The Failure Pledge

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Dwight D. Eisenhower

General Dwight D. Eisenhower in uniform, 1945.
1945. Four years earlier he was a lieutenant colonel.

What failed

His football career ended in 1912, when a knee injured in a tackle against Tufts gave way in riding class the same week; the damage put his commission at risk and nearly made him quit the academy. He graduated in the middle of his class, trained tank crews through the whole First World War without crossing the Atlantic, was demoted two ranks at demobilisation, and was warned that publishing his views on armoured warfare again would put him before a court-martial.

What happened next

He was still a lieutenant colonel in early 1941. Nine months later he was a brigadier general; by 1944 he commanded the invasion of Europe.

The point

Sixteen years is long enough to conclude the thing has not worked. What was happening in those years was not visible as progress and did not show up in his rank.

The sequence

6 documented failures, shown with the successes in between. Every entry carries its own source — the wins are part of the record, and leaving them out is how these stories get distorted.

  1. 1912

    A knee injured in a tackle against Tufts gives way in riding class the same week, ending his football career. He nearly leaves the academy.

    failureEisenhower's Time at West Point (Eisenhower Foundation)

  2. 1915

    Graduates in the middle of his class, his instructors unimpressed.

    failureDwight D. Eisenhower: Life Before the Presidency (Miller Center)

  3. 1918

    Trains tank crews for the whole war without ever being sent to France.

    failureIke and the Tank (LTC Thomas D. Morgan)

  4. 1920

    Told his armoured-warfare doctrine is wrong and dangerous, and threatened with court-martial.

    failureDwight D. Eisenhower: Life Before the Presidency (Miller Center)

  5. 1920-1936

    Sixteen consecutive years at the rank of major.

    failureChronology (Eisenhower Presidential Library)

  6. 1933-1939

    Seven years as another man's staff officer, ending in the Philippines.

    failureDwight D. Eisenhower: Life Before the Presidency (Miller Center)

  7. 1944

    Supreme Commander for the invasion of Europe.

    successDwight D. Eisenhower: Life Before the Presidency (Miller Center)

Sources

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Others in military, and nearby.

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