Lemay, Curtis (1906–1990)

United States Air Force general, considered the father of the Strategic Air Command, who was responsible for changing the U.S. doctrine of high-altitude daylight precision bombing into strategic bombing. During World War II, LeMay commanded the air campaigns aimed at destroying Japan's economy through heavy nighttime and low-altitude bombing of factories, railroads, and cities.

Curtis Emerson LeMay was born in Columbus, Ohio, on November 15, 1906. Educated as a civil engineer, he joined the Air Corps in 1928. LeMay transferred in 1937 to bomber aircraft, where he demonstrated excellent abilities. In late 1942 he commanded the Third Bombardment Division, and in July 1944 he transferred to Pacific operations.

Promoted to major general, LeMay headed B-29 operations in the Pacific, including the massive incendiary attacks on more than 60 Japanese cities, including Tokyo. Although the Pacific campaign was successful, the decision to reverse three decades of U.S. airpower doctrine with incendiary attacks against Japanese civilians still raises questions of morality and legality.

After World War II, LeMay was transferred to the Department of Defense as deputy chief of air staff for research and development. In 1948 he headed operations for the Berlin Airlift after the Soviets blockaded the city. From 1949 to 1957, LeMay was in command of the Strategic Air Command, overseeing its transformation into a modern and efficient force. At the beginning, he demonstrated the Strategic Air Command's poor state of efficiency by a “bombing raid” on Dayton, Ohio, in which not a single aircraft carried out the mission as planned.

In July 1957, LeMay was appointed vice chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force; he was made chief of staff in 1961. A committed anticommunist, LeMay advocated a stronger engagement in Vietnam, often clashing with Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and the “flexible response” strategy of Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Maxwell Taylor.

Although LeMay lost appropriation battles for new air weapons, such as the Skybolt missile and B-70 bombers, he successfully promoted strategic air campaigns over tactical strikes. During his command, the U.S. Air Force became disproportionately strong in strategic bombing operations. Carpet bombing of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia led to the deaths and maimings of hundreds of thousands of civilians. The massive bombing campaigns in Cambodia also turned the rural population of that country in favor of the communist Khmer Rouge.

LeMay retired in February 1965. He was selected as the vice presidential running mate for segregationist presidential candidate George Wallace in the 1968 election. LeMay died on October 3, 1990.