Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Assessment/William D. Leahy

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Article promoted by Gog the Mild (talk) via MilHistBot (talk) 18:20, 4 October 2022 (UTC) « Return to A-Class review list[reply]

William D. Leahy

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Nominator(s): Hawkeye7 (talk)

Featured article candidates/William D. Leahy/archive1

William D. Leahy was America's most senior military officer during World War II, but probably the least well known of the five-star officers. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 03:57, 10 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Comments Support by Indy beetle

Comments:

His nose was broken in an American football game and his family lacked the money to get it fixed, so it remained that way for the rest of his life. I presume his nose healed, but probably out of place? This could be revised.
Y Re-worded. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 07:32, 15 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
In those days naval cadets graduating from Annapolis --> In the 1890s naval cadets....
Y From 1851 until 1912. Re-worded. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 07:32, 15 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
to attend the Naval War College but in spite repeated requests Leahy never did. Request from who, his superiors?
Y From Leahy. Re-worded. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 07:32, 15 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Is it known what the sources of his differences with Pratt were?
Y Yes. Added a bit about this. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 07:32, 15 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Leahy stuck to his guns, No critique, that ranks up there with [cetacean needed]
Y That would have been in Star Trek IV, no? Deleted parapraxis. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 07:32, 15 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
When the Commander-in-Chief of the Asiatic Fleet, Admiral Harry Yarnell, asked for four additional cruisers to help evacuate American citizens from the Shanghai International Settlement. Grammatically incorrect.
Y Re-worded. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 07:32, 15 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Leahy accepted this presidential decision, as he always did, even when he strongly disagreed. Is this really worth mentioning? Of course officers were supposed to accept direction from the president, that's just how it works. It would be more noteworthy if Leahy disregarded instructions from the president.
That's not how it works. Mentioned here because it becomes hard to tell what Leahy actually thought. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 07:32, 15 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Leahy was involved in the preparation of two seminal speeches How so? If he was directly consulted on their content, this should be made explicit.
- Anything on this? -Indy beetle (talk) 17:59, 17 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  Y Expanded on Leahy's role in this. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 19:47, 17 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
In the Further Reading section there are memoirs in a Spanish edition. Do we have those in English?
Y No, but the diary pages themselves are reproduced in English as well as Spanish. So altered the template to reflect this. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 07:32, 15 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

-Indy beetle (talk) 06:16, 15 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Supporting promotion. -Indy beetle (talk) 21:12, 17 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Support from Vami

~~[...] five of its members would reach Four-star rank [...] "Four" should be lower-case.~~
Y Lowercased. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 00:46, 30 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
~~[...] Leahy was in command of the Ship's forward turret [...] lowercase "ship" or replace with "Oregon".~~
Y Lowercased. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 00:46, 30 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
~~On December 17, 1899, Casteline [...] Huh?~~
Y Typo. Corrected. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 00:46, 30 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
~~Leahy helped commission the new cruiser USS Tacoma [...] Advise linking Ship commissioning, and cutting "new" as redundant.~~
Y Changed as suggested. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 00:46, 30 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
~~He was then reassigned to the Glacier a stores ship which was engaged in bringing supplies from Australia to the Philippines. Needs a comma after "Glacier".~~
Y Added. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 00:46, 30 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
There are instances where the abbreviation USS is not used when a USN vessel is introduced. They are:
- ~~[...] on the gunboat Castine, [...]~~
  Y Corrected. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 00:46, 30 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
- ~~[...] navigator of the armored cruiser California, [...]~~
  Y Corrected. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 00:46, 30 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
~~The second use of USS for Princess Matoika ([...] Commanding Officer of the USS Princess Matoika [...]) is unnecessary and inconsistent with other subsequent mentions of USN vessels in the article.~~
It is in a quotation. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 00:46, 30 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
There are a number of personal touches that I cannot quite square with the encyclopedic voice; they strike me as more biographical (ironically enough) at best, and conciliatory at worst (i.e. [...] Leahy handled personnel matters with care and consideration [...]).
A couple of examples follow. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 00:46, 30 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I have additionally converted several spellings to American English (ie "socialised" to "socialized"), as this is a biographical article about an American.
Y Added {{Use American English}} template. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 00:46, 30 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Finally back. –♠Vami _IV†♠ 03:51, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

~~[...] removed Blanton Winship over his role in the Ponce massacre. Recommend "for his role".~~
Y Looks okay to me, but changed as suggested. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
~~Leahy was given both military and social objectives to carry out [...] By FDR...?~~
Y Yes. Added. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
~~It supplied food and medical aid to the Vichy France regime in French North Africa, [...] Recommend "the Vicy French regime".~~
Y Changed as suggested. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
~~This was followed, on December 11, by the United States declaration of war on Germany. It is worth mentioning that Germany declared war first.~~
Y Changed as suggested. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
~~Was Leahy present for Louise's funeral?~~
Y Yes. Made this clearer. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Waging a two-ocean war as part of a coalition revealed serious deficiencies in the organization and American high command when it came to formulating grand strategy: [...] What organization / Organization of what?
Y Changed "and" to "of the" Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I think Hap Arnold should be linked in the caption to the image of the JCS at lunch; I understand he is first linked in the paragraph immediately next to it, but Marshall is also first linked in the paragraph immediately above it.
Y linked. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Roosevelt had a Map Room constructed in the White House [...] Recommend retooling this sentence so that this is rendered as "the Map Room", as the link here is to the Map Room at the White House specifically. I see, "Roosevelt had the Map Room constructed at the White House, where large maps displayed the progress of the war."
Y Changed as suggested. I think I had in mind that he was copying Churchill's Churchill War Rooms. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
[...] Leahy informed them Roosevelt was adamant that it was vital that American forces to take the field against Germany in 1942 [...] Recommend "vital for American forces to take the field", or "vital that American forces take the field".
Y Changed as suggested. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
~~[...] and that it was to proceed. Recommend replacing "it" with "Gymnast".~~
Y Changed as suggested. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
~~Leahy usually arrived at his office [...] At the White House?~~
Y Yes. Remember that he lived on Dupont Circle; it is only 20 minutes' walk. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
~~No decision was taken this time [...] Recommend "at this time".~~
Y Changed as suggested. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
~~The day after Truman was sworn in as President [...] Could we get that date?~~
Y Sure. I thought it was implied. Truman was sworn in by Chief Justice Harlan Stone at 19:09 on 12 April, the day Roosevelt died. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
~~[...] Truman consulted with Byrnes, Stimson, Leahy, Marshall, Arnold and Eisenhower. Eisenhower has not been introduced prior to this mention.~~
Y Introduced. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
~~Leahy later opposed to its use in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Huh?~~
Y Re-worded. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
[...] fearing that the Navy would lose its aviation and the Marine Corps. Can you elaborate on "aviation" here? I assume you mean the Navy's aviation elements, and the loss thereof to the US Air Force.
Y Changed to "naval aviation". The US Navy feared that the new US Air Force would gain control of all aviation, including that on ships. This happened to the Royal Navy when the Royal Air Force was created in 1918. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
~~In December, doctors diagnosed Leahy's health problems as a partial blockage of the kidneys. This is the first mention of any health problems from Leahy if I recall correctly.~~
Y Deleted. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
~~#Death and legacy could use condensing.~~
Y trimmed. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 08:50, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
What I meant is that the section retreads July 23; it mentions twice that his funeral was on that date. I think the detail about the pallbearers is fine. –♠Vami _IV†♠ 09:45, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Y. Oh. I have re-worked the text. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 20:01, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

CommentsSupport by CPA

There is a MOS:SANDWICH issue in the Early life and education section. Cheers. CPA-5 (talk) 22:09, 17 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
MOS:SECTIONLOC says that the image should be placed in the relevant section, and there is nowhere in the Early life section where it can go. Placing it after the section creates another MOS:SANDWICH, so the only alternative is to remove the image entirely. I'll see if someone else has an opinion on the matter. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 23:43, 17 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"He was given his first command, the gunboat USS Mariveles" Which rank did he have at the moment?
Y Ensign. Added this. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 19:37, 16 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"San Francisco and Panama, where the Panama canal" Canal needs an upper case.
Y Capitalised. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 19:37, 16 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"During the summer, Roosevelt used it as his family yacht" Per MOS:SEASONS we should avoid seasons.
I think this one is okay, because it refer to the season. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 19:37, 16 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"before taking the Orient Express to Constantinople" Link Constantinople because the name doesn't exist in modern times.
Y Linked. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 19:37, 16 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"The list of cancelled ships included two aircraft carriers, three cruisers" British cancelled.
Y Corrected. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 19:37, 16 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"nominated Leahy as the chief of the Bureau of Navigation" Isn't chief part of a title?
Y Yes. Capitalised. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 19:37, 16 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"and distant cousin of the president whom Leahy" --> "and distant cousin of the President whom Leahy"?
Y Sure. Capitalised. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 19:37, 16 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"but was unable to persuade Swanson or the president" Same as above?
Y Capitalised. But note the capitalisation in Powers of the president of the United States. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 19:37, 16 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"along with 60,000 tons of cruisers and 30,000 tons of destroyers" What kind of tons?
Y Long tons. Added that warships message tonnage in displacement (ship). Hawkeye7 (discuss) 19:37, 16 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Going down to Government service. Will do this later. Cheers. CPA-5 (talk) 13:35, 16 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

"doing what he could to support Roosevelt's 1940 re-election" British re-election.
Y Corrected. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 22:48, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"$100 million in WPA funding (equivalent to $1488 million in 2020)" --> "$100 million in WPA funding (equivalent to $1,488 million in 2020)" or change it to billion.
Y Reformatted as suggested. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 22:48, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Link French Navy.
Y Linked. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 22:48, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"the cruiser USS Tuscaloosa, which reached Lisbon" Add country here.
Y Added. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 22:48, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"He also hoped that aid to French North Africa" Link French North Africa.
Already linked. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 22:48, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"Leahy developed bronchitis and had to remain in Trinidad" Link Trinidad and explain what Trinidad is.
Y Linked. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 22:48, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"both the war against Japan and the post-war era" British post-war.
Y De-hyphated. I note though that the contemporary American documents use the hyphen. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 22:48, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"to undertake Operation Anakim, an offensive to recapture Burma" Pipe Burma to its colonial page.
Y Not so sure about this one. Linked to British rule in Burma. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 22:48, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"They then flew on to Tehran" Add country here.
Y Added. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 22:48, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"President Roosevelt to the Pacific Strategy Conference" Is there a link for the Pacific Strategy Conference?
No. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 22:48, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"them on a proposed invasion of Formosa" --> "them on a proposed invasion of the island Formosa" Most people wouldn't know what Formosa is.
Y Changed as suggested. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 22:48, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"about the prospect of a post-war Communist takeover" Same as above British post-war.
Y De-hyphated. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 22:48, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"took them to Malta, where Leahy" Was this to the colony of Malta or to the island of Malta?
Most of the discussions took place in Valetta. Some were aboard the USS Quincy. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 22:48, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"On April 13, Leahy gave Truman the regular" Maybe add something like "On April 13, Leahy gave to the new President Truman the regular" or "On April 13, Leahy gave to Roosevelt's successor Truman the regular"?
Y Re-worded. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 22:48, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I see both US vs U.S. maybe standardise them?
Y Per the MOS, U.S. is used except in acronyms. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 22:48, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"On the day after Truman won the 1948 presidential election" When was this? We all know that the president isn't chosen on election day itself.
Y On 2 November 1948. Technically the voters choose members of the electoral college met, but Truman won the election on that day. Added the date. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 22:48, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"As the personal confidant of President Roosevelt and President Truman...", The New York Times book reviewer Orville Prescott wrote" Sea of blue here.

That's anything from me. Cheers. CPA-5 (talk) 16:06, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Looks good to me. Support. Cheers. CPA-5 (talk) 13:08, 20 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
During its appearance on DYK, this article ran up 19,511 page views, which is quite astonishing for a non-lead article. There was some astonishment that Leahy was the highest-ranking US officer in World War II, when he is so little known. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 23:51, 17 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Image review - pass

Will try to review this soon. Hog Farm _Talk 19:00, 25 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Seeing that this one already has three general supports but no image review, I'll chip that in.

Much appreciated. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 05:18, 27 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

File:NH 91537 William D. Leahy as a naval cadet.jpg - Does the NHHC claim of copyright indicate that it's a US Navy photograph? Otherwise, the file source information isn't clear as to if this is a official cadet portrait or rather a privately-produced picture
The claim of ownership means that the image was part of a set donated to the US Naval History and Heritage Command by Leahy. I believe it was taken for the Annapolis yearbook. So it is now in the public domain. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 05:18, 27 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
File:World War II Joint Chiefs of Staff 1943.jpg, File:Fleet Admiral William Daniel Leahy (18555451643).jpg - source link dead
I have restored the link to the former. The latter is permanently lost. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 05:18, 27 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Not the greatest situation, but we do have the Flickr reviewing tag from 2018 on that deadlink one, so not a deal-breaker. Hog Farm _Talk 01:09, 28 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Others look fine. Hog Farm _Talk 03:07, 27 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Source review - pass

Will look at today or tomorrow. Hog Farm _Talk 21:41, 3 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

" "Burial Detail: Leahy, William H. – ANC Explorer"." - needs formatting improvements
Sources look okay from a reliability standpoint
Limited spot checks revealed no issues
Checked the one source I had which I thought might be relevant (The Two-Ocean War) and noted nothing that would suggest comprehensiveness issues.

Hog Farm _Talk 02:37, 4 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Corrected the ANC Explorer reference. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 03:36, 4 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.