American Valor Quarterly Issue 3 - Summer 2008 | Page 17

Principled Leadership
The Inaugural Andrew J. Goodpaster Prize and Lecture
General Andrew J. Goodpaster is one of the U.S. Military’s
towering figures of the 20th century. A recipient of the
Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star for valor during World
War II, he would go on to serve as staff secretary for President
Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, and
Superintendent of West Point. He was universally admired for
his intellect, devotion to duty, fairness, and sense of decency.
Despite his battlefield heroics and rise through the ranks, General
Goodpaster was at heart a scholar. Having earned graduate degrees
in Engineering and International Affairs from
Princeton, Goodpaster was most proud of his
scholarly achievements, and was often regarded
as the epitome of the “soldier-scholar.”

I read once that a biographer should show rather than tell. I have
always liked show and tell. In these remarks I will try to mostly
show. In these examples of principled leadership you will find
qualities I am sure you expect—integrity, courage (both physical
and moral), decency, selflessness and reliability among them. But
there are other attributes, perhaps less often thought of in
connection with warriors, that are also part of the story. These
include compassion, kindness, consideration and sensitivity.
Goodpaster
First, then, to Andrew J. Goodpaster, whose
lifetime of dedication and service has inspired
this memorial. He got off to a good start,
graduating second in his 456-man West Point
Class of 1939, which was itself one of West
Point’s most distinguished, rising quickly as
young officers during World War II and
thereafter serving at very significant levels for
many years.

From its founding, General Goodpaster was a
strong supporter of the World War II Veterans
Committee and the American Veterans Center
until his passing in 2005. His advice in those early
years helped ensure that the Center would not
merely survive, but thrive, and we owe him a
debt that can never be repaid. To honor his
General Goodpaster’s intellect made him a
legacy, the Center inaugurated the Andrew J.
natural for the Corps of Engineers, in which
General Andrew J. Goodpaster as
Goodpaster Prize and Lecture in 2007, honoring
he was commissioned upon graduation, and in
achievements of other “soldier-scholars.” Made Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. it he proved as brave as he was brainy, earning
possible by the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, this prize the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, and two Purple
and lecture is our way of spotlighting the finest in military Hearts while leading a combat engineer battalion through desperate
scholarship and honoring one of our military’s most noble soldiers, fighting in Italy.
helping to ensure that his legacy will live on.
After the war he earned a Ph.D. at Princeton. His “utilization”
The inaugural Goodpaster Prize was presented to Dr. Lewis tour for that schooling was four years at SHAPE (Supreme
Sorley. A 1956 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, his service Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe). A well-known journalist,
included leadership of tank and armored cavalry units in Germany with perhaps only a little hyperbole, observed that as a colonel
and Vietnam. He retired a lt. colonel and has gone on to write Goodpaster was given a blank sheet of paper and told to create
several books, including Honorable Warrior: General Harold K. Johnson NATO. Colonel Goodpaster did in fact personally draft General
and the Ethics of Command, Thunderbolt: General Creighton Abrams and Order Number 1 by which the newly activated SHAPE assumed
the Army of His Times, and the Pulitzer Prize-nominated A Better operational control of allied forces dedicated to defense of
War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America’s Last Western Europe. He also became a close associate of and a trusted
Years in Vietnam. His recent work Honor Bright: History and Origins aide to Dwight Eisenhower, subsequently serving him as staff
of the West Point Honor Code and System was released in July 2008. secretary throughout the Eisenhower presidency. General
Goodpaster’s long tenure in that key position stemmed from the
The American Veterans Center congratulates Dr. Sorley on his universal perception that he was an honest broker, a man to be
outstanding work, and is proud to print his remarks, delivered trusted, one who was invariably fair and discreet and who had
on December 11, 2007 in Washington, DC.
the total confidence of the President.
I am grateful for this opportunity to talk with you about a topic
of great contemporary relevance. That topic is principled
leadership. I will begin with General Andrew J. Good