Hyman G. Rickover - Controversy

Controversy

Hyperactive, political, blunt, confrontational, insulting, flamboyant, and an unexcelled workaholic who was always demanding of others — without regard for rank or position — as well as himself, Admiral Rickover was a thundering force of nature and lightning rod for controversy. Moreover, he had "little tolerance for mediocrity, none for stupidity." "If a man is dumb," said a Chicago friend, "Rickover thinks he ought to be dead." Even while a Captain, Rickover did not conceal his opinions, and many of the officers he regarded as dumb eventually rose in rank to be admirals and were assigned to the Pentagon.

Rickover found himself frequently and loudly in bureaucratic combat with these senior naval officers, to the point that he almost missed becoming "Admiral" Rickover: Two admiral-selection boards — exclusively made up of admirals — passed over Captain Rickover for promotion, even while he was in the process of becoming famous. One of these selection boards even met the day after USS Nautilus had its keel-laying ceremony in the presence of President Truman. It eventually took the intervention of the White House, U.S. Congress and the Secretary of the Navy — and the very real threat of changing the Navy's admiral-selection system to include civilians — before the next flag-selection board welcomed the twice passed-over Rickover (normally a career-ending event) into their ranks.

Even the most senior, renowned and professionally-accomplished nuclear-trained officers that Rickover had personally selected, such as Edward L. Beach, Jr., had mixed feelings about "the kindly old gentleman," or simply "KOG", as Rickover became euphemistically known in inner circles. Beach, in his later years, once referred to him as a "tyrant" with "no account of his gradually failing powers" (p. 179, United States Submarines, 2002).

However, President Nixon's comments upon awarding the admiral's fourth star in 1973 are germane:

"I don't mean to suggest ... that he is a man who is without controversy. He speaks his mind. Sometimes he has rivals who disagree with him; sometimes they are right, and he is the first to admit that sometimes he might be wrong. But the greatness of the American military service, and particularly the greatness of the Navy, is symbolized in this ceremony today, because this man, who is controversial, this man, who comes up with unorthodox ideas, did not become submerged by the bureaucracy, because once genius is submerged by bureaucracy, a nation is doomed to mediocrity."(Photo)

While both Rickover's military authority and congressional mandate with regard to the U.S. fleet's reactor operations was absolute, it was not infrequently a subject of Navy-internal controversy. As head of the Naval Reactors branch, and thus responsible for "signing off" on a crew's competence to operate the reactor safely, he had the power to effectively remove a warship from active service and did so on several occasions, much to the consternation of those affected.

In short, Rickover was obsessed with a safe, details-focused and successful nuclear program. Coincident with this success, the perception became established among many observers that he sometimes used the raw exercise of power to settle scores or tweak noses.