Eddie Rickenbacker: An American Hero in the TwentiethCentury,
by W. David Lewis. Baltimore, Md.: The JohnsHopkins University Press, 2005.This is a scholarly and yet readable biography ofEddie Rickebacker, one of the most compelling figures intwentieth-century United States history.During the early 1900s America’s venture capitalismjoined with its technological achievements to create a newnational sport, automobile racing. This innovative form ofentertainment attracted Edd Rickenbacher, who emerged froma rough boyhood in Ohio to become Eddie “Rick”Rickenbacker, a driver who competed at death-defying speedson tracks across the country. One first-generationAmerican racer surveyed his fellow professionals anddeclared Rickenbacker to be “the nerviest and mostunnerving of them all.”After America entered the Great War, Rickenbacker’sTeutonic heritage led to groundless speculations that heoperated as a German agent. He overcame these allegationsand became a national hero. Supported by Col. William B.(Billy) Mitchell, “Rick” readily made the transition fromracecar driver to combat pilot. Serving in the 1
st
PursuitGroup’s 94
th
Aero Squadron, the renowned Hat-in-the-RingSquadron, commanded by Maj. Raoul Lufbery, Rickenbacker wascredited with his first aerial victory for an action on 29April 1918. He ended the conflict as America’s ace ofaces. Col. Harold H. Hartney, commander of the 1
st
PursuitGroup, asserted: “An army of Rickenbackers in the sky wouldbe invincible.”After the war the famous pilot and racer moved betweenhis two interests, aviation and automobiles. During theearly 1920s he went into partnership with Byron F. Everittand others to produce the Rickenbacker, “A Car Worthy ofIts Name.” Rick also married a woman who was familiar withthe automobile business: in 1922 he tied the knot withAdelaide Frost Durant, the ex-wife of Russell (Cliff)Durant, the son of General Motors founder William C.(Billy) Durant. The marriage proved a happy one, but theauto-making enterprise did not. Strong competition fromthe Chrysler Motor Company and poor strategic decisions putthe Rickenbacker Motor Company into receivership and leftRick with a quarter-million dollars of debt. His
investment in Florida Airways turned into another failureand the disappointed entrepreneur began drinking heavily.Beyond these failures, Rickenbacker enjoyed successes.In 1927 he acquired an American landmark, the IndianapolisMotor Speedway. During the Great Depression, Rick became asenior executive of American Air Transport, successfullyurged General Motors to expand into aviation, and led aflight that set a new transcontinental speed record. Firstas general manager of GM’s Eastern Air Transport during themid-1930s, and later as president and chief executiveofficer of the Eastern Air Lines Corporation, Rickenbackerscored breakthrough achievements in passenger services.The company’s DC-2s and –3s made it the most profitablecarrier of its day.Rickenbacker paid a high price in his personal lifefor his triumphs in the corporate world. His work took himaway from his wife and two sons for long periods of timeand hurt his marriage and his parenting. During a businesstrip in February 1941, he nearly paid the highest pricepossible: he narrowly survived an airplane crash nearAtlanta, Georgia.As serious as Rickenbacker’s injuries were, they didnot prevent him from contributing to America’s effort inWorld War II. In March 1942 Lt. Gen. Henry H. (Hap)Arnold, commander of the Army Air Forces, sent Rick on amorale-raising tour that took him to forty-one U.S. basesin thirty-two days. The World War I hero also conducted astudy of British and American strategic bombing, forSecretary of War Henry L. Stimson. While traveling on ahighly secret mission for this same official, Rickenbackersurvived a harrowing B-17 crash and a thirty-one-day raftordeal in the Pacific Ocean.This grueling experience, combined with the Atlantacrash, convinced Rickenbacker that he had been deliveredfrom death for a purpose. The famous aviator concludedthat it was his mission to speak out on public issues.Rickenbacker mounted an attack against “labor racketeers”and, during the early years of the Cold War, supportedSenator Joseph McCarthy’s crusade against communism.Author David Lewis observes that during the post-WorldWar II years Rickenbacker “seemed increasingly out of stepwith the times” (page 549). His Eastern Airlines faced
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US Air Force: AFD-060814-016
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