Chapter 19

THE MAN BEHIND THE GENERAL

IT would be as impertinent as it is impossible for one who has not been associated with General Pershing for a long time directly and closely to attempt anything like an analysis of the man or his career. There are, nevertheless, certain qualities that have become more or less the possessions of the public because they have been manifested in his public service. It is therefore permissible to refer briefly to certain of them.

As a foundation for all his work is a strong, vigorous body which at all times has been cared for in a way to make it the servant and not the master of the man. Regular and somewhat strenuous physical exercise maintains the uniformly excellent health and vigor of the Commander. Naturally strong, hard work developed his strength in his boyhood, and his military career has made many demands upon as well as increased these powers. Even when he entered West Point he was an acknowledged expert in horsemanship and his early work in the ten years of his campaigns against the Indians, certainly tested his skill to the utmost in this particular line.

He has known almost every form of active service the American Army can provide. In the demands for rough or heavy work excellent judges asserted when he was sent to France that he has no superior and since his arrival he has shown that he was equally at home in the finer and higher demands that were made upon him. His distinguished bearing, his physical vigor and good health have provided an excellent foundation. The old Latin proverb _Mens sana in corpore sano_ has certainly been verified in the life of General Pershing.

It was Oliver Wendell Holmes who has been frequently quoted as having said that "the foremost qualification for success is the proper selection of one's grandparents." The forcefulness of General Pershing's father, the inspiring words of his mother form a rare background. "Foremost citizen," "devoted to his family," "sterling," "ambitious"--these are some of the words of old-time friends and neighbors, descriptive and expressive of their estimates of his father. All of them, however, are not more suggestive and tender than a neighbor's description of the General's mother as a "splendid homemaker," and "an inspiration to her children." There are many things a son cherishes more highly than the inheritance of great riches, and foremost is the heritage of a good name.

As the oldest of nine children naturally he learned and assumed certain responsibilities at an early age. With the advice and help of his mother it is said that even when he was only fourteen he was managing a farm in the absence of his father. There was work to be done and in abundance. There is ancient authority for the claim that it is good to "learn to bear the yoke in one's youth." A "yoke," however, is not the burden, it is a contrivance which enables one to bear his burden.

A prominent and successful man of business in New York City declared not long ago that if a man does not learn to work when he is young (this man placed the limit at twenty-two) he does not learn afterward. This was the result of both observation and experience.

Whether or not these conclusions are correct, certain it is that in the case of General Pershing, as it has been also in many other marked instances, he learned not only to work but also learned how to work when he was only a boy.

His birthplace was in the great state of Missouri. Reference has already been made to the semi-slang expression which indicates that a man from that State "must be shown." Not long ago there appeared in one of the foremost newspapers of America a bit of verse applying this saying to the present gigantic task of the Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in France. The following quotation (_The Evening Telegram_), whatever it may lack in poetic flavor, is expressive of the public conception of the meaning of the statement:

"When 'Jack' Pershing left for Europe With his sturdy fighting men, Kaiser Willy said, 'How silly! I'll annihilate them when I have time to bother with 'em, For that peewee Yankee force Won't be in it for a minute With my Prussian troops, of course.'"

"Is that so? Well, Kaiser Willy You have made a foolish bet, You have boasted, then you've roasted, But you haven't whipped 'em yet. Let this, Kaiser, make you wiser, If you really care to know, Jack was born in old Missouri, He's a man you'll 'have to show.'"

"Pershing, Pershing, 'Black Jack' Pershing, We are with you, one and all, We will ever pull the lever That will make the Prussians fall. Fighting Pershing,--yes, we know you, Old Missouri born and bred, Here's our motto, we will show you, 'All together! Forge ahead!'"

His determination is one of his fundamental qualities. It is seen in the very expression of his face, emphasized by the prominent nose and jaw. Although it was doubtless a heritage, nevertheless the trying experiences of his early days intensified and aided in developing the quality.

He knew the meaning of hard work when he was a boy, as has been said, but it did not shake his ultimate purpose. He was eager to obtain an education and with this determination once fixed in his mind he never relaxed. Working, teaching, saving, when he entered the Kirksville Normal School he understood something of the price he was paying for the advantages he received. He knew what the attendance had cost him and it is easily understood why he was determined to get the worth of his money.

At West Point this same element was still prominent. It impressed his classmates and teachers. He saw what he wanted and wasted no time or effort on "asides" that might interfere. To be senior captain of cadets was to him the supreme honor--therefore it was only natural that he won the appointment.

The same spirit carried him through his campaign in the Philippine Islands. The Moros could be brought to reason, therefore the Moros were brought to reason. It animates him in France--"Germany can be beaten," "Germany must be beaten," and the third clause is as natural as the words of the General can make them--"Germany will be beaten." It is fitting that the commander of the best trained army America ever had should lead it in a spirit of determination that cannot be shaken.

Underneath this firmness is an unfailing spirit of fairness. After seven years of hard work he established in the Philippines a new record in diplomacy by winning the complete confidence of the natives. Said one man, "In all the Philippines there is no one so beloved for his gentle yet unrelenting manner, his absolute fairness and justice, as this soldier who had the unusual power of instilling love for himself and fear for his enmity at the same time."

In his boyhood his close friends report that this same quality often made him the protector of the younger boys when they were the victims of the school bully. "As a young fellow," states one of his early friends, "he was accommodating and never pushed himself forward. He was always ready to help other fellows who were not able to work out their problems. As a boy his decisions were always quick and accurate."

Of course the spirit of fairness implies the possession of a kindly nature as well as imagination. One cannot be fair or just to his enemies unless he can first get their points of view. This was the underlying quality in the work Lincoln did. He saw what his opponents saw but he also saw more. It is the quality which makes of a man or a boy "a good sport." He appreciates his antagonist and also--in the end--is appreciated by his antagonist.

A writer in the _Missouri Historical Review_, whose words have before been quoted, pays the following tribute to this quality in General Pershing:

With his scholarly attainments, his ability as a writer and speaker and his grasp of big problems, Pershing might have developed into a statesman: he certainly would have succeeded as a business man if he could have contented himself with the humdrum life in a downtown office; and with his attractive personality he might indeed have led a successful career as a politician, except for his unfortunate modesty which even in the army has frequently delayed for him a merited promotion. As a soldier, Pershing's methods are those of clemency rather than ruthlessness and he makes personal friends even of his enemies.

Writing as he did before the declaration of war with Germany he adds:

Since the death of General Funston he has been in command of the Department of the South, one of the important military posts of the country at the present time. With this country an active participant in the War of the Nations and the probability that a strong expeditionary force will be sent to coöperate with the Allies in France, what is more probable or desirable than that General Pershing should command it? He has participated in every war in which this country has been engaged for thirty years and in every campaign has added luster to his own name and distinction to American armies.

One has to read no more than the painstaking reports which he sent from the Philippines to the Adjutant General or to the Headquarters Department of Mindanao and Jolo to comprehend the mastery of details which has been a striking characteristic of General Pershing. From his recommendations concerning military posts and the disposition of the troops in the province he turns to deal specifically with detailed suggestions about cold storage plants and to present carefully prepared suggestions to aid the quartermaster from whom "too much is expected." It is easy for one to tell what _ought_ to be done. The world has never lacked, nor does it lack now, multitudes of men who fancy they are competent to do that. But to find one who is able to tell how to do it--he is the individual for whom the world ever has a warm welcome. Many are officious, but only a few are competent or efficient.

Nor is this quality of mind and heart limited to details of administration alone. It applies also to his knowledge of men. The incident of the telegram to the former cook, John Kulolski, related in