Inside the Cold War - Project Gutenberg Consortia Center

THE LEADERS
had endured Rickover’s legendary interviews. He later decided
to take a different route in his career. As CNO, he had a
continuous battle with the “little Admiral.” Rickover challen ged
Zumwalt—almost always indirectly, through his Congressional
contacts—on personnel issues, shipyards, ship-building techniques,
and any other fault he could find. He was particularly
fond of criticizing the US Naval Academy, saying he much
preferred university ROTC graduates over those from Annapolis.
He said academy graduates were “coddled” through their trainin
g and could not handle the academic challenges of the
nuclear Navy.
Norman Polmar and Thomas Allen, in their biography, cite
Admiral Rickover as “The Unaccountable Man.” There is
ample evidence that indeed he was “unaccountable.”
Operating on a near-parallel course, and with the same zeal
and crude unconventionality, General LeMay was also “unaccountable.”
Yet, these two Cold War leaders, who made
enemies quicker and fewer than friends, were the geniuses
who literally forced creation and development of the most
powerful war-fighting forces in the history of the world.
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