General Lyman L. Lemnitzer and NATO, 1948–69: a deferential leader

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR), General Lyman L. Lemnitzer, was an unlikely hero who rose to the challenge of France’s expulsion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) from its territory in 1966. President de Gaulle’s action forced the Alliance to locate its new headquarters in another NATO country and move 800,000 tons of military equipment out of France in less than a year’s time. How to achieve this goal without irrevocably fracturing relations with France was the charge given to the Supreme Allied Commander, a man of equable temperament and – from the perspective of some of his peers – of modest talents. He lacked the authority of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the intellect of General Alfred M. Gruenther Gruenther, and the imperious temperament of General Lauris Norstad. But against the odds he succeeded in opening Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) headquarters in Belgium on 1 April 1967. This essay seeks to examine his long relationship with NATO and judge how successful he was in his leadership as Supreme Allied Commander in the 1960s.