George Whelan Anderson Jr. (December 15, 1906 – March 20, 1992) was anadmiral in theUnited States Navy and adiplomat. Serving as theChief of Naval Operations between 1961 and 1963, he was in charge of the US blockade of Cuba during the 1962Cuban Missile Crisis.
Born inBrooklyn, New York, on December 15, 1906, Anderson attended Brooklyn Preparatory School, entered theUnited States Naval Academy in 1923 and graduated with the class of 1927. Then, he became anaval aviator and served oncruisers andaircraft carriers, including theUSS Cincinnati.
InWorld War II, Anderson served as the navigator on the fourthUSS Yorktown. After the war, he served as thecommanding officer of the escort carrierUSS Mindoro and of theUSS Franklin D. Roosevelt. He also served tours as an assistant to GeneralDwight Eisenhower at theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization, special assistant to theChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff AdmiralArthur W. Radford, and as chief of staff to theCommander in Chief Pacific.
As aflag officer, Anderson commandedTask Force 77 betweenTaiwan and Mainland China,Carrier Division 6, in the Mediterranean during the1958 Lebanon landing and, as a vice admiral, commanded theUnited States Sixth Fleet.
AsChief of Naval Operations in charge of the USquarantine of Cuba during theCuban Missile Crisis in 1962, Anderson distinguished himself in the Navy's conduct of those operations.Time magazine featured him on the cover[1] and called him "an aggressive blue-water sailor of unfaltering competence and uncommon flair." He had, however, a contentious relationship withSecretary of DefenseRobert S. McNamara. At one point during the crisis, Anderson ordered McNamara out of the Pentagon's Flag Plot when the Secretary inquired as to the Navy's intended procedures for stopping Soviet submarines;[2][dubious –discuss] McNamara viewed those actions as mutinous and forced Anderson to retire in 1963. Anderson had a different recollection of the October 24th Flag Plot incident:
We knew where one of these particular [Soviet] submarines was located...We had a destroyer sitting on top of this submarine. One evening, McNamara,[Deputy Secretary of Defense Ross] Gilpatric, and an entourage of his press people came down to flag plot and, in the course of their interrogations, they asked why that destroyer was out of line [the picket line of quarantine]...After some discussion, I said to McNamara—he kept pressing me— ’’Come inside,” and I took him into a little inner sanctuary [because the press people were not cleared for theclassified submarine tracking information] and I explained the whole thing to him and to his satisfaction, as well. He left, and we walked down the corridor, and I said: “Well, Mr. Secretary, you go back to your office and I’ll go to mine and we’ll take care of things,”...which apparently was the wrong thing to say to somebody of McNamara’s personality...The story was leaked to the press through his own public information people that I had insulted him by making this remark over the incident in flag plot.[3]
Anderson would lateraccuse McNamara of micromanagement during the Crisis.[4]
Decades later, the role ofVasily Arkhipov became widely known, as the last person standing in the way of Admiral Anderson's procedures[which?][dubious –discuss] unintentionally triggering nuclear war.
Anderson had another conflict with McNamara six months after the Missile Crisis. Anderson obtained approval from Secretary of the NavyFred Korth to do a press briefing the day after the loss of the nuclear submarineThresher.[5] At the end, he later stated
I got up to leave, and I got wild applause. Then I went up to the office, and pretty soon the word came back that the members of the press had said it was the first decent press conference that the Office of the Secretary of Defense had had since the administration had been in — which did not enhance my relationship with the Office of the Secretary of Defense.[6]
Anderson took early retirement, largely because of the ongoing conflict with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.[7]
John F. Kennedy subsequently appointed AndersonAmbassador to Portugal, where he served for three years and encouraged plans for the peaceful transition of Portugal's African colonies to independence. He later returned to government service from 1973 to 1977 as member and later chairman of thePresident's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.
After his retirement from the navy, Anderson was chairman ofLamar Advertising Company, an outdoor advertising company, and he was a director on the boards ofValue Line,National Airlines andCrown Seal and Cork.
Anderson's first wife was Muriel Buttling (1911–1947). They had two sons and a daughter.[8]
Anderson died on March 20, 1992, of congestive heart failure, at the age of 85, inMcLean, Virginia. He was survived by his second wife of 44 years, the former Mary Lee Sample (née Anderson), the widow ofWilliam Sample; a daughter; a stepdaughter; four grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren. He was buried on March 23, 1992, in Section 1 ofArlington National Cemetery.
Anderson was portrayed byKenneth Tobey inThe Missiles of October and Madison Mason inThirteen Days (film).
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| Preceded by | Chief of Naval Operations 1961–1963 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to Portugal 1963–1966 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | Chair of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board 1969–1976 | Succeeded by |
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