S8 Ep821: Following the war, LeMay builds the Strategic Air Command (SAC) into a dominant force, though he struggles as a "fish out of water" in the political environment of Washington. He clashes with Robert McNamara and the Kennedy administration during the Cuba
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 4 May 2026
⏱️ 5 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Following the war, LeMay builds the Strategic Air Command (SAC) into a dominant force, though he struggles as a "fish out of water" in the political environment of Washington. He clashes with Robert McNamara and the Kennedyadministration during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the lead-up to the Vietnam War. LeMay's uncompromising approach leads to the infamous remark about bombing North Vietnam "back to the stone ages," reflecting his inability to adapt to changing public attitudes toward aerial warfare. Despite later being caricatured as a "Dr. Strangelove" figure, he never expresses remorse for the firebombing of Tokyo, viewing it as a military necessity. His legacy is further complicated by his disastrous 1968 vice-presidential run on George Wallace's segregationist ticket. Though he claimed he only joined to influence Vietnam policy, the move forever tarred his reputation, a mistake he eventually acknowledged by saying he was "a hero one day and a bum the next." 8/8
2016 LEMAY OFFICIAL PORTRAIT
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | In the race to scale with AI, you need data infrastructure that can match your pace. |
| 0:05.0 | Everpure's data storage platform brings all your data into one hub. |
| 0:08.8 | No silos, no scrambling, just instant access to tame your data chaos. |
| 0:13.5 | And with Everpure storage as a service subscription, your storage and security upgrade automatically with zero downtime, |
| 0:20.0 | your infrastructure stays current so your business never slows down. |
| 0:23.7 | Visit everpuredata.com to learn more today. |
| 0:26.4 | With Everpure, you're not just in the race. |
| 0:28.5 | You're built to win it. |
| 0:34.7 | I'm John Batcheworth, James Scott. |
| 0:36.8 | His new book is Black Snow, Curtis Ley, the firebombing of Tokyo, |
| 0:40.2 | and the Road to the Atomic Bomb. The firebombing of Tokyo in March is unique in human history. |
| 0:45.8 | The atomic bomb used over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, unique in human history. What after the war happens is we know the Cold War. |
| 0:55.2 | And Curtis Lamei rises in ranking because it's a younger man. |
| 1:00.0 | He's 38, 39 at the end of the war, rises through the 1950s. |
| 1:05.0 | He becomes, I don't know, James, I didn't write this down. |
| 1:08.1 | Is he an early commander of SAC, strategic air command? |
| 1:11.3 | Is he the first? |
| 1:12.1 | Yeah, and under Lameh, I mean, you see strategic air command really become a much greater organization. |
| 1:19.3 | I mean, he moves it to Nebraska. |
| 1:20.9 | He brings his war-winning team of guys over from World War II and really gives it the gravitas and the, in, in, and what I said, he, |
| 1:29.2 | he deserves a lot of credit for the success of strategic air command. |
| 1:32.1 | Right. The big Boeing bombers, the B-36, the B-47, the B-52. These are LeMay's concepts. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Batchelor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of John Batchelor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.