BRUCE’S HISTORY LESSONS

would be the consequential naval weapon in WWII, and within six months, the first of 24 aircraft carriers, the USS Essex, was launched. The advanced armada he convinced Congress to fund also included battleships, submarines, cruisers and destroyers. His goal, which he would eventually achieve, was a U.S. Navy larger and more modernized than the rest of the world’s navies combined.

What made Vinson’s efforts so noteworthy was that, number one, he was pushing for this increased military spending in the midst of the Great Depression, in which the American economy was in free-fall, millions of Americans were out of work, and the government’s spending priorities were domestic – aiding destitute Americans – not spending money on foreign policy. But Vinson was relentless, figuring that defending America from attack was more important than any domestic concerns.

Number two, a chief purpose of any elected representative is to pass legislation benefitting the folks back home, yet Vinson was a congressman from Georgia, a landlocked state that would not benefit in any way from increased military spending on naval construction, because such construction was done near water, such as on the East and West coast.

In the event, Vinson’s contribution to America’s victory in WWII, while little known, was significant, and as chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee and later the House Armed Services Committee, Vinson continued to champion military readiness until he retired from Congress in 1965. Today, among the truly technologically advanced nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in the U.S. Navy is the USS Carl Vinson, named after the man who made sure that, militarily, the “sleeping giant,” was really a giant. Bruce G. Kauffmann Email author Bruce G. Kauffmann at bruce@history lessons.net.