Word: shermans
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...raised his hand to be sworn in as Chief of Naval Operations, quiet, brilliant Admiral Forrest P. Sherman (TIME, Nov. 7) could not conquer telltale signs of strain and emotion. His voice was firm as he vowed to defend the country against "all enemies, foreign or domestic . . ." But as the ceremony went on, in Navy Secretary Francis P. Matthews' big, well-furnished office, he seemed almost on the verge of breaking down...
...atmosphere of repressed hostility and resentment hung heavily in the room; it was obvious that many present still regarded his longtime espousal of unification as a kind of treachery. His predecessor, Admiral Louis Denfeld, who stood stolidly at Sherman's side, thrust out his hand, pumped once, said gruffly: "Good luck." After that, 38 impassive admirals-core of the Navy brass and of the stubborn fight for independence-filed past and went through the same, painful formality...
...Sherman made the little speech expected on such occasions, his voice was so low that he could be heard only with difficulty. He was sure, he said, that he would have the help and support of officers who were in the room, and of all in the Navy. There was a dead silence when he concluded. When the ceremony was over, many admirals pointedly went downstairs to applaud Admiral Denfeld on his way out of the building...
...Admiral Sherman was an unusual man -brilliant, modest and, at 53, one of the youngest officers ever proposed as Chief of Naval Operations. His World War II record was impressive. He commanded the aircraft carrier Wasp until she was shot out from beneath him in the Solomons in 1942. During the final years of the war he was Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz' "brain"; he helped plan the great sweep across the Pacific from Tarawa to Okinawa...
None of this meant that Sherman would have an easy-or even successful-career as head of the Navy. Resentments against him ran deep in his own service, deeper perhaps than against any other officer erf the Navy. But if he became the choice of the Commander in Chief, it would be up to the Navy to accept the decision...