The Second Most Powerful Man in the World

The Life of Admiral William D. Leahy, Roosevelt's Chief of Staff

By: Phillips Payson O'Brien

Narrated by: Christopher Grove

Length: 19 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's Summary

The life of Franklin Roosevelt's most trusted and powerful advisor, Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief

“Fascinating...greatly enriches our understanding of Washington wartime power.” (Madeleine Albright)

Aside from FDR, no American did more to shape World War II than Admiral William D. Leahy - not Douglas MacArthur, not Dwight Eisenhower, and not even the legendary George Marshall. No man, including Harry Hopkins, was closer to Roosevelt, nor had earned his blind faith, like Leahy. Through the course of the war, constantly at the president's side and advising him on daily decisions, Leahy became the second most powerful man in the world. 

In a time of titanic personalities, Leahy regularly downplayed his influence, preferring the substance of power to the style. A stern-faced, salty sailor, his US Navy career had begun as a cadet aboard a sailing ship. Four decades later, Admiral Leahy was a trusted friend and advisor to the president and his ambassador to Vichy France until the attack on Pearl Harbor. Needing one person who could help him grapple with the enormous strategic consequences of the war both at home and abroad, Roosevelt made Leahy the first presidential chief of staff - though Leahy's role embodied far more power than the position of today. 

Leahy's profound power was recognized by figures like Stalin and Churchill, yet historians have largely overlooked his role. In this important biography, historian Phillips Payson O'Brien illuminates the admiral's influence on the most crucial and transformative decisions of WWII and the early Cold War. From the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, and France, to the allocation of resources to fight Japan, O'Brien contends that America's war largely unfolded according to Leahy's vision. Among the author's surprising revelations is that while FDR's health failed, Leahy became almost a de facto president, making decisions while FDR was too ill to work, and that much of his influence carried over to Truman's White House. 

“An excellent biography of perhaps the most notable navy officer in American history, and one of the most important, if neglected, figures in World War II history.” (Library Journal)

©2019 Phillips Payson O'Brien (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

“Compelling.” (Foreign Affairs) 

“[A] first-rate biography.... O’Brien recounts [Leahy’s] astounding career in fascinating detail.” (The Christian Science Monitor) 

“Whether it's the conferences at Tehran, Yalta, or Potsdam, Admiral Leahy stands out in the iconic photographs, in full uniform, just behind the Big Three. Why, though, was he there, and in so many other places that shaped the conduct of World War II and the early Cold War? As if more impressed by the uniform than by the man, historians until now have struggled to say. Phillips Payson O'Brien's biography at last gives Leahy his due, and in doing so shifts our understanding of the other great figures of that era. We're all going to have some serious rethinking to do.” (John Lewis Gaddis, professor of military and naval history at Yale University and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of George F. Kennan: An American Life) 

Great bio.

I go through a lot of books. This is the first review that I've said hey you should maybe spend the money on, very impressed.

A Fascinating Biography

Admiral William D. Leahy (1875-1959) was a friend of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945). They met in 1913 when FDR was Assistant Secretary of the Navy. They remained friends over the years and in 1937 Leahy became Chief of Naval Operations. During World War II FDR appointed Leahy as his Chief of Staff.

The book is well written and researched. This book was published in May of 2019. I noted that O’Brien disagrees with the majority of historians over who was America’s most influential military man. Most historians list General George C. Marshall (1880-1959); whereas, O’Brien lists Admiral Leahy. He uses this book to state his reasons. His main reason was Leahy’s daily influence of FDR. Which is not the criteria most historian used. When Truman became president in 1945, he retained Leahy. Leahy found he did not have as much influence over Truman as he did a sick FDR. Truman listened to Leahy and his other advisors and made up his own mind. Leahy retired in 1949. I found this to be an interesting biography of FDR’s closest advisor. This is a hagiographic biography. I think this will be a controversial biography because of the treatment by the author of the other key leaders such as Generals Marshall and Eisenhower. According to O’Brien Leahy ran the entire war himself. The position FDR created for Leahy was divided into two positions, that of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (military) and that of National Security Advisor. This biography would make a good resource for teachers in teaching the risk of giving one man in our democracy too much power. We were very lucky that Admiral Leahy was a man of extremely high standards and ethics.

Phillips Payson O’Brien is a professor of Strategic Studies at the University of St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland. He was a Cambridge University Mellon Research Fellow in American History.

The book is nineteen hours and fifty-eight minutes. Christopher Grove does a good job narrating the book. Grove is an award-winning actor and audiobook narrator.

Good but often an annoying book

Sadly, Leahy is a largely forgotten leader of great importance. I appreciated the author's desire to evaluate his status and inform the public about him. However, I often fault he did so at the expense of other leaders, uses to much subjective analysis, and often fails to present both sides of issues. For example, the author makes part of his mission to knock General Marshall down several pegs. I won't explain the details but it was rather unnecessary and was very one sided.

Towards the end of the book, the author gives the impression that only Leahy had any clue how to deal with the events that transpired during the Truman administration and everyone ignored him. Yet he fails to explain why Leahy was smarter than everyone else and what would have happened if they did listen to him. For example, he implies we should have listened to Leahy on supporting China and ignored Greece and Turkey. The author fails to discuss how Marshall and Truman didn't want to get involved in a civil war in the largest country the world and that Greece and Turkey were more important because they were locating on shipping lines in the Mediterranean.

Lastly, my biographies aren't afraid to discuss mistakes of the leader. Apparently the author thinks Leahy made none. Most books aren't afraid to explore both sides of the person. For example, he fails to explain why such a brilliant man as Leahy supported Roosevelt's reelection in 1944, despite Roosevelt being nearly dead and nonfunctional as the president in 1944. He doesn't discuss how it impacted Yalta but tries to imply Yalta wasn't a disaster. He states That the Soviets give plenty of concessions at Yalta. Really? Did they give up one inch of ground? Did Leahy support Roosevelt because he didn't want to give up his own power? What would have happened if a strong president won in 1944.

Overall I can say it was interesting but the items above made it a hard read at times and I would have loved to read a more balanced book.

Another Terrible British Attempt at History

Words cannot begin to describe my disappointment in this book. Although the author was born in America, he’s definitely British and he writes American History like it! He impugns the legacy and reputation of Gen. George C. Marshall throughout the book. YOU DON’T RAISE ONE PERSONS REPUTATION BY LOWERING ANOTHERS! This book was awful. Reading public, PASS ON THIS BORING BRITISH TALE!

Splendid history of a forgotten Great Man

While Leahy's contribution to America's war effort during WWII was completely dependent upon FDR's trust in him, Leahy earned that trust many times over. His modesty -- he avoided fame and pushed credit onto other people -- this book restores him to his place. Also, he was wiser than anybody else in his belief that no invasion of Japan was necessary, and the A-bomb should never be used. That Truman, on advice of everyone else, ignored him does not change the fact that Leahy stood alone and steadfast against the tide. And his many accomplishments should be remembered. The narration is superb; Grove knows his business. And Phillips Payson O'Brien is an author to remember.

Very Good with Two Exceptions

This book contains a lot of very good history and detail from before and after WWII and into the Cold War. I learned a great deal. The author seems to write with two obvious negatives in my opinion:

1) O'Brien writes as though he has a chip on his shoulder regarding how Admiral Leahy has been snubbed in American history by comparison to other "lesser" leaders, most notably General George Marshall. His writing is obviously written in a defensive tone. Though O'Brien usually includes Marshall among other military leaders when stating their collective inferiority to Leahy, it is obvious that his target is George Marshall. He attempts to appear even-handed by occasionally dropping a minor compliment of the general while at the same time stating his "power" was not close to that of Leahy.

2) In my opinion, O'Brien builds his evidence to support the title thesis, "Second Most Powerful Man in the World" by constantly (and obnoxiously) indicating that Leahy was physically and constantly at FDR's side in the absence of other key American leaders as if a close personal friendship always translates to direct influence. It feels obnoxious as the author is constantly minimizing the influence of other leaders in FDR's circle.

O'Brien spends a great deal of time stressing how Admiral Leahy thought that military leaders should always be subordinate to civilian leaders while Leahy constantly positioned himself as the senior military leader to direct and control civilian cabinet leaders, always conveying to them that he was simply executing the desires of the civilian executive. To be fair, Leahy was loyal to the commander in chief, but there is no question that Leahy sought power (not just influence) at every turn and that he manipulated people and circumstances to maintain power. Admiral Leahy clearly thought his judgment was always superior to those around him including that of the commander in chief.

Contrast to General Marshall who was also loyal and patriotic, Admiral Leahy was driven for more power. General Marshall was offered command of Operation Overlord which he conceived and planned, but deferred to FDR's decision for choice of commander when FDR offered it to Marshall after Marshall recommended Eisenhower. Marshall is the person that promoted Eisenhower in his career. Marshall wanted the command of Overlord and accepted FDR's decision to go with Eisenhower and to keep Marshall as a close advisor.

O'Brien makes a few feeble attempts to portray Admiral Leahy as a humble servant while it is obvious that others that have written about the man think otherwise. The final view of the humility of both Leahy and Marshall is seen in their funerals. Leahy received a grand funeral like that of a head of state that included a cason with horses and a 19-gun salute -- hundreds, maybe thousands attended. General Marshall asked his wife for, "a private's funeral" with no noise or music, etc.... He asked to keep it simple. Three people attended his funeral. Marshall's humility was real.

O'Brien does not attempt to hide his defensiveness for Leahy at the end (showing his ultimate target to be George Marshall) by listing all of the foundations, library, awards, etc. received over the decades to honor Marshall with almost nothing to remember Leahy by except a minor warship and some other token mentions.

I loved the detail and the facts presented in the book, though it was difficult at times to separate fact from bias. Overall, I enjoyed what I learned of this important part of history and important leaders like Admiral Leahy.

Very disappointing

apparently the author decided the best way to pump up ADM Leahy was to disparage GEN Marshall - one of the greatest Americans

Little known architect of US policy

I’ve read a great deal about WW2 and Admiral Leahy is often mentioned in passing, but until I listened to this book I had no idea of his significance, particularly to FDR. The author credits him with considerable influence over policy during the war. Truman also valued his advice and for a few years he continued as chief of staff. This is well worth listening to. I did grow tired of the frequent mention of FDR’s mistresses”.

Learned a lot!

As a Navy man for 30 years, did not know all of this about Admiral Leahy. What a remarkable career!

Very well written

This is a very well written book. Very organized and methodical. Truly takes the time to explain the significance of this great man.