This is John Batcher. The historian Craig Simons from the Naval Academy has written a book,

Nimitz at war, command leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay.

Chester Nimitz, the man who commanded the Pacific Fleet during the fight against the Imperial Japanese. Same geography we face

today in a potential war with the People's Republic of China. In any event, this is a comment by the professor about Nimitz's last glimpse of the

President of the United States, FDR, Dr. Wynne the War. Nimitz is shocked. He doesn't say much at the time.

Letters reveal his thoughts.

Here's Professor Craig Simons on Nimitz's last glimpse of the President of the United States,

FDR, and his thoughts.

More of this later.

No, he may have said something to uh, sock McMorris, his chief of staff, if so, that has not survived.

We do know he mentioned it to his wife, Catherine, because because I was going to say most about half of

those letters have survived so we're aware of that but he has met FDR several times he

knew him before the war obviously and during that and then of course that famous

visit in Hawaii when they spent several days together and now he sees him in 1945 and he is shocked

by how the president has aged he has a gray pallor he's his hand

visibly shakes he's still witty he's still charming he still, but he physically looks like he is declining.