Others may have used the term, but as far as I know, I am the first to coin the term McClellan effect. Just what is the effect and why is it? When the south took up arms and attacked the north in their effort to begin their own nation, General George B. McClellan managed to somewhat fight back the attack. However, he did not take advantage of situation. Eventually, Abe Lincoln fired him. That is history. Most fifth or sixth graders in a good school system knows this.

For this reason, I feel he is best suited to name the effect after. McClellan was considered a good leader by many, until he had to lead. Some folks claim that the civil war would not have lasted as long and the loss of life would not have been so great if Lincoln dismissed him earlier. It turned out, McClellan was more politician than soldier. He preferred his recognition to doing his job. He totally enjoyed moving in the political people in Washington but he knew not how to fight a war.

He was a good peacetime general, but when the cannon fire started, his lack of skill could be easily seen by, well by a sixth grader.

I have no idea why it is, but during peace time, we turn the military over to the McClellans. It is why I call it the McClellan effect. Even during the short WW I, the leadership changed drastically. Eisenhower started WW II as a colonel. He climbed the rung pretty fast, to the point of heading all allied forces in Europe. How many generals of the McClellan type did he pass on the way up. Most likely as he passed them, they asked what that was that passed so fast.

Not all of the good generals made it to the top. They made a movie about him. If you get the chance, you need to see it, “The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell.” They tossed him out of the Army for having the nerve to suggest that planes can destroy even the biggest battleship. That angered a bunch of Navy admirals, even though everything he said was totally right. I don’t know how many of those admirals were honored but the B-25 was named in honor of Gen. Mitchell, the plane used by Doolittle in the raid over Tokyo.

Billy Mitchell was one of those generals who could not survive the politics of peacetime while the admirals did. I wonder just how many men died because of that.

Now, we are in a quasi peace time. It is an environment in which only the political generals survive. it makes me wonder just how many Billy Mitchells we have lost. If I were appointed sec. of Defense, the first thing I would do would be to fire all four and three star generals. From where I sit, none of them are any better leaders than I was. They do know how to say, “Yes sir,” to Old Joe though. And now our armed forces are degrading to far worse than when Reagan became president. Then again, I guess they can’t be totally guilty when you consider what they have for a commander in general.

The problem is, should we ever suffer another Pearl Harbor, would we be able to overcome the McClellan effect long enough to get the good generals in a place where they will do us any good. We might not have months. We might not have days. We might not even have hours.