National Affairs: Army Chief-to-Be

Four-star General Maxwell Davenport Taylor, 53, appointed chief of the U.S. (and United Nations) Far East Command only seven weeks ago, was named Army Chief of Staff by the President last week, succeeding General Matthew B. Ridgway, who retires June 30.

A native of Keytesville, Mo., Max Taylor graduated from West Point, fourth in the class of 1922, and became a most unusual soldier. He is a widely read man who speaks French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese and Korean (which he learned after he took command of the Eighth Army).

Before World War II Taylor had taught languages for five years at West Point, graduated from the War College and served in Tokyo and Peking. He became one of the first U.S. paratroopers and helped organize the first American airborne divisions. In 1943, in uniform, he slipped through the German lines into Rome and discussed surrender terms with Italian Premier Pietro Badoglio. General Taylor was the first U.S. general to go into Normandy. As commander of the 101st Airborne Division, he jumped in the night before Dday. Later he was wounded, after” the 101st jumped near Eindhoven in the Netherlands. During the Battle of the Bulge his division was rushed up to reinforce the sagging lines and was trapped at Bastogne. At the time, Taylor was back in Washington on a special mission. He left his family on Christmas Eve, flew the Atlantic and jeeped into Bastogne with the first tanks to break through.

In 1945 Taylor became superintendent of West Point, revising the whole curriculum during his 3½-year term. He was U.S. commander in Berlin from 1949 to 1951, and then later served at the Pentagon as Army Deputy Chief of Staff for operations and administration until 1953, when he went to Korea.

Taylor, a quiet, handsome six-footer who keeps his weight down to a trim 175, is a notably deliberate man. “I never do anything impromptu,” he says.

The officer who will take his place as chief of the U.S. (and United Nations) Far East Command is General Lyman Lemnitzer, 55, who had followed Taylor as ground forces commander in the Far East. Lemnitzer learned parachuting at the age of 50, when he took command of the 11th Airborne Division. He was born in Honesdale, Pa., graduated from West Point in 1920. His most publicized wartime experience occurred when he and General Mark Clark waded ashore before the invasion of North Africa. When Clark lost his pants, Lemnitzer lent him his. More important and much less well known is the fact that Lemnitzer, a brilliant staff planner, was one of the drafters of the NATO treaty.