Arleigh Burke was one of the finest naval commanders in World War II and reinvigorated the U.S. Navy during the Cold War as chief of naval operations (1955-61). In 1923 he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., where he pursued postgraduate work in ordnance explosives.
Background
Burke was born in Boulder, Colorado, on October 19, 1901, to Oscar Burke and Clara Mokler. His grandfather, August Björkgren, was a Swedish immigrant to the US and changed his surname to 'Burke' (a popular Irish surname) to sound more 'American'.
Education
Due to the 1918 influenza outbreak, schools were closed in Boulder and he never graduated from high school. He won an alternate appointment to the Naval Academy given by his local congressman. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in June 1923, and was commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy.
Over the next 18 years, Burke served aboard battleships and destroyers, and earned a Master of Science in Engineering at the University of Michigan. When World War II came, he found himself, to his great disappointment, in a shore billet at the Naval Gun Factory in Washington, D.C. After persistent efforts on his part, in 1943 he received orders to join the fighting in the South Pacific.
Career
In January 1943 he entered World War II as the commander of a squadron of destroyers in the Solomon Islands. Proving himself to be an able strategist, he led more than 20 military engagements against the Japanese from November 1943 to February 1944, with much success. After the war he helped guide naval policy and, despite briefly falling from political favour in 1949, was elevated to rear admiral in 1950. Rewarded for his skills in leadership and strategic planning, Burke was promoted over 92 more senior admirals to chief of naval operations, serving an unprecedented three terms under Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower. In this post Burke modernized the navy, adapting it for the Cold War by giving it the versatility to handle smaller, limited missions and by adopting new technology, such as arming nuclear-powered submarines with Polaris missiles. For his efforts, remembered long after his retirement in 1961, he was awarded the National Medal of Freedom in 1977, and in 1991 the navy launched the USS Arleigh Burke, a state-of-the-art destroyer named in his honour.
Connections
He married Miss Roberta Gorsuch of Washington, D.C.