Jim Downey

speaker

621 appearances 1 recordings 1 series first heard Jul 2026 last heard 13 Jul

Jim Downey’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 1.

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History That Doesn't Suck · 208: The Pacific War, 1942–43: Guadalcanal, the Aleutians, and Operation Vengeance · 13 Jul 2026 podcast

Ernie's personal life is a mess. matched

Gray and embalming, but still tall and handsome with a stone-carved chin. matched

He's a hard-drinking, womanizing, serial cheater with a bad temper. matched

According to President Franklin Roosevelt, Ernie shaves every morning with a blowtorch. matched

The Admiral's own daughter says that he's the most even-tempered person in the United States Navy. matched

He is always in a rage. matched

Okay, so Ernie's not winning the Mr. Congeniality Award. matched

But the Navy, like his wife, holds their noses and tolerates him because the man is a military genius who gets things done. matched

That's why he seems to be everywhere, simultaneously serving as the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. matched

Fleet, or COMICH, and the Chief of Naval Operations, or CNO. matched

All that to say, Ernie has been wanting to hit harder in the Pacific for months. matched

As Japan seized much of New Guinea and otherwise expanded its hold on the Pacific in the early months of this same year, 1942, he proposed a marine-led amphibious attack to recapture key points like the Solomon Islands. matched

But the recently formed Joint Chiefs of Staff, stretched thin between the Atlantic, Europe, and the Pacific, could only agree to a policy of containment for the Japanese. matched

See, they were operating under a joint US-UK decision made at December 1941's Arcadia Conference to focus on the European theater first while only engaging in the Pacific as necessary. matched

FDR and his influential British bestie, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, are pursuing this path under the assumption that the Nazi Empire is a bigger threat than the Japanese Empire. matched

It's an idea that should ring a bell. matched

We covered this conference in episode 199. matched

Well, as anyone serving with the feisty, partying admiral can tell you, Ernie King has never loved this Germany first policy. matched

So following the victory at Midway, he feels like it's time to push back on it. matched

He wants to see the Allies strike in the Pacific before Japan fully recovers. matched

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