RICKOVER, VICE ADMIRAL HYMAN.   Term Paper ID:19472 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Career of Navy leader, innovations, controversies, accomplishments, retirement. Paper Introduction: The purpose of this research is to examine the career of Vice Admiral Hyman Rickover. The plan of the research will be to set forth in general terms the background and circumstances under which Rickover moved through the ranks of the U.S. Navy to a major command, and then to discuss in detail whether he should have been retained on active duty in 1982, when he was obliged to retire, or should have been retired some 30 years earlier. There is a view that no public employee, whether civilian or military, and of whatever rank and reputation, should be allowed to persist in a government job that carries high authority. Indeed, the very fact that some few wellknown public employees have for various reasons found ways to achieve what appears to be a lifetime tenure has been enough to excite curiosity, if not some kind of adversarial investigation. Alter, for example Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Undoubtedly, the career of Hyman Rickover was that of a man who had amajor impact on the development of the modern American Navy and who soughtto have a similar impact on the development of certain critical aspects ofthe American culture as a whole. Proceedings, U.S.Naval Institute, 115, pp. (1982). (198 ). Blair, C. Single-mindedness of purpose inevitably led to conflict with other publicofficials who had ideas different from his, and the conflict ratherfrequently became an issue of public policy itself. Naval Institute Proceedings, 96, pp. Etzold, T.H. His view of appropriate education was highly conservative,traditional, something that should be shed of extracurricular activities infavor of an intensive academic and scientific curriculum. The successful launch of the Nautilusvery much transformed the navy, for it made available to submarines muchtactical and strategic flexibility that they previously had not had(Naymark, 197 ). His work on naval nuclear power and his high standards for the profession have helped sustain deterrence under conditions of Western numerical inferiority in important categories of weapons (Etzold, 1986, p. Indeed it is difficult to find another twentieth-century American who has striven so hard in so many areas of military and civil endeavor. This was so for a variety of reasons. Navy into nuclear propulsion--a "revolution" in naval matters--and virtually took it upon himself to thrust the nation into civilian nuclear power. On the whole, Alter deals with what might be calledemployment strategy; however, his discussion appeared in print at about thetime the question of Rickover's retirement was being debated. The style Rickover demonstrated with respect to the issues ofeducation was very much the style that he used as a naval officer. Questions about Rickover's record, however, and about the question ofwhether retirement should have been pushed through, surfaced after he hadleft his position. Three years after retiring,Rickover received a formal censure from Lehman "for taking $67, worth ofgifts from General Dynamics Corp., whose Electric Boat Division built mostof the nuclear submarines that Rickover for years treated as his own." Inmaking the censure, Lehman noted that Rickover had, "at the behest ofCongress, remained on active duty for a quarter of a century after he wasfirst passed over for promotion to admiral" (Abramson, 1985, p. (199 , February). Alter, J. By1967, Rickover had become an important player in the so-called military-industrial complex. Edgar Hoover, and FrankCarlucci appear to have had the ability to function in a series of high-responsibility public-policy jobs, irrespective of administration politicsand indeed of administrations. Admiral Rickover and the cult of personality.Air University Review, 34, pp. 1 -18. 1 -11). 2 5). In the words of oneobituary, "His attitude occasioned much irritation" (Etzold, 1986, p. . Theimplication is that Rickover had successfully avoided forced retirementbecause he had connections in Congress. (1983). .From what we have read about Captain Rickover, the Navy could use a lotmore Rear Admirals of his stripe" (Blair, 1954, pp. . Atomic Submarine fueled this perception in its positivefocus on Rickover: "Captain Rickover's methods frequently are not the'usual Navy way.' But when they get results, what's the difference? Depending on the employee's politics, as wellas on the politics of those who do the hiring and firing, in other words,the long tenure will be viewed as of enormous experiential significance andvalue or as a long overdue for a change. to make him the Navy'sexpert on nuclear power, and to produce a nuclear-powered ship within aschedule that was already taking shape in his mind" (Polmar and Allen 1982,p. 129). Indeed, according to Lehman, by the time he undertook tosee that Rickover would indeed retire, it was the navy, which had beenantagonistic to Rickover in the 195 s, that was in the early 198 sadvocating his continued employment as head of the navy's nuclear programs.Lehman had gotten the support of Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, aswell as of senators and representatives (Henry Jackson had died). . Rickover, H.G. Running critical: The silent war, Rickover, andGeneral Dynamics. The process of retirement forRickover appears to have been long and complex. Hemond, H.C. To be sure, technological advances arebound to overtake pioneering technology. "Amazin' Jimmy and a mighty fortress was ourTeddy": Theodore Roosevelt and Jimmy Carter, the religious link.Presidential Studies Quarterly, 9 pp. His special role in bringing the Polaris submarine program quickly to fruition is so well known that it needs no additional explanation. From a technical andpersonal point of view, retirement appears to have come just in time forhim. References Abramson, R. One wonders, given the programmatic way inwhich Rickover during his life remained committed to fixed ideas about theshoulds and oughts of everything from nuclear-powered technology andsystems to his personal stake in his career, whether Rickover would haveacknowledged or resisted the fact that rapid-track, higher-than-high-techinnovations were bound to be a permanent feature of the American militaryenvironment. NavalInstitute, 115, pp. He urged American schools to embrace an educationalsystem of discipline that was then to be found, as he believed, in theEnglish public (i.e., private) school system and in the Soviet educationalmodel. The issue of personal responsibility for the expenditureof public money is one to which we shall return, for it is arguable thatthat particular discretion, in Rickover's case, was both the source of hisgreat success and the source of a career-end (and reputation-end)embarrassment from which he never recovered. But the experience appears to have hardened Rickover's professionalambition, and Senator Henry Jackson intervened with the navy on Rickover'sbehalf (Tyler, 1986; Blair, 1954). 56-63. American education, a national failure NewYork: Dutton. Proceedings, U.S. Alter, forexample (1982), cites the fact that Rickover, J. In this connection, Abramson (1986) cites naval operationschief Admiral Elmo Zumwalt's comment that by the time he had retired,"Rickover had become a major obstacle to the modernization of the fleet." Apattern of confrontation characterized Rickover before, during, and afterhis retirement, and something like personal and professional peace seems tohave been available only by means of the alliances that he apparently hadformed with members of Congress. Metro, p. Even in the enactment of the wished-for retirement, therefore, Rickover was setting the agenda and obligingothers in government to follow it. (1963). Although he hadbeen fairly aggressive in seeking out the Nautilus and other atomic-energyprojects, he considered himself on a career track that was likely to takehim to the position of admiral in a fairly traditional military way. Lehman Jr. Holt. 254-5). Largely on the strength of thatepisode, and not because he was a trained educator, he was characterized asan educational expert. It is in this background of style and achievement that one mayunderstand that in 1958 and again in 1963, Rickover wrote about the problemof American schools. Rickover's professional reputation, abrasive and contentious as itwas, was made in the Navy, specifically the highly technical nuclear Navy,from where he could see the gap between the skills levels of the sailorsand other workers he supervised and the technical knowledge and skillsrequired to run a highly technical military force of any kind. Without Rickover, neither naval nor civilian nuclear power would be technically as sound or as safe as it is today. Hisaggressive advocacy was an element of his personal style that did notalways sit well with colleagues and rivals in the military or federalbureaucracy. (1989). Rickover's role in developing systems for procurementand implementation of the nuclear-powered navy has been cited, as has hisposition in the military-industrial complex. Los Angeles Times. The purpose of this research is to examine the career of Vice AdmiralHyman Rickover. New York: Harper & Row.----------------------- 15 (1986). From the Johnson administration onward, navysecretaries repeatedly tried to force Rickover into retirement (Tyler,1986), always without success. Lewis (198 ) advances an entire theory thatmeaningful political power can be achieved in the bureaucracy byadventurous risk-takers such as Rickover or Hoover, whose careers define analmost entrepreneurial approach to public service. Plainly, results-oriented achievement was a critical component ofRickover's career. AmericanHeritage, 32 pp. By 1957, Rickover had achieved the dream of building "the world'sfirst full-scale atomic electric plant devoted exclusively to peacetimeuses" in Pennsylvania, by means of a coalition of government and theprivate sector that very much describes the so-called military-industrialcomplex (Rhodes, 1981). This statement is nothing if not a statement about a person who holdsmeaningful power. (1982, January). The extent to which the naval-reactor program has led the way for non-military exploitation of nuclear power remains too little appreciated. American nuclear submarines are equipped with what is called aPressurized Water Reactor System (PRWS), the specifications of which hadRickover's approval for the development of the Nautilus. And, especially, one who in doing so has, without elected office, without even accountability to his superiors in government, attained absolute and total control of a large segment of the American defense establishment. He also attempted to change the face of American education, drawing heavily on Soviet educational concepts to force Americans to regain their leadership in a technological world. 5). But it was perhapsinevitable that an officer of such enormous vision should one day himselfbecome a member of the military (or more exactly military-industrialestablishment) an perhaps fall prey to the vicissitudes if not temptationsof the attributes of power. Rickover, like J. 9). Rickover's career and interest in nuclear military mightcoincided dramatically. Washington Monthly,14, pp. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Retiring a legend. (1979). Nitze, P.H. His case is that retention of such positionswas a function of enormously accurate instinct about how to "position"oneself in the government-service arena so as to be perceived asindispensable. His newsworthy struggles with shipbuilders also proved noteworthy; they established the basis on which Navy Secretary John F. Admiral Rickover has affected both his navy and the nation. He was not merely feeling lucky, or even grateful. The atomic submarine and Admiral Rickover. Hughes, A.J. EdgarHoover, benefitted from what has been described as a cult of personalitythat encases certain figures who are outside the elective political processbut very much involved in running the government (Alter, 1982; Schratz,1983). (1985, May 22). Rickover. 5). Probably no other military man and few civilians--even many of Cabinet rank--had in peacetime the personal responsibility for the expenditure of so much in public funds (Polmar and Allen, 1982, pp. U.S. Tyler, P. The flip side of Rickover. The project, the culmination of Rickover's interestin atomic energy's potential, had spanned the administrations of bothTruman and Eisenhower. In his unvarnished but not unskillful way, Rickover also laid the foundation for dealing with defense contractors on terms beneficial to the government, the taxpayer and ultimately to national and Western defense. Moreover, in the Cold War climate,nuclear-powered submarines and Rickover became subject for increasingpublicity, culminating in a best-seller on the subject in 1954 written by aTime reporter. Attachedto the retirement agreement, however, was the assurance that the protocolsfor managing the naval nuclear facilities that Rickover had establishedwould remain in place (Lehman, 1989). . Public entrepreneurship: Toward a theory ofbureaucratic political power. He was talking like someone who planned to take over the Navy (Polmar and Allen, 1982, p. (197 ). Underway on nuclear power: The development of theNautilus. (1954). Inevitably,much discussion of the ins and outs of retaining a public-employmentposition despite administration politics tends to carry a good deal ofpolitical-advocacy baggage. . Equally as certain, such advancesas the American nuclear programs achieved after World War II can be traceddirectly to the extraordinary personality and vision that Rickover, almostalone of the military establishment, demonstrated. He testifiedbefore Congress on this subject during Eisenhower's administration afterhaving visited the Soviet Union and observing educational practices there(Rickover, 1963; Polmar and Allen, 1982). In his attempt to propel the nation into nuclear power, he tried to show the need to replace the squandered resources, which, relatively long ago, he realized would eventually run out. There was no countervailing power, no wisdom to moderate Rickover's fissioning dynamo running critical through the defense establishment, making and breaking deals to get his ships--and only his ships--to sea. Butwhen in 1951 he was passed over for promotion to full admiral, he began tosee the Navy career track as hostile to him. (1981, April). A demonstration at Shippingport. Lehman, J.F. But as of 1989,the technology of the Nautilus, which takes up a good deal of space, whichcannot accommodate extremely high-temperature steam production for nuclearturbine turning, and which has changed little since 1954, has beenovertaken by certain higher-tech nuclear-submarine innovations in otherfleets (i.e., in 1989, the USSR's). 6 -64. Informing the content of thiscareer outline is a core of style and single-mindedness that, as evidencein the present research suggests, goes to why the issue of Rickover'sretirement should have been of such concern to so many employers in so manyadministrations in both American political parties. Politics, politics. What was significant about the best-seller, The Atomic Submarine andAdmiral Rickover, was that it chronicled not only the new technology of thenuclear navy but also the career and promotion crises of Rickover himself.He was suddenly a celebrity, doubtless the object of both attention andenvy. 1, p. This may explain the various episodes throughout his careerthat involved a wish or hope that he might retire. Hyman Rickover's contribution to nuclear propulsion had so magnified his personality and his legend that his power became the magic unleashed. He implies that more blame may be laid at the feet of GD thanRickover for the question of cost overruns. Nitze (199 ) implicitly admits tohaving been politically and strategically outflanked by congressionalpatronage of Rickover in his efforts as Johnson's naval secretary to makeRickover retire. By the time Rickover retired, andcertainly by the time he died, many of his congressional allies were gone,too. Indeed, even today the nation's premiere reactor design, development and test facility is located at Idaho Falls, the site of the Navy's nuclear- power research and training facility. Polmar, N., & Allen, T.B. Tyler refers to the love-haterelationship that Rickover had with General Dynamics over a period ofyears, connected to GD's procurement contracts and claims for costoverruns. Senior admirals who read the story saw that Rickover had not learned a lesson from the promotion fight. Lewis, E. Naval History, 4pp. 42-47. . 35 -1). There is a view that no public employee, whether civilian ormilitary, and of whatever rank and reputation, should be allowed to persistin a government job that carries high authority. He was undoubtedly a vocal one, giving speeches onthe subject to various groups and repeatedly becoming the focus ofcontroversy because of the rather abrasive manner he used to make his viewsknown. He has pushed the U.S. The powers that stay. . Naymark, S. Indeed, the very fact thatsome few well-known public employees have for various reasons found ways toachieve what appears to be a lifetime tenure has been enough to excitecuriosity, if not some kind of adversarial investigation. It never worked. What isconsistent about Rickover's handling of his Naval career crisis and thecontroversies created by his foray into educational theory is a personalstyle that appears to have made enemies, some of them intent on helpingRickover toward retirement as soon as possible. He had also developed ties to members of Congress, andthey resisted efforts to force Rickover into retirement through the 197 s(Polmar and Allen, 1982; Tyler, 1986). But a results-oriented retirement program was a criticalcomponent of the federal bureaucracy as well. 42-45. Navy to a major command, and then to discuss indetail whether he should have been retained on active duty in 1982, when hewas obliged to retire, or should have been retired some 3 years earlier. Safety considerations in the design, operation, maintenance and protection of sensitive technology that we now take for granted all reflect standards and practices developed in the naval nuclear- reactor program. Hisdecisive career in nuclear power emerged after World War II when, as aCaptain, he "launched a memo-writing campaign . Only in 1982 wasSecretary of the Navy John Lehman successful in having Rickover removed. Rickover censure follows long, stormycareer. NewYork: H. Rickover: competence outweighs grace.Los Angeles Times. Rickover was chiefly a military officer, and the description of hisaccomplishments by Polmar and Allen must be understood in that context. 5. And he attempted to change the ethics of America--the concepts of right and wrong, of a full day's work for a full day's pay, of working for the common good and of striving for excellence. Rickover's persistence allowed him to achieve not only that goalbut the goal of overseeing the creation in the 195 s of partly nuclear-powered Navy ships and submarines, and eventually the creation of a land-based nuclear reactor power station. His power crushed some of the best and brightest submarine designers in whom the navy had invested greatly (Tyler, 1986, pp. Rickover received the promotion to rear admiral in 1954, partlybecause of the book, partly because of congressional and presidentialpressure. 9. (1986, July 1 ). At the time of his death, the censuring episode of Rickover's careerwas overlooked in favor of a body of achievement that acknowledged hissense of purpose and mission, his devotion to duty, his competence, hisaccomplishments in developing an entire industry. Indeed, Rickover appears to have had enormous leeway in makingdecisions about how money might be allocated for purposes of implementingprocurement contracts. His remarkable record appears to haveallowed him to get away with this. But in addition to hispersonal style while he was alive, Rickover's technological contributionshave been questioned since his death. Very few admirals have been able to bring about major change in their own navies, and even fewer have had major influence on their nation's structure and actions. A law required that any navalofficer passed over for promotion to rear admiral more than once wouldretire. In this connection,Hughes (1979) cites the almost palpable sense of personal and publicmission that single-minded persons such as Rickover have. Schratz, P.R. He was running out of powerful friends, and technology appears inretrospect to have begun outrunning him as well. While at the rank of Captain, Rickoverwas appointed to the position of project leader on the Navy's developmentof the nuclear submarine Nautilus. and his undersecretaries would reintroduce competition on price and quality in naval programs. 8 -83. It was during the 195 s, in the implementation of the variouscoordinations of manpower and administrative procedures that procurementcontracts required for these purposes that Rickover gradually assumed moreand more power in the defense contracting establishment. 66-73. Polmar and Allen provide in precis formthe broad outlines of that career. The advocacy element appears tohave dramatically affected the case of Rickover. In short, Rickover helped sustain the qualitative edge in military forces on which the United States and the West have depended since World War II. Sec. Such statementsas these were amplified in a Time cover story: He stood on the page in full glory, next to words that were making of him a savior and a prophet: "Admiral Rickover is convinced that nuclear submarines will save the Navy from near-complete elimination as a fighting arm of the nation." This was not the thinking of the Chief of Naval Operations; this was the thinking of a very new and very junior rear admiral. But he also cites Rickover'sabrasive personal style as a critical component in the discrediting of theGD-Navy relationship, and this aspect of his discussion is importantbecause it involves the question of judgment about critical civilian andmilitary public projects that is predicated of disinterested concern inbehalf of the country, as against the question of an idiosyncraticmanagement style and a thoughtful but plainly narrow vision of what can orought to be achieved in either the civilian or military arena. 96-1 1. New York: Simon andSchuster. Sec. Rhodes, R. He also began to receivepublicity; in late 1951, Life magazine published a profile of Rickover.Shortly thereafter, Rickover was again passed over for promotion, with thegeneral expectation that "now he would surely be retired by the end of June1953" (Polmar and Allen 1982, p. Jr. President Carter, a nuclear scientist, considered Rickovera personal hero (Polmar and Allen, 1982; Hughes, 1979). (1989). One example of this is a review ofvarious elements of the American nuclear fleet such as that by Hemond(1989). 191). But he was still a loner, not perceived by the Navy establishmentas a team player. The plan of the research will be to set forth in generalterms the background and circumstances under which Rickover moved throughthe ranks of the U.S. John Lehman, who easedRickover out in 1982, referred to him as a legend, and Carter had referredto him as a hero. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.