Maxwell D. Taylor
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General Maxwell Davenport Taylor (August 26, 1901 – April 19, 1987) was an American soldier and diplomat of the mid-20th century.
Taylor was born in Keytesville, Missouri and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1922.
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World War II
Taylor's rise to the highest echelons of US government began under the tutelage of General Matthew B. Ridgway in the US Army's 82nd Airborne Division when Ridgway commanded the division in the early part of World War II. In 1943, his diplomatic and language skills resulted in his secret mission to Rome to coordinate an 82nd air drop with Italian forces. He met with the new Italian Prime Minister, Marshal Pietro Badoglio. The air drop near Rome to capture the city was called off at the last minute, when Taylor realized that it was too late. German forces were already moving in to cover the intended drop zones. Transport planes were already in the air when Taylor's message cancelled the drop, preventing the suicide mission. These efforts behind enemy lines got Taylor noticed at the highest levels of the Allied command.
After the campaigns in the Mediterranean, Taylor was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, which was training in England. After the 101st's founder and commander Major General Bill Lee suffered a heart attack, Taylor was given command of the division.
Taylor jumped into Normandy on D-Day with his men. He was the first Allied general to land in France on D-Day. He held command of the 101st Airborne Division for the rest of the war, but missed out leading the division during its most famous conflict, the Battle of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, because he was attending a staff conference stateside. General Anthony McAuliffe was there and assumed command. Some of the paratroopers resented Taylor for this later.
After WWII
From 1945 to 1949 he was superintendent of West Point, afterwards he was the commander of allied troops in Berlin from 1949 to 1951.
In 1953, he was sent to the Korean War. From 1955 to 1959 he was the Army Chief of Staff, succeeding his former mentor, Matthew B. Ridgway. During his tenure as Army Chief of Staff, Taylor attempted to guide the service into the age of nuclear weapons by restructuring the infantry division. Observers such as Colonel David Hackworth have written the effort gutted the role of US Army company and field grade officers, rendering it unable to adapt to the dynamics of combat in Vietnam.
During 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered General Taylor to deploy 1,000 troops from the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce Federal court orders to desegregate Central High School during the Little Rock Crisis.
General Taylor retired from active service in July of 1959. President John F. Kennedy recalled Taylor to active duty as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a position in which he served from 1962 to 1964. He again retired and became Ambassador to South Vietnam from 1964 to 1965, succeeding Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. He was Special Consultant to the President and Chairman of the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (1965–1969) and President of the Institute of Defense Analysis (1966–1969).
General Taylor died in Washington, D.C. on 19 April, 1987 of Lou Gehrig's Disease. He was interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
See also
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Categories: 1901 births | 1987 deaths | People from Missouri | West Point graduates | Superintendents of the United States Military Academy | American World War II people | Korean War veterans | United States Army generals | Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | Debaters | Vietnam War people | Burials at Arlington National Cemetery