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Hugh Shelton

Hugh Shelton

Hugh Shelton

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Henry Hugh Shelton is a former United States Army officer who served as the 14th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1997 to 2001.

Popular Quotes

5 total
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"When I reached Fort Jackson, the NVA-Vietcong Tet offensive exploded across South Vietnam, with enemy forces attacking every provincial capital and major population center. There was plenty of grist for the news media to grind, especially when Vietcong sappers blasted a hole in the wall of the American embassy in Saigon and almost fought their way into the chancery building before being repulsed. It seemed that the enemy was everywhere, attacking U.S. and ARVN bases, ambushing relief convoys, overrunning isolated outposts. The remote Marine combat base at Khe Sanh in the misty mountains of northern I Cops was besieged for weeks, and the old citadel of the imperial capital of Hue was captured by NVA regulars. This only added more fuel to the antiwar, antidraft protests on Americas campuses and streets. Just back from a fact-finding trip to Vietnam in late February, legendary CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite commented, "WHo won and who lost the great Tet offensive against the cities? Im not sure. The Vietcong did not win by a knockout, but neither did we. The references of history may make it a draw... It seems now more certain that ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate." When President Lyndon Johnson heard the remarks, he said, "Thats it. If Ive lost Cronkite, Ive lost middle America." Johnson chose not to run for reelection. The national mood was bleak."
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Hugh Shelton
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"Just a few years ago, America was engaged in a war for survival, much like our current war to prevail against terrorism. The war Im referring to is the Cold War, a war that America was engaged in for more than forty years- a war we finally won in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall. This victory was followed by an immediate demand to reduce our armed forces as America had done after every major conflict in our history- WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam. And so we set out on the same course- reducing the Army from 785,000 to todays 480,000, the Air Force from thirty-six to twenty tactical fighter wings, and the Navy from six hundred ships to approximately three hundred. Desert Storm caused a pause in downsizing, but as soon as it was over we continued at an even faster pace. All in all, we took more troops out than the entire armed forces of the UK, Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands combined."
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Hugh Shelton
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"When President Bush came in, there as an immediate difference in style. President Bush would show up to meetings early. It was obvious that he liked the meetings to be well organized, crisp, and then get out of there. It was very organized, with little time for chitchat. Unlike President Clinton, President Bush attended almost all the NSC meetings, chairing them from the head of the table. Condoleezza Rice, his National Security Adviser, was very quiet in those meetings- seldom speaking at all, let alone chairing them. It wasnt for any lack of intellect, because she was extremely smart- and personable, too. I didnt think she really stepped into her own and flourished until she became Secretary of State; before that, she really took a backseat. Early on you saw in President Bush a man who was going to be very loyal to those who worked for him- perhaps even too loyal at times. If you were on his team he would battle to the death for you. While this seems like a commendable attribute, when youre in a position of leadership, I dont believe one should allow loyalty to trump the necessity of satisfactory job performance. Im not sure ex-President Bush would agree with that."
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Hugh Shelton

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