Great Warrior Leaders/Thinkers

LeMay, Curtis E.
1906- 1990

Air Force combat commander and chief of staff. Considered the architect of the Strategic Air Command.

April 2003
Compiled by Bibliography Branch
Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center
Maxwell AFB, AL

Contents

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All sites last accessed April 22, 2003.

Internet Resources

American Airpower Biography: LeMay

Curtis E. LeMay Photo Gallery. USAF Museum.

Books

Please note: A call number beginning with "R" denotes a reference book.

Air Leadership, edited by Wayne Thompson. Washington, Office of Air Force History, 1986. 156 p. (USAF Warrior Studies Series)
LeMay as a participant in panel discussion on Carl Spaatz, pp 39-55.
Book call no.: 358.400973 A298

American Military Leaders. New York, Praeger, 1989. 416 p.
LeMay, pp 170-173. .
Book call no.: 923.5 A512

Anders, Curt. Fighting Airmen. New York, Putnam, 1966. 287 p. .
Young Ironpants, pp 238-275.
Book call no.: R 923.573 A544fa

The Army Air Forces in World War II. Volume 5: The Pacific: Matterhorn to Nagasaki. June 1944 to August 1945. Chicago, University of Chicago, 1953. 878 p. .
See index for references to LeMay.
Book call no.: R 940.544973 A741 v.5

Coffey, Thomas M. Iron Eagle: The Turbulent Life of General Curtis LeMay. New York: Crown, 1986. 474 p.
Book call no.: 92 L549c

Current Biography, 1954. New York, H.W. Wilson, 1954. 703 p.
LeMay, Curtis E., pp 403-405.
Book call no.: R 920.02 C976 1954

Dictionary of American Military Biography, Volume 2, edited by Roger J. Spiller and others. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press,1984. 421-894 p.
LeMay, Curtis E., pp 629-632.
Book call no.: R 923.573 D554 v.2

Generals of the Army and the Air Force. Washington, Dunleavy Publishing Co., 1954. 1 vol.
LeMay, Curtis E., Feb. 1954, pp 16-17.
Book call no.: R 923.5 G326 v.2 Feb 1954 - Jan 1955

Hansell, Haywood S. The Strategic Air War Against Germany and Japan. Washington, Office of Air Force History, GPO, 1986. 300 p. (USAF Warrior Studies)
Consult index for references to General LeMay.
Book call no.: 940.544973 H249sa

Impact: The Army Air Forces' Confidential Picture History of World War II. Book V, sponsored by the Air Force Historical Foundation. New York, James Parton and Co., 1980. 1 vol.
The Command Realities, by Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, pp x-xvii.
Book call no.: 940.544973 I34 v.5

Larrabee, Eric. Commander in Chief: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, His Lieutenants and Their War. New York, Harper, 1987. 723 p.
General LeMay, pp 579-622.
Book call no.: 973.9170924 L333c

LeMay, Curtis Emerson. Mission with LeMay. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1965. 581 p.
Book call no.: 92 L549m

LeMay, Curtis E. (Gee) and Yenne, Bill. Superfortress: The Story of the B-29 and American Air Power. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1988. 222 p.
Book call no.: 940.544973 L549s

National Aviation Hall of Fame (U.S.). Enshrinee Album: "The First Twenty-one Years." Dayton, OH, National Aviation Hall of Fame, 1984. 230 p.
LeMay, pp 112-113; includes portrait.
Book call no.: R 926.2913 N277e
Nutter, Ralph H. With the Possum and the Eagle : the Memoir of a Navigator's War over Germany and Japan. Novato, CA : Presidio, 2002.
 Book call no.:940.544973 N984w

Strategic Air Warfare; An Interview with Generals Curtis E. LeMay. Leon W. Johnson. David A. Burchinal. and Jack J. Catton, edited by Richard H. Kohn and Joseph P. Harahan. Washington, GPO, 1988. 146 p.
LeMay on Leadership, p 130.
Book call no.:  358.420973 S898

Webster's American Military Biographies. Springfield, MA, G & C Merriam, 1978. 548 p.
LeMay, Curtis, pp 235-236.
Book call no.: R 923.5 W385

Zimmerman, Carrol L. Insider at SAC: Operations Analysis under General LeMav. Manhattan, KS,Sunflower University Press, 1988. 166 p.
Includes a pictorial history in cartoon drawings, pp 144-154.
Book call no.: 358.420973 Z73i

Documents

Bauer, Paul A. The Heroic Leader: A Role for the Eighties? Maxwell AFB, AL, Air Command and Staff College, April 1982.  57 p.
Studies of Generals LeMay, Eaker and Doolittle.
Doc. call no.: M-U 43122 B3442h

Creni, Silver C.  Prescription for Developing Military Leadership. Maxwell AFB, AL, Air Command and Staff College, June 1968. 78 p. 
Curtis E. LeMay, pp 44-48.
Doc. call no.: M-U 35582-7 C929p

Cronley, T. J.  Curtis E. LeMav: The Enduring "Big Bomber Man." Quantico, VA, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, March 1986. 112 p. 
Doc. call no.: M-U 41886-71 C947c

Dean, George R. ACSC Commandant's Special: Living History Interview with General Curtis E. LeMay. Maxwell AFB, AL, Air Command and Staff College, April 1985. 67 p. 
Doc. call no.: M-U 43122 D281a

Drewello, Christopher S. Operational Leadership for the 21st Century : Three
Characteristics. Newport, R.I. : Naval War College, 2002. 19 p.
Includes discussion of LeMay.
Doc. call no.: M-U 41662 D776o
Also available online at: http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA400909 

Green, John R. Leadership in War and Peace: An Historical Assessment for Today. Maxwell AFB, AL, Air War College, May 1989. 118 p. 
LeMay, pp 39-55.
Doc. call no.: M-U 43117 G7961L

Hollingsworth, David M.  Ira C. Eaker and Curtis E. LeMav: Great Warriors. Maxwell AFB, AL, Air Command and Staff College, April 1985. 45 p. 
Doc. call no.: M-U 43122 H7411I

Robinson, Ian E. Curtis E. LeMav: A Great Warrior. Maxwell AFB, AL, Air Command and Staff College, 1984. 57 p. 
Doc. call no.: M-U 43122 R662c

Wilhelm, Karen S. The Image of Military Leadership: To Be or Not to Be a Hero. Fort Leavenworth, KS, Army Command and General Staff College, December 1994. 53 p. 
Doc call no.: M-U 42022-2 W678i

Periodicals

Adams, Roy. Gen Curtis E. LeMay Says He Instituted Spot Promotions after World War II as an Incentive To Whip the SAC into Shape. Air Force Times 49:15+ October 24, 1988.

Bailey, Greg. Farewell to SAC. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 48:10-11 June 1992.
Includes a profile of LeMay.

Baker, Bud. On the Importance of Image: Some Lessons from the B-52, Curtis E. LeMay, and P. D. Eldred. Airpower Journal 8:55-61 Summer 1994.
Also available online at: http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj94/baker.html 

Boyne, Walter J. LeMay (cover story). Air Force Magazine 81: 60-67 March 1998.
Includes many photos.

Callendar, Bruce D. General Curtis E. LeMay: 1906-1990. Air Force Times 51 :7+ October 15, 1990.

Conversino, Mark J. Back to the Stone Age: The Attack on Curtis E. LeMay (review essay). Strategic Review 25:60-68 Spring 1997.

Crane, Conrad C.  Raiding the Beggar's Pantry:  the Search for Airpower Strategy in the Korean War.  Journal of Military History 63: 885+ October 1999.
Details the efforts of the US military in searching for an airpower strategy appropriate in the Korean War.  Includes the role of Curtis LeMay.

Eaker, Ira C. LeMay. Daedalus Flyer 5:2-3 March 1965.

Elfin, Mel. Epitaph: Curtis LeMay. U.S. News & World Report 109:26 October 15 1990.

Faces from the First 50 Years. Air Force Magazine 80:36-52 June 1997.
Depicts the faces of USAF personnel from the service's first fifty years, including Curtis LeMay.

From LeMay to McConnell--a Change to the 'Nero Breed.' Newsweek 65: 16-17 January 4, 1965.

General Curtis Emerson LeMay.  JFQ: Joint Force Quarterly Issue 23: 114  Autumn/Winter 1998-99.
Brief vita, with color portrait.
Available online at: http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/jfq_pubs/2020.pdf 

General LeMay's Legacy: A Courageous Professional. Journal of the Armed Forces 102:1 January 23, 1965.

Hill, Robert L. LeMay: Architect for Excellence. Combat Crew 36:8-9 October 1986.

Hopkins, J. C. General Curtis E. LeMay . . . The Airman's Airman. Combat Crew 36:4-7 October 1986.

Huie, William B. The A-Bomb General of Our Air Force. Coronet 28:87-91 October 1950.

Jamison, Theodore R. General Curtis LeMay, the Strategic Air Command, and the Korean War, 1950-1953. American Aviation Historical Society Journal 41:190-199 Fall 1996.

Kohn, Richard H. and Harahan, Joseph P. U.S. Strategic Air Power, 1948-1962: Excerpts from an interview with Generals Curtis E. LeMay, Leon W. Johnson, David A. Burchinal, and Jack J. Catton. International Securitv 12:78-95 Spring 1988.

LeMay, Curtis E.  AAF's War of Research. Flying 38:17-19+ June 1946.

LeMay, Curtis E.  Be Professional. Airman 2:24-25 August 1958.

LeMay, Curtis E. Future of Manned Bombers. Ordnance 43:202-205 September-October 1958.

LeMay, Curtis E. Strategic Air Power: Destroying the Enemy's War Resources, Part 2: The Command Realities. Aerospace Historian 27: 9-15 March 1980.

Man of Decisions. Boeing Magazine 26:10-11 April 1956.

Obituary: General Curtis LeMay: Star Wars in His Eyes. Manchester Guardian Weekly 143:12 October 14, 1990.

Parshall, Gerald.  Curtis LeMay.  U. S. News & World Report 124: 68+  March 16, 1998.  
Cover story profiles General LeMay.

Rhodes, Richard. The General and World War III. New Yorker 71:47-59 June 19, 1995.

Roman, Peter J. Curtis LeMay and the Origins of NATO Atomic Targeting. Journal of Strategic Studies 16:46-74 March 1993.

Smith, Dale O. The Airman Who Shook the World. Air Force Magazine 70:100-104 January 1987.

Sturm, Ted R. The Man and the Strategist. Airman 9:4-11 February 1965.

V.L.R. Man (LeMay, Very Long Range Man). Time 46:22-25 August 13, 1945.

We Remember... (General Curtis E. LeMay). Combat Crew 40: 12-13 November 1990.

Witze, Claude. Global Organization Man. Air Force Times  44:48-51 September 1961.

Wuriu, Tom. Leader in Profile: Flexibility Key to LeMay's Value to Nation During Peace and War. Air Force Times 23:10 March 9, 1963.

Zudach, Paul. General LeMay Reflects on SAC. Combat Crew 36:9-10 October 1986.

Videos

Air Power and the Man. Palm Springs, CA: Big Picture, [c1993]. 1 videocassette (30 minutes), black and white.
 Video call no.: 92 L549a

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