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A Question of Loyalty: Gen. Billy Mitchell and the Court-Martial That Gripped the Nation
It had all the ingredients of a movie scandal that grips Washington and touches the White House; bitter battles and backroom intrigue at the highest levels of the U.S. military; glamorous women who make or break the careers of powerful men; a high-stakes trial with a celebrity defendant who captures the nation's attention ... A Question of Loyalty plunges into the seven-week Washington trial of Gen. William "Billy" Mitchell, the hero of the U.S. Army Air Service during World War I and the man who proved in 1921 that planes could sink a battleship. In 1925 Mitchell was frustrated by the slow pace of aviation development, and he sparked a political firestorm, accusing the army and navy high commands, and by inference the president, of treason and criminal negligence in the way they conducted national defense. He was put on trial for insubordination in a spectacular court-martial that became a national obsession during the Roaring Twenties. Douglas Waller has crafted a compelling new biography of the daring Billy Mitchell, a larger-than-life figure remembered as much for his outspokenness as for his innovations in the use of airpower. Waller has uncovered a trove of new letters, diaries, and confidential documents that have enabled him to capture in detail the drama of the court and to build a rich and revealing biography of Mitchell, one of the army's most controversial and flamboyant generals. Born to a millionaire Midwest family at the end of the 1870s, Mitchell joined the military at the age of eighteen and became one of its rising stars. During World War I, he led the largest armada of airplanes ever to attack an enemy force and returned to the United States a dashing young general with a chest full of medals and a radical vision of airpower as the only decisive instrument for future wars. But as the military shrank in the postwar years, Mitchell became increasingly impatient and vocal, lashing out at bureaucratic enemies he accused of impeding airpower's progress. After a tragic airship accident that shocked the nation, he publicly blasted the War and Navy Departments for their handling of aviation and was put on trial for it. A Question of Loyalty is a story about Washington politics, about love and betrayal, about heroes in battle, about determined lawyers and powerful military men pitted against one another in a courtroom.
439 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 9, 2022
In September of 1925, in response to two failed publicity flights by the US Navy (one of which cost several sailors their lives), Colonel William “Billy” Mitchell’s long smoldering relationship with the US military reached a new peak.
He wrote a furious article (one of many) and read the draft to a waiting group of reporters. To illustrate his main point, he read them an excerpt:
“These incidents are the direct result of the incompetency, criminal negligence, and almost treasonable administration of the national defense by the Navy and War departments”.
Mitchell fought a famous and public battle for a separate Air Force to free pilots from the constraints of a defense establishment that seemed unable to comprehend the potential and unique operational issues that came with maintaining a combat air fleet.
While Mitchell is often hailed as a “prophet” of air power, Douglas Waller shows that the story is much more complicated.
Several of Mitchell’s concerns were justified and many of his predictions came true. Mitchell was also temperamental, outlandish, and in some cases, factually wrong.
There is no dispute that even though he was a US Army Officer, he openly and frequently denigrated his own service and his superiors. The main question was whether this was justified.
I encourage you to read Waller’s book to decide for yourself.
He wrote a furious article (one of many) and read the draft to a waiting group of reporters. To illustrate his main point, he read them an excerpt:
“These incidents are the direct result of the incompetency, criminal negligence, and almost treasonable administration of the national defense by the Navy and War departments”.
Mitchell fought a famous and public battle for a separate Air Force to free pilots from the constraints of a defense establishment that seemed unable to comprehend the potential and unique operational issues that came with maintaining a combat air fleet.
While Mitchell is often hailed as a “prophet” of air power, Douglas Waller shows that the story is much more complicated.
Several of Mitchell’s concerns were justified and many of his predictions came true. Mitchell was also temperamental, outlandish, and in some cases, factually wrong.
There is no dispute that even though he was a US Army Officer, he openly and frequently denigrated his own service and his superiors. The main question was whether this was justified.
I encourage you to read Waller’s book to decide for yourself.
May 13, 2013
Brigadier General William “Billy” Mitchell returned from World War I passionately committed to the idea that long-range bombers – used offensively to strike the enemy’s “vital centers” – would be the decisive weapon in future wars, and became a tireless advocate of “air power.” A relentless and often strident advocate for the expansion of American military aviation and the establishment of an independent Air Force, he endeared himself neither to his own service nor to the Navy. The already thin professional ice beneath his feet broke when, in September 1925, he publicly accused the War and Navy Departments of “incompetency, criminal negligence and almost treasonable administration of the national defense.” Promptly charged with insubordination and “conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the military service,” he stood trial before a court martial in Washington, DC that fall.
Mitchell’s fellow air-power advocates spend the decades after his death in 1936 painting him as a visionary and a martyr: a “prophet without honor” who was vindicated by “the verdict of history.” The 1955 film The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell enshrined that view for subsequent generations. Scholars of military history have long since demolished that view, and Douglas C. Waller, working with meticulous care from court records, contemporary newspaper accounts, and Mitchell’s personal papers, confirms their judgment. He paints Mitchell as brilliant, driven, and toweringly ambitious: a man who reveled in grand concepts but was impatient with practical details. He loved the idea of a literal “day in court,” but – wildly overconfident, and defended by an equally ambitious but ill-prepared civilian attorney – bungled the execution. There were, Waller makes clear, no “Hollywood moments” in the trial, only factual testimony about the state of military aviation and Mitchell’s conduct, leavened with feints and jabs over legal procedure and the blatant bias exhibited by Mitchell’s enemies on the court.
Waller paints a detailed, well-rounded picture of Mitchell – interspersing biographical chapters with the trial narrative – and explains aviation, military law, and court-martial procedures with superb clarity. The result is a superb narrative history that is simultaneously accessible and scholarly. A Question of Loyalty is, however, a portrait of Mitchell as he really was – a man felled by arrogance, overconfidence, and a fatal lack of judgment – rather than as we might like him to be. If you want the stirring tale of a martyred prophet, well . . . Hollywood has a movie for you.
Mitchell’s fellow air-power advocates spend the decades after his death in 1936 painting him as a visionary and a martyr: a “prophet without honor” who was vindicated by “the verdict of history.” The 1955 film The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell enshrined that view for subsequent generations. Scholars of military history have long since demolished that view, and Douglas C. Waller, working with meticulous care from court records, contemporary newspaper accounts, and Mitchell’s personal papers, confirms their judgment. He paints Mitchell as brilliant, driven, and toweringly ambitious: a man who reveled in grand concepts but was impatient with practical details. He loved the idea of a literal “day in court,” but – wildly overconfident, and defended by an equally ambitious but ill-prepared civilian attorney – bungled the execution. There were, Waller makes clear, no “Hollywood moments” in the trial, only factual testimony about the state of military aviation and Mitchell’s conduct, leavened with feints and jabs over legal procedure and the blatant bias exhibited by Mitchell’s enemies on the court.
Waller paints a detailed, well-rounded picture of Mitchell – interspersing biographical chapters with the trial narrative – and explains aviation, military law, and court-martial procedures with superb clarity. The result is a superb narrative history that is simultaneously accessible and scholarly. A Question of Loyalty is, however, a portrait of Mitchell as he really was – a man felled by arrogance, overconfidence, and a fatal lack of judgment – rather than as we might like him to be. If you want the stirring tale of a martyred prophet, well . . . Hollywood has a movie for you.
August 6, 2011
Well researched and detailed. The middle was a bit of a slog as it seemed like the trial would never end. However, if you found Gen McChrystal's firing interesting it's worth going back and reading about Billy Mitchell. He was so outspoken he makes McChrystal's issues highlighted in the Rolling Stone article seem like child's play.
March 16, 2017
An interesting book that puts the circumstances surrounding General Billy Mitchell's court-martial into perspective. Mitchell, a latecomer to military aviation but one of its strongest proponents, had made his name during the Great War as the combat leader of the United States Air Service in France. He was not its chief. When he returned to the United States he was made Deputy Chief of the Air service and worked with the Navy to prove that land-based aircraft (bombers) could destroy battleships during a demonstration off the Virginia coast. He was not its chief. He appealed directly to the American people for an opportunity to show what airpower could do by pushing for an air force co-equal with the Army and the Navy. He used newspaper articles and books to spread his ideas about airpower. For his troubles he was sent out to Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
When the Navy suffered two aviation fiascos in one week (the destruction of the airship Shenandoah and the disappearance of a Navy amphibian trying to reach Hawaii nonstop from the West Coast) Mitchell could not help himself: he wrote a press release accusing the government, the Navy and the Army of frittering away the lives of pilots because they were ignorant of the needs and potential of airpower.
In doing so, Mitchell made many enemies (including the president).
A good book, although the way it jumps forward and backward in time is a little hard to track at times. The author clearly has some research behind the material he uses. It also includes some helpful photos.
When the Navy suffered two aviation fiascos in one week (the destruction of the airship Shenandoah and the disappearance of a Navy amphibian trying to reach Hawaii nonstop from the West Coast) Mitchell could not help himself: he wrote a press release accusing the government, the Navy and the Army of frittering away the lives of pilots because they were ignorant of the needs and potential of airpower.
In doing so, Mitchell made many enemies (including the president).
A good book, although the way it jumps forward and backward in time is a little hard to track at times. The author clearly has some research behind the material he uses. It also includes some helpful photos.
April 26, 2020
I really enjoyed this book as I'm a great admirer of Billy Mitchell. I live in DC so it's fun to read all the references to this city at the turn of the century when Billy Mitchell was rising up the ranks here. This a great book to read if you are interested in the history of Aviation, especially military aviation, in the United States.
April 2, 2020
A very well-researched biography of Gen. Billy Mitchell and his ultimate court-martial from the armed services in 1925 due to his outspoken views of the importance of aircraft and the lack of preparedness of US forces during the interwar period.
Read
June 3, 2020An excellent job of research. No spin here. The author lets the facts tell the true story of Billy Mitchell, his many pluses and many minuses. The facts also paint a profile of a military establishment mired in outdated traditions and handicapped by misers in Congress.
Read
April 16, 2021Being from Wisconsin I knew the Gen Mitchell Airport, but never the story behind the namesake. Gen Mitchell is an interesting military historical figure, a classic misbehaving maverick, and the book is well researched. The book did jump around in the timeline in an odd style, but it was legible.
May 31, 2021
By all appearances it was it well-researched, objective accounting of Billy Mitchell. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
May 14, 2012
The author shows Gen Billy Mitchell as a complex character. While the trial is the centerpiece of the book the author tells Mitchell's biography to help you understand the main character at the trial. I felt the author was neither biased overly for or against Gen Mitchell. He highlighted his failures and his successes as a warrior and a man. And you will probably come away agreeing with the author that Gen Mitchell probably deserved to be found guilty.
From the standpoint of working in the military justice system it was interesting to note the way things have changed for the court-martial process. Now there would be a military judge sitting in the room and not a legal advisor sitting with the jury members. The questions of whether all the evidence that the defense put on as to the truth of Gen Mitchell's statements being part of the evidence or only to be considered in mitigation would be decided before that evidence would have been presented.
Gen Mitchell was right that the Air arm of the service needed to be greatly strengthened and it was vital for the next war. But, while he should have said this message loudly he could have been more effective had he been more tactful.
From the standpoint of working in the military justice system it was interesting to note the way things have changed for the court-martial process. Now there would be a military judge sitting in the room and not a legal advisor sitting with the jury members. The questions of whether all the evidence that the defense put on as to the truth of Gen Mitchell's statements being part of the evidence or only to be considered in mitigation would be decided before that evidence would have been presented.
Gen Mitchell was right that the Air arm of the service needed to be greatly strengthened and it was vital for the next war. But, while he should have said this message loudly he could have been more effective had he been more tactful.
May 30, 2015
Early 20th Century US military history, what an interesting time period! Young future difference makers dot the landscape --- leaders like MacArthur, Patton, and Eisenhower. Unbeknownst to me was the impact Gen Billy Mitchell had, and the strong political passions and debates his outsized personality caused.
I loved the details of his story and learning about the impact he made. All that being said, I can't help but feel his contemporaries were justified in questioning his methods. For the most part he enjoys the ultimate victory in being right on many of his predictions. And for a brief period in the 1920's I'm sure it was exciting to be caught up in his camp. Ultimately though the establishment, as so often happens, stamped down this progressive during his lifetime and made the end of his life somewhat difficult and certainly unrewarding.
Aviation fans need to know about this important pioneer... 4 Stars
★ = Horrid waste of time
★★ = May be enjoyable to some, but not me
★★★ = I am glad I read it
★★★★ = Very enjoyable and something I'd recommend
★★★★★ = A rare find, simply incredible
I loved the details of his story and learning about the impact he made. All that being said, I can't help but feel his contemporaries were justified in questioning his methods. For the most part he enjoys the ultimate victory in being right on many of his predictions. And for a brief period in the 1920's I'm sure it was exciting to be caught up in his camp. Ultimately though the establishment, as so often happens, stamped down this progressive during his lifetime and made the end of his life somewhat difficult and certainly unrewarding.
Aviation fans need to know about this important pioneer... 4 Stars
★ = Horrid waste of time
★★ = May be enjoyable to some, but not me
★★★ = I am glad I read it
★★★★ = Very enjoyable and something I'd recommend
★★★★★ = A rare find, simply incredible
Read
February 5, 2009As detailed in Waller's exhaustively researched book, Mitchell's 1925 court-martial remains a riveting saga nearly 80 years after the fact. By weaving together biography, courtroom drama, and early 20th-century political and military history, Waller rescues from obscurity both the sensational 34-day trial and its larger-than-life star. Under the author's even-handed treatment, Mitchell emerges as a complex character memorable for his many personal failings as well as for his achievements in combat and aviation. Ultimately, A Question of Loyalty succeeds not only because it provides an engaging and authoritative look back at an interesting chapter in history, but because it touches on important defense-related questions in contemporary American society as well.
This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.
February 17, 2017
This book captures the time frame exceptionally well. The story line and the story as a whole as it develops becomes one of intrigue. I would have given the book "5" stars except that there are modern day political correctness terms employed within. Also, it was William Manchester (Author "American Caesar", "Goodbye Darkness", "Death of a President") who discovered through his excellent investigative journalism techniques that Gen. Douglas MacArthur did not vote against Gen. Billy Mitchell and not Mr. Waller as he attempts to (although in a subtle manner) gain credit through this book for that discovery. This being said, the author certainly spent a great deal of time researching the material for the book. It works excellently in the time chronology of events and is easy to follow. Any person interested in the trial of Gen. Billy Mitchell should read this book among others for a comparative consideration.
August 5, 2016
Being in the Air Force and certainly a fan of its history, I found this to be an eyebrow-raiser. For those who do not know, Gen Mitchell is widely regarded as the "father of the Air Force". To see his life and character detailed so thoroughly changes my whole outlook. This is not to say that I think any less of him, or that it would matter if I did, but rather that I showed myself how dangerous being a staunch advocate of a person or idea can be when you don't have all the facts.
December 8, 2007
He predicted the Air attack on Pearl Harbor on a Sunday morning.
He sank a battleship with a bomber to show them what would happen.
so they court martialed him!
He sank a battleship with a bomber to show them what would happen.
so they court martialed him!
July 29, 2016
Good biography of Billy Mitchell, who championed building up the air power of the United States.
February 16, 2018
General Billy Mitchell, a World War I hero, was prescient when it came to the use of aircraft in the military. While many of his concerns, predictions and suggestions were correct, his delivery of them to the press, higher authority and others led to a charge of insubordination and a court-martial. His court-martial lasted seven weeks and cost the exorbitant amount of over $15,500. It dragged on nearly endlessly as the defense called dozens of witnesses. What the court could not determine, nor would the defense attorney declare is whether General Mitchell's defense was to exonerate him, or to affect the actual sentence. What was presented were a multitude of documented cases meant to prove accusations Mitchell had made about the safety and handling of the infant air corps under the War Department and the military. Nothing seemed to be presented to defend him against the charges of insubordination and behavior not in keeping with good order and discipline. The trial was the center of the nation's attention.
I found the book a fascinating read that held my attention. It covered a lot of General Mitchell's life in order for the reader to better understand him and his behavior. The verdict of the trial was predictable, the sentence was not. Read it to find out.
I found the book a fascinating read that held my attention. It covered a lot of General Mitchell's life in order for the reader to better understand him and his behavior. The verdict of the trial was predictable, the sentence was not. Read it to find out.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews