Eddie Rickenbacker by W. David Lewis

[Der Grüne Flieger]

I have just completed reading a book on Eddie Rickenbacker by W. David Lewis.

I found the book to be very interesting when it covered Eddie's early days and the time he spent flying in WW1. I also enjoyed to read his struggles after the war and how he built Eastern into a powerhouse airline that reflected his attitude and sensibilities.

Eddie was a gruff, tough, hard working man who was not well educated in the traditional sense of the word. He was however, very smart and a good organizer of people and procedures. He was aware of his place in US history and even toyed with the idea of running for public office.

All in all, I liked the book. It seemed to be well researched and highly footnoted. The only complaint I have with the book is the chapters dealing with his last few years. I thought they dragged a bit.

Did anybody else read it? Comments??

Phil

[rainbase]

Interesting timing. I just last week read "Ace Of Aces", by H. Paul Jeffers (2005, Random House, 342 pages)

This is another one of the modern biographies of America's most famous wartime ace. Reading your description of Lewis' book, Phil, I had to double check which one I had just read. Indeed, these two books must be very similar.

In Jeffers' case, he has drawn very heavily from the three books Eddie himself wrote (or co-wrote) during his own lifetime (Fighting The Flying Circus, Seven Came Through & Rickenbacker: An Autobiography). For Rickenbacker's wartime career, fairly early on he began keeping a detailed journal and this would form the basis of "Fighting The Flying Circus". It's a remarkable account by any means.

Now, being familiar with Rickenbacker's life story, Jeffers' book is laid out fairly straight ahead and without any real surprises. Rickenbacker was, however, a fairly shameless self promoter and there are some less favorable episodes glossed over in his autobiography. Jeffers' does fill in some missing details, particularly concerning EVR's business years (when he could be quite abrasive) and I admit I found these among the most interesting bits of the book.

Another thing I didn't realize was that Rickenbacker, in conjunction with a right wing group called "America's Future" had donated nearly 35,000 copies of his autobiography to American schools and universities. It was one of these copies that I first read at the age of 11 or 12 while parked for long hours in the University Of Connecticut's library when my mother (after having raised us kids) decided to go back to school and get her Masters Degree. There and then Eddie Rickenbacker became my first Great War flying hero. I was too young at the time to realize how far apart my hero's politics would end up being from my own, but still I marvel at his "rags to riches" story. Nobody exemplified the promise of "The American Dream fulfilled" the way he did. It's a great story.

[Der Grüne Flieger]

Jan,

Interesting post.

It's funny you mentioned that Eddie was such a self promoter, I thought the same. I read of his efforts in becoming then maintaining his status as America's top ace, with that in mind. He worked hard to stay in the air and attack the enemy, of that there is no doubt. He worked just as hard to make sure he got credit for his kills. Nothing wrong with this, but I noticed the effort expended when others were not as keen.

I also was surprised to read of his initial thoughts about the post war world. He thought it would be shared between the US, Russia and China. We would have some sort of friendship with Russia and this would lead to a mutual understand that each operated in it's own sphere of influence. Optimistic and not well thought out to be sure, but who would have figured we'd have a cold war with the USSR either?

Phil

[Barrett]

This weekend I talked to a friend who received the MoH during The Vietnam Thing. He works with the feds in identifying phony "heroes"who seem to pop up more around Veterans' Day, so take note this month. He added that the one thing he dislikes almost as much as phonies are those who lobby for the Medal. When I mentioned that EVR did so for 12 years, my pal said, "Him too."

EVR did a lot to promote aviation, but lest we accord him too much credit, his 26 victories involved about 11 planes & balloons destroyed, and apparently he did almost no flying after 1919.

[Bulldog90]

I never knew that about Rickenbacker ( that he received the MoH 12 years after the fact), but that explains why he looked older in the photos. Interesting...

Bulldog 90

[Colin A Owers]

For a different view of Rickenbacker read "Fast Eddie" by Robert O'Connell.

Here are a couple of reviews.

From Publishers Weekly
An engagingly offbeat debut novel by an iconoclastic military historian (Of Arms and Men: A History of War, Weapons and Aggression), this is an often irreverent, even ribald, fictional biography of Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, the quixotic WWI flying ace and Medal of Honor winner. O'Connell inventively spins off anecdotes and opinions from the real and fictional friends, lovers, passing acquaintances and enemies who encountered the hard-headed, unflappable hero along his 82 adventurous years; not the least of these observations are frequent sarcastic asides from God. Born in 1890, one of seven siblings left penniless when his mother is widowed, Fast Eddie quits school before his 14th birthday and goes to work in a Columbus, Ohio, glass factory. Moving from one job to another, in 1906 he joins a local auto manufacturer and is quickly racing cars. Before turning 21, he's participated in his first Indy 500, and within a few years, Rickenbacker becomes, arguably, the top race driver in the U.S. When he blusters his way to France in 1917 as General Pershing's driver, he has never flown an "aeroplane," but he runs roughshod over all opposition and wangles flight training from the French, thus beginning his legendary career as a celebrated WWI flying ace. Rickenbacker amasses an incredible 26 victories during the six months before the Armistice. Back home, he na?vely lends his name to a new motor car company, unaware that the undertaking is a front for a clever stock scam. O'Connell's vividly polyvocal narrative details, often with swift humor, the incredible exploits (including surviving for three weeks in a raft adrift on the Pacific during WWII) of the man who was a war hero, commercial aviation pioneer, boudoir gymnast, political pawn, social pariah and American legend. Agent, Brandt & Brandt. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Remember Eddie Rickenbacker--early car racer, World War I flying ace, founder of Eastern Airlines, survivor of 24 days adrift in the Pacific during World War II, and right wing cold warrior? No? Good, 'cause then you won't bring preconceptions to this uproarious fictional biography. War historian O'Connell casts his first novel as a documentary or oral history whose speakers include, besides arrogant, aggressive, loudmouthed, undeniably courageous Eddie himself, his mother, wife, sons, secretary, ghostwriter, friends (friends?), enemies (e.g., Red Baron Manfred von Richthofen, FDR, plenty of airline execs), and acquaintances casual (W. C. Fields, Damon Runyan) and very casual (Mae West, Amelia Earhart). Oh, yes, and God, who has all the funniest lines. Thanking "those who took time out from being dead to answer my questions" and allowing "that this book is, in fact, fiction," O'Connell still doesn't twist any history as he tracks the entrepreneurial comet that was Rickenbacker's life; he just fills it in, fleshes it out. So we discover that Eddie was uncommonly well endowed and capable of outdoing the fellow in the folk song about "nine times a night." We learn that air travel has never been a bargain; crafty execs have seen to it that Uncle Sugar made it pay from its '30s takeoff on. We learn God's opinion of major twentieth-century notables and entire nationalities. O'Connell turns none of his "informants" into buffoons, and amidst the hilarity, provokes reflection on whether real-life action heroes like Eddie have to also be colossal pains in the posterior and whether, if God really is running things, He does it primarily for His own amusement. These are not trivial matters, and this is no lightweight novel. It is a peer of Thomas Berger's Little Big Man. Ray Olson

Colin A Owers