The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2020 97 and Albert Hourani’s A History of the Arab Peoples (1991, updated 2013 by Malise Ruthven). In dealing with the modern 20th-century era, Hourani, for example, supports his analysis with frequent use of statistics. This helps the reader understand the magnitude of eco- nomic and social change in the decades following World War II. His final chapter of the 1991 work gives an excellent snapshot of economic and social conditions of the 1980s, while discussing the Arabs’ loss of confidence in themselves following the defeats by Israel in the wars of 1967 and 1973. But Hourani writes as one inside the classroom, lecturing to students. Mackintosh-Smith is in the street, with the crowds. His use of contemporane- ous quotations, even song lyrics from the modern era, conveys the impression of one immersed in Arab culture and tradition, helping us to feel the spirit of the age. I found this style to be more interesting and more enjoyable to read. Both works obviously have their merits (and the Hourani book has been updated by another writer), but Mack- intosh-Smith’s book will now be read for decades to come. Every Foreign Service Arabist—or anyone seeking a deeper understanding of Arab culture and lan- guage—should read it. Though the text is identical, the trim size of the paperback edition is smaller than that of the hardback edition. Aging readers may prefer the larger print of the hardback edition. Charles O. Cecil is a retired Foreign Service officer. Of his 10 overseas assignments, six were in the Arab world, including two years as director of the Foreign Service Institute’s Arabic Language School in Tunis. He served as ambassador to Niger (1996-1999) and as chargé d’affaires in Libya (2006-2007). Behind the Scenes, at the Forefront of History The Second Most Powerful Man in the World: The Life of Admiral William D. Leahy, Roosevelt’s Chief of Staff Phillips Payson O’Brien, Dutton Caliber, 2019, $20/paperback, 544 pages. Reviewed by Dmitry Filipoff While some historical figures shape world events profoundly, their subtle methods and unfailing discretion often condemn their memory to a historical afterthought. On further exploration, the extent of their impact not only transforms our understanding of them as individu- als but also the story of how history came together. Such is the case of William D. Leahy, the fascinating subject of Phillips Payson O’Brien’s new book, The Second Most Powerful Man in the World . In 1940, fresh off a decadeslong naval career capped by a final assignment as the service’s chief, Bill Leahy was break- fasting with his wife in his governor’s residence in Puerto Rico when a request from an old friend of nearly 30 years was urgently presented to him. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who a year earlier had appointed Leahy governor of Puerto Rico, had a sensitive assignment in mind for his longtime confidant: to go to newly conquered France to serve as the American ambassador to the Vichy regime. Several months after the United States formally entered World War II, when Leahy had been in France for some two years, he was recalled to active duty to serve in an unprecedented role at the White House, a role that Roosevelt had discussed with Leahy years prior. Admiral Leahy would now preside over the chiefs of the military services and be the senior- most adviser to the president on the war. Simply called the chief of staff to the commander in chief, the position would later be formalized as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the national security adviser. What was not clearly spelled out at the onset was the diplo- matic nature of the post, or its role in shaping strategic conceptions of foreign policy for the presidency. Through painstaking research, O’Brien homes in on Leahy’s role not only in White House decision-making, but also at the grand strategic confer- ences of World War II where the Allied powers met to debate and decide on the political-military strategy of the war. There Leahy worked to ensure a coherent American position, provided invaluable counsel to Presidents Roosevelt and Tru- man as they sized up the strategic inten- tions of other world leaders, and helped defeat proposals that could have changed the course of World War II—including, for instance, delaying the D-Day invasion or focusing on a Mediterranean thrust as the British tenaciously advocated. Mindful of evolv- ing civil-military relations during the war, Leahy also served as the White House’s chief conduit with the State Department, pri- marily through Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles, whose influence with the presi- dent was greater than that of Secretary of State Cordell Hull.