Word: gruenther
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...dealt with and not exasperations to be bulldozed out of the way, that troops in the field are useless unless supported by a sound economy at home, that the cold war could be lost by subversion in the factories as well as by defeat at the front. Gruenther not only understands, but often startles ministers by reciting production figures of their own countries that they do not know themselves, amazes politicians by quoting election figures down to the tenth of a percentage point. As a result, he has won an admiration among European statesmen that borders on adulation. Admits...
...present crisis of indifference, Gruenther understands that no alliance is stronger than the will to support it. "We can stand criticism, but we cannot stand indifference," he says. His method is to expound to anyone who will listen-to groups of manufacturers, parliamentarians, schoolgirl choirs-the necessity, importance, and stature of NATO...
...nerve center from which Al Gruenther commands NATO's 4,000-mile front is a low, many-winged building, 40 minutes from the Ritz bar, in the President of France's official hunting preserves. Through its halls hustle 800 professional military men of 15 nations, comprising the unique multilingual command staff called SHAPE (Supreme Allied Headquarters Europe...
...anyone he encounters in the corridor on his way to his office. His working day had begun almost an hour earlier, when his French aide reported to his breakfast table in his nearby official residence to brief him on the day's news in the French press (Gruenther had already whipped through the Paris edition of the Herald Tribune). At his desk, Gruenther hands a secretary six or seven Dictaphone records filled with instructions and answers to letters that he had dictated at home (once she was startled when the stream of instructions was broken by an impatient feminine...
...desk Gruenther moves through the prepared pile of papers with the efficiency of a high-powered threshing machine. He grips each paper tightly, as if it were a living thing that might get away from him. Each one gets a flash of concentration that is complete and immediate. He raps out his decision and flips the paper to a waiting aide without looking up. These chores over, Gruenther browses through six British newspapers (flown over early every morning), and several U.S. and other weeklies...