer who served as our first Secretary of Defense.

The authors illustrate Forrestal's crucial role in American efforts to complete the Allied victory in WW II and contain the Soviet challenge. They also describe his descent into paranoia and self-destruction. In the end, dismissed by President Truman, he defenestrated himself at Bethesda Naval Hospital.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This first-rate biography examines the public career and dark private life of Forrestal, President Truman's Secretary of Defense. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The title accurately describes the controversial life of the nation's first secretary of defense. Former Forrestal aide Hoopes and Hofstra University historian Brinkley give a thorough account of Forrestal's Irish upbringing, Ivy League education, and successful business career. They delve into his involvement with government: as a special assistant in 1940 to President Roosevelt; as a crucial force in rebuilding the obsolescent U.S. Navy on the eve of World War II; as the architect of the national security state. Later years brought squabbles with the professional military, disputes with President Truman, and, finally, his tragic suicide in 1949. Using an impressive array of primary sources, including some previously restricted Forrestal papers and numerous oral interviews, along with current monographs, articles, and dissertations, the authors capture the essence of the man and his times. Well written, objective, and thorough, this volume supersedes Arnold Rognow's dated, out-of-print psychobiography Forrestal: A Study of Personality, Politics, and Policy (1963). It should serve as the standard biography for years.
- Charles C. Hay III, Eastern Kentucky Univ. Archives, Richmond
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Books on Tape, Inc. (September 1, 1993)
• ISBN-10: 0736625208
• ISBN-13: 978-0736625203
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 2.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,486,195 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent biography except for chapter on Forrestal's death., July 30, 2005

By 

DC Dave "Author of the online study, "Who... (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Driven Patriot: The Life and Times of James Forrestal (Bluejacket Paperbacks) (Paperback)

I was impressed with this book's scholarship, but after looking into the sources for the chapter on Forrestal's death, I have had some second thoughts. James Forrestal fell from a window of the 16th floor of the Bethesda Naval Hospital in the wee hours of the morning of May 22, 1949. The authors relate numerous details of the Forrestal's actions prior to his going out the window, but none of them are sourced directly to any of the witnesses, the various medical personnel who were on duty that night. Rather, the strongest assertions that support the popular theory of suicide, which they endorse, turn out to be from sources that I was unable to trace, even using the services of the Library of Congress in person.

The best source to start with would have been the official investigation, the work of a review board convened by the head of the National Naval Medical Center, Admiral Morton Willcutts, which took the testimony of most of the witnesses (with a few notable exceptions). Hoopes and Brinkley unforgivably neglect to tell the readers that at the time of their writing that testimony was still being kept secret. They also fail to tell us that the conclusions of the review board were released in brief summary form almost 6 months after the conclusion of the board's work, and that summary concluded only that Forrestal had died from injuries suffered from the fall. It did not conclude what caused the fall, that is, it did not conclude that it was a suicide, and it made no mention of the cord that was tied tightly around Forrestal's neck.

On my third try, I obtained the report, including all testimony and most of the exhibits, using the Freedom of Information Act. It contradicts almost everything that Hoopes and Brinkley have to say about Forrestal's actions prior to his death. (...)