Generals and Admirals, Criminals and Crooks
American military leaders are intended to be the exemplars of duty, honor and country, but what happens when our supposed defenders of liberty are the one perpetuating injustice? Generals and Admirals, Criminals and Crooks: Dishonorable Leadership in the U.S. Military confronts the dark side of criminal and unethical conduct among U.S. flag officers to offer valuable lessons in leadership that will stimulate further debate and critical self-assessment within the U.S. military.
Lieutenant General (Ret.) Mark Hertling, U.S. Army, said, “Generals and Admirals, Criminals and Crooks is a terrific tale of failures, and it must become part of the required reading on leadership at all our military staff and war colleges."
Award-winning author Jeffrey J. Matthews examines bad leadership in American military history over the past one hundred years in Generals and Admirals, Criminals and Crooks. Beginning with war crimes in the Philippine-American War and ending with the Fat Leonard corruption scandal, Matthews examines a range of leadership failures, including moral cowardice, sex crimes, insubordination, toxic leadership, and obstruction of justice.
“Our Nation expects the best people to lead our sons and daughters who serve in uniform,” said Brigadier General (Ret.) Dave Reist, U.S. Marine Corps, “Generals and Admirals, Criminals and Crooks should make any individual contemplate their leadership style and potential downstream impacts. Matthews’s assessment of blatant criminal behavior through the nuances of loyalty to a cause or individual, reveals how power, and absolute power, can influence and corrupt."
Throughout the work, Generals and Admirals, Criminals and Crooks notes the honor of most service members and stresses the pallor that dishonorable leaders cast on the military as whole. Matthews offers an analysis of the motives behind the high profile missteps and explores what could be done to curtail future misconduct of generals and admirals.
About the author: Jeffrey J. Matthews is the George Frederick Jewett Distinguished Professor at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. He teaches American history and leadership and has written or edited four previous books, including Colin Powell: Imperfect Patriot (University of Notre Dame Press, 2019), winner of the Foreword INDIES War and Military Book of the Year Award and finalist for the Army Historical Foundation Book Award.
Generals and Admirals, Criminals and Crooks will be released October 1, 2023. For more information, or to request an advance review copy, contact Michelle Sybert, msybert@nd.edu, 574-631-4910.