Sun Tzu's Impact On Modern Day Military Leaders

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Sun Tzu’s Impact on Modern Day Military Leaders
Sun Tzu, whether real or fictional, stated many important strategies and points in the book “Art of War.” Many great military leaders throughout history used these teachings to win very significant skirmishes, battles or wars. Other leaders discarded the teachings of Sun Tzu and proceeded to lose critical positions, engagements, and major battles or wars. In this essay, I will compare and contrast various great leaders over the last 200 to 300 years who have heeded, as well as, disregarded the “Art of War” tactics.
Unrestricted Military Leaders The first contrast and comparison shown was the difference in the chain of command between Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Axis Commander, Adolf Hitler, during the course of World War Two. Sun Tzu’s teaching state generals must remain unrestricted by their political leaders while waging war. Both the United States of America and the United Kingdom gave General Eisenhower the title of Supreme Allied Commander. In doing this, General Eisenhower appointed several subordinate commanders that answered directly to him. There was no confusion as to who was in charge of various World War Two battles. The simplified chain of command guaranteed subordinate commanders knew who to answer to and …show more content…

During the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War, General Robert E Lee disregarded the advice of his subordinate commander, General James Longstreet. The Union Army, firmly entrenched on the hills of Gettysburg, held the high ground in a position of superiority. General Longstreet advised General Lee to discard attacking the Union Army because of their position. Further, General Longstreet recommended marching to a lightly guarded Washington, DC. General Lee continued the uphill assault on Union Forces and his Soldiers were needlessly