Taylor, Maxwell Davenport
- Taylor, Maxwell Davenport
-
▪ United States army officer
born August 26, 1901, Keytesville, Missouri, U.S.
died April 19, 1987, Washington, D.C.
U.S. Army officer who became a pioneer in airborne warfare in Europe during
World War II.
A 1922 graduate of the
United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, Taylor went on to study at the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and at the Army War College in Washington, D.C. Taylor assisted in the organization of the U.S. Army's first airborne division, the 82nd, early in World War II and was its artillery commander during the Sicilian and Italian campaigns. At great personal risk, he passed through enemy lines 24 hours before the Allied invasion of Italy (1943) to confer with Italian leaders about the possibility of conducting an airborne assault on Rome. In March 1944, just prior to the
Normandy Invasion, he took command of the 101st Airborne Division. He joined its parachute assault before dawn on D-Day (June 6, 1944) and led the division in the disastrous Arnhem operation in The Netherlands (September 1944). Taylor's division gained wide fame for its defense of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge (
Bulge, Battle of the) late in 1944.
After the war Taylor was superintendent of West Point (1945–49). As commanding general of the Eighth Army in 1953, Taylor directed
United Nations forces in Korea during the closing phases of the
Korean War. He then served as army chief of staff (1955–59), in which post he was an early advocate of the strategic doctrine of “flexible response,” which emphasized the maintenance of conventional infantry forces as a prudent wartime alternative to the all-out use of nuclear weapons. He was appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy (
Kennedy, John F.), to whom he was a trusted adviser. Two years later he became U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam, which at that time was being given increasing military support by the United States. He resigned that post in July 1965 but served as a special consultant (1965–69) to President Lyndon B. Johnson (
Johnson, Lyndon B.). Taylor published two volumes on national security:
The Uncertain Trumpet (1960) and
Precarious Security (1976).
Additional Reading
Taylor's life and career are the subject of John M. Taylor, General Maxwell Taylor: The Sword and the Pen (1989), written by his son; and Douglas Kinnard, The Certain Trumpet: Maxwell Taylor & the American Experience in Vietnam (1991).
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Universalium.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
Taylor, Maxwell Davenport — (1901 1987) Born in Missouri, Maxwell Taylor graduated from West Point in 1922 and joined the Army Corps of Engineers. He held several minor positions during the interwar years and attended the Army War College in 1939. As commander of the… … Historical Dictionary of the Roosevelt–Truman Era
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Taylor, Maxwell (Davenport) — born Aug. 26, 1901, Keytesville, Mo., U.S. died April 19, 1987, Washington, D.C. U.S. army officer. He graduated from West Point and helped organize the army s first airborne division early in World War II. He commanded a parachute assault in the … Universalium
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Maxwell Taylor — Maxwell D. Taylor Maxwell Davenport Taylor (* 26. August 1901 in Keytesville, Missouri; † 19. April 1987) war General und Diplomat der Vereinigten Staaten. Leben Der Aufstieg Taylors zu den höchsten Kreisen der US Regierung begann unter den… … Deutsch Wikipedia
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Taylor — /tay leuhr/, n. 1. A(lan) J(ohn) P(ercivale), 1906 90, English historian. 2. Bayard /buy euhrd, bay /, (James Bayard), 1825 78, U.S. poet, novelist, and travel writer. 3. Brook, 1685 1731, English mathematician. 4. Cecil (Percival), born … Universalium
Maxwell D. Taylor — General Maxwell Taylor. Maxwell Davenport Taylor (26 de agosto de 1901 – 9 de abril de 1987) fue un militar y diplomático estadounidense, nacido en Keytesville, Missouri, graduado de la Academia Militar en 1922. Durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial … Wikipedia Español