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Preface
- Texas A&M University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
xv HIGH ABOVE a bend in the Hudson River, about fifty miles north of New York City, lies the United States Military Academy at West Point. From the river, West Point’s granite walls resemble a medieval fortress—massive rock foundations, high crenellated walls, even a portcullis or two. These features were hardly coincidental. The architectural style was meant to evoke a sense of strength and constancy, values well-suited to the professional focus of this military institution. Founded in 1802, West Point’s first and only mission is to prepare young men—and, since 1976, young women—to be leaders of character for service as commissioned officers in the United States Army. West Point’s success in accomplishing that mission has secured its reputation as one of the foremost leader development institutions in the world. An Academy promotional poster leverages these points: “At West Point, much of the history we teach was made by people we taught.” Carved from Granite: West Point since 1902 is a critical history of the modern Military Academy. It describes how, and assesses how well, West Point has accomplished its mission of developing leaders of character. West Point is an impressive institution in many ways, and the book gives credit where credit is due. But not all is well behind the parapets. Portions of Carved from Granite will stir controversy by exposing the problems and challenging long-held but tenuous assumptions. An opening chapter on the Academy’s early (nineteenth-century) history provides context for the topic of each subsequent chapter. The primary focus of the book, however, is on the period since 1902—the year of the Academy’s centennial—because of the fundamental changes at West Point beginning around that time. While West Point’s nineteenth-century history is interesting and colorful, its subsequent history is far more relevant to the issues that face the Academy today. Except for the introductory chapter, the book is organized thematically. There is one chapter each on governance, admissions, academics, military training , the physical program (including intercollegiate athletics), leader development , and character building. Within each chapter the narrative is chronological ; as a result, the most important aspects of West Point’s history receive Preface xvi PREFACE overlapping coverage from different thematic perspectives. A concluding chapter , subjective and interpretive, suggests ways of improving the institution. Inspiration for this project came from my work as the editor of West Point: Two Centuries and Beyond (McWhiney Foundation Press, 2004). The twentyfour essays in that volume examined many aspects of West Point’s history that hitherto had received little attention. Still, there remained considerable gaps in the historical coverage. For example, there had never been a serious account of the military training program at West Point, despite its centrality to cadet development and officer professionalism. Likewise, no one had ever examined closely the history of the admissions system, which reflects societal attitudes toward equal opportunity and civilian control of the military. Other neglected topics included governance of a dual academic-military institution, methods of character building, the influence of intercollegiate athletics on institutional priorities, and the evolution of leader development techniques. In West Point: Two Centuries and Beyond, I asserted that continuity trumped change as the defining feature of the Academy’s history: “Steeped in military tradition and proud of its long legacy of service, West Point stands like granite against the tide of shifting social currents. . . . Continuity—not change—is what most characterizes West Point and the Corps of Cadets.” Seven years of further research have led me to a decidedly different opinion. Continuity certainly dominated West Point’s first century, as Academy leaders resisted changes to their proven method of leader development. During the second century, however, the pace of change was at times frenetic. As Carved from Granite focuses on the period since 1902, it amply demonstrates that change, not continuity , best describes the history of West Point since the centennial. The thesis of this book concerns the two qualities—character and intellect —that have distinguished West Pointers, as a group, since the founding of the Academy. Throughout its history, West Point has been most successful when its leaders focused on character and intellect as the preeminent developmental goals for cadets; conversely, the institution experienced the greatest difficulties when its leaders gave unwarranted priority to other, less important goals. The focus on character and intellect was sharp during the nineteenth century, but it blurred from time to time during the twentieth...