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Leahy was born in Hampshire, Iowa and educated at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, from which he graduated in 1897. Leahy saw service in the Spanish-American War (1898), the Philippines (1899-91), China (1900), Nicaragua (1912), Haiti (1916) and Mexico (1916).
During the First World WarWorld War I (also known as the First World War , the Great War the War of the Nations and the "War to End All Wars") was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to 1918. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers, or involved so many in the field of Leahy was captain of the dispatch boat used by future U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy. The two men became close friends for the rest of their lives.
By 1936 Leahy had reached the rank of admiral and the following year he was became Chief of Naval OperationsThe Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) is the senior military officer in the United States Navy. The CNO is an admiral (four-star) and is responsible to the Secretary of the Navy for the command, utilization of resources and operating efficiency of the opera and held the post until he retired from the United States NavyThe United States Navy USN is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. Navy consists of slightly fewer than 300 ships and over 4,000 operational aircraft. It has over a half million men and women on active or ready re in August 1939.
After the United States entered World War II, President RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt Order 32nd President Term of Office March 4, 1933 April 12, 1945 Predecessor Herbert Hoover Successor Harry S. Truman Date of Birth January 30, 1882 Place of Birth Hyde Park, New York Date of Death April 12, 1945 Place of Death W decided he needed a senior military officer as personal adviser and point of contact with his three service chiefs, Admiral Ernest KingAdmiral Ernest Joseph King ( November 23, 1878 June 25, 1956) was the Commander in Chief of the United States Navy during World War II. As such, he was Chester Nimitz's immediate superior but himself was subordinate to Secretary of the Navy James Forresta of the Navy, General George MarshallGeorge Catlett Marshall ( December 31, 1880 October 16, 1959), an American military leader and statesman, was born into a middle-class family in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Marshall was instrumental in getting the U. Army and Army Air Corps reorganized and r of the Army and General Henry Arnold of the Army Air Forces. The service chiefs resisted this move until Marshall suggested that only Leahy would be accepted in this post. On July 6, 1942, Leahy was appointed chief of staff to the commander in chief of the United States.
He was effectively the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a position he held during most of World War II. However, his actual title was Chief of Staff to the President of the United States. The first person to formally be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was Leahy's successor, General of the Army Omar Bradley. Prior to his service as Chief of Staff, Leahy had served as Governor of Puerto Rico and ambassador to Vichy France.
Leahy was appointed the first US Fleet Admiral on December 15, 1944. He was critical of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that in his eyes were "of no material assistance in our war against Japan". His feeling was that "in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children."
Leahy resigned in March 1949 and the following year published his war memoirs, I Was There . Fleet Admiral Leahy died at Bethesda Naval Hospital on July 20, 1959.
Leahy's name resurfaced in early April 2004 when it was discussed in the media whether or not current National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice should testify in front of a congressional panel investigating the September 11, 2001 attacks. This resulted from a photo of Leahy testifying in 1945 to a congressional panel investigating the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, thus demonstrating a precedent for Rice's testimony.