General Fox Conner: Pershing's Chief of Operations and Eisenhower's Mentor (The Generals Book 3)

Winner of the 2016 Army Historical Society Distinguished Writing Award, this book presents the first complete biography of General Fox Conner, a significant but largely forgotten figure in American military history. During World War I, Conner served as chief of operations for the American Expeditionary Force in Europe under General Pershing, who stated he could have spared any other man in the A.E.F. better than Conner. In the early 1920s, Conner mentored young officer Dwight D. Eisenhower, transforming him from a struggling officer facing court martial into a rising star in the American army. Eisenhower later acknowledged Conner as "the one more or less invisible figure to whom I owe an incalculable debt." The biography traces Conner's life from humble beginnings in rural Mississippi to becoming one of the army's intellectuals. Despite his father being blinded during the Civil War, Conner felt called to military service. During the 1920s, while isolationism dominated the nation, Conner predicted a second world war. In the 1930s, President Roosevelt offered him the position of army chief of staff, which he declined. Poor health prevented his participation in World War II, though officers he influenced—including Eisenhower, Patton, and Marshall—achieved prominence.