WHAT OTHERS THINK OF HIM
IN quoting a few words from the opinions others have expressed
concerning the American Commander doubtless some of them may seem to be
a trifle too laudatory. It is not to be forgotten that the words of
those who perhaps did not fully share the sentiments have not been
recorded. If such opinions exist, their record has not been brought to
the attention of the writer. As a rule, Americans have no comparative
degree in their estimates of men. They like a man or they do not like
him. He is either a success or a failure, good or bad, wise or foolish.
Between the two extremes there is little standing room, and into one
category or the other they cast nearly everyone. If General Pershing has
not escaped this condition, his consolation doubtless is that he is
merely sharing the common lot of his fellow-citizens.
A close friend has this to say of him: "You should meet him at a dinner
party and listen to his stories. You should stand with him before his
tent in the field, in the sunshine--he loves the sunshine and the wide
out-of-doors--and hear him tell stories of his campaigning at his best.
You should meet this big man with the heart of a little child, this man
who by befriending his enemies has made them his companions, this man
who stands up erect and faces the horrors of disaster with a smile and
prays in his heart for the sufferers."
Another friend says: "There is something about Pershing that reminds one
of Lincoln. It may be his ready wit and never failing good humor or
perhaps his big sympathetic heart. In the army the similarity is
frequently pointed out."
An officer who served under him in the Punitive Expedition into Mexico
and was thrown into close relations with him writes: "I have had the
pleasure of knowing many of our great men, but Pershing is the biggest
of them all. He combines the rugged simplicity of Lincoln with the
dogged perseverance of Grant; the strategic mystical ability of
Stonewall Jackson and the debonair personality of McClellan. In one
quality, that of intuition, he may be inferior possibly to Roosevelt,
but in cold logic and in supreme knowledge of human nature and of
soldier nature I have never met his equal."
The colonel of his regiment when Pershing was a lieutenant in the 10th
Cavalry said of him: "I have been in many fights but on my word he is
the bravest and coolest man under fire I ever saw."
In 1903, Elihu Root, then Secretary of State, in President McKinley's
cabinet, cabled him: "The thanks of the War Department for the able and
effective accomplishment of a difficult and important task."
A simpler, but no less effective estimate of his character, although it
was given in a way to puzzle him and perhaps also was a source of
embarrassment was the act of the Sultan of Oato who officially made
young Major Pershing the "father" of his eighteen-year-old boy. This was
the highest tribute the ruler of the tribe could pay, to give his own
son to the American officer. And this was done, too, when by his
training and religion the Mohammedan chieftain looked down upon even if
he did not despise a Christian.
Georges Clemenceau, whose words have been previously quoted, has this to
say concerning the directness and simplicity of the American General:
"General Pershing has given us in three phrases devoid of artificiality,
an impression of exceptionally virile force. It was no rhetoric, but
pure simplicity of the soldier who is here to act and who fears to
promise more than he will perform. No bad sign this, for those of us who
have grown weary of pompous words when we must pay dearly for each
failure of performance."
An intimate friend of his boyhood writes: "John was and still is
intensely human and that is why we all love him. His old playmates and
friends are proud of his success as a soldier, but they love him
because of his high standard of principles and unswerving integrity.
John J. Pershing is revered by the entire population of Linn County,
Missouri, and I hope in the near future to see a statue of Pershing
erected in the beautiful town park of Laclede, in his honor."
A well-known college president writes of him: "It is his foresight as
distinct from vision which has most impressed me. He sees what ought to
be done and then does it. His spirit of determination, his persistence,
his foresightedness, seem to me the predominant traits in a well-rounded
character. Strength rather than brilliancy, solidity, reliability,
saneness are other terms by which the same qualities might be defined."
Another distinguished president of a college in General Pershing's
native State makes the following analysis: "I have been here twenty-six
years and have had a good deal to do with young men. I have never seen a
man yet that had these characteristics that failed in his life work:
"_First_, Pershing's modesty.
"_Second_, His friendliness--his ability to get along with his fellows.
"_Third_, His industry.
"_Fourth_, What the boys call, 'everlastingly on the job'--always in his
place, always had his lessons, always performed his duties.
"_Fifth_, His courage in facing every obstacle.
"_Sixth_, His forward look--his looking ahead.
"My secretary adds that I have omitted one of the strongest of General
Pershing's attributes--his sense of right."
It is a great asset when the people of a man's native town speak of him,
even of his boyhood, in terms of affection and confidence. It is to his
credit when school and college mates write of their belief in his
sterling character. It is a source of pride when the early efforts of a
young man, in the trying days of his first experiences in his chosen
profession, find a cordial response to his efforts and it is a still
deeper source of gratification when he has done his best and has
received recognition and reward from the nation at large. And then when
maturer days have come and the glitter and the glamour have lost much of
their appeal, for one to find that the great ones of the earth recognize
and value more highly than the doer the deeds he has done--all this is a
heritage the children and the coming generations will receive with
grateful hearts. All these are a part of the possessions of General John
Joseph Pershing.
The supreme honor thus far which General Pershing has received is the
recognition from his own country which found its expression in his
appointment as General, October 6, 1917, "with rank from that date,
during the existence of the present emergency, under the provisions of
an Act of Congress approved October 6, 1917."
When, on October 8, 1917, he accepted this appointment what thoughts
must have been in his mind. He had then received the highest military
honor the United States of America could bestow upon a soldier. He was
the successor in office of Washington, Grant, Sherman and Sheridan.
What a wonderful list of honored names it is! And a half-century had
elapsed since anyone had received such an appointment. The wildest dream
of the young captain of cadets at West Point had come true. And he had
expressed his opinion just before he went to West Point that there would
be slight opportunity for promotion in the permanent peace which
apparently had settled over the nations of the earth. It is a source of
comfort to learn that even the wisest and the best of men are sometimes
compelled to revise their judgments.
It is not incredible that the gift which Marshal Joffre provided, or at
least one in which he was the prime instigator, the presentation of a
small gold-mounted sword for General Pershing's little son, Warren, may
have touched the General's heart as deeply as any honor he ever
received. A sword from the Field Marshal of France, given in the
greatest war ever fought by mankind! And we may be sure that however
kindly the feeling of the foremost soldiers of France may have been for
little Warren Pershing the gift nevertheless was made to the boy because
he is the son of his father.
A similar method of expressing the regard for the father by a gift to
his son was followed in an incident in the celebration of Bastile Day in
Paris, July 14, 1918. At the general headquarters of the American Army
in France the members of the graduating class of the Lycee presented to
the American Commander a marvelously bound volume of episodes in the
history of France. This beautiful work, however, was "to be transmitted
to Warren Pershing from his comrades of the Lycee."
What other people than the French would have thought of such a dainty
and yet effective way of expressing their admiration of a man? Sometimes
a son objects to being known chiefly because he bears the name of his
father. It is seldom, however, that a man ever objects to being known as
the father of his son.
Just before this volume was given by the students, General Pershing had
presented their diplomas to the members of the graduating class of the
Lycee. This very pleasing duty had followed after he had formally
received the American troops and the French societies which had marched
through the streets that were gay with brilliant decorations and
thronged by cheering thousands.
On August 7, 1918, there appeared in many American newspapers the
following brief and simple message from France:
"With the American Armies in France, Aug. 6.
"President Poincare personally decorated General
Pershing with the Grand Cross of the Legion of
Honor this morning with impressive military
ceremonies at American General Headquarters."
This was all that was cabled, but a column would not have added to the
meaning. As far as military recognition was concerned France could do no
more. Her choicest honor, the one most highly prized by her patriotic
soldiers, had been bestowed upon a soldier from across the sea, not only
as a token of her esteem for the man, but also for the country which had
chosen him to be the leader of her armies.
Nor was this the only honor of its kind. England already had shown her
appreciation by awarding him the Grand Cross of the Order of the
Bath--an honor which it is said was then bestowed for the first time
upon a soldier of a foreign nation, or at least upon a soldier from the
United States.[D] And other similar orders and decorations were given
and by different nations. It is difficult in democratic America to
appreciate just how much such recognition means in the lands in which
they were so generously bestowed. We may be certain, however, that these
honors, which are rare, were not bestowed thoughtlessly and that General
Pershing was deeply appreciative in each instance of the motive and
feeling that lay behind the gift.
Without question, the honor which most deeply touches the General is the
confidence and affection of the men he commands. This is more and deeper
than mere popularity. The latter varies and shifts as a weathercock
veers with the changing winds. Many of the world's great characters
have not only not had it, but have suffered martyrdom because they or
their teachings were unpopular. But the deep regard, the confidence and
pride which the American forces universally manifest for their leader
are based primarily, not upon their impulses or impressions, but upon
their belief in the qualities he has quietly manifested, the record he
has made, and the power of his own personality.
Deeply impressed as the American commander must be by the receptions
given him, the formal honors bestowed upon him by his own and other
countries, there is still a minor chord that sounds in the chorus of
acclaim. What would the mother, who in the little Missouri village first
fired his boyish heart with an earnest desire to make the most of
himself, say now if she was here to treasure in her heart the words that
have been spoken in memory of the deeds he has done? And his wife--if
she had not perished in the fire at the Presidio, and now could follow
his career with the pride which a good woman ever has in the
recognition of her husband, what added strength her sympathy and
fellowship would give to the arm and heart of the man whose name and lot
she shared. Sometimes there are tragedies for our soldiers greater even
than the battlefields provide.
FOOTNOTE:
[D] Beyond the cabled report the writer is unable to verify this
statement.