National Affairs: New Helmsman

In his nearly three years as Secretary of the Navy, Charles Sparks Thomas toured the Navy's far-flung fleets and shore bases, learned to be a persuasive spokesman for the Navy's hopes and ambitions in the jet-missile age and an ardent defender of its more venturesome officers. But Thomas, World War I naval aviator, was no Navy zealot. He paid proper heed to his civilian bosses, Defense Secretary Charles Wilson and President Eisenhower, was equally forceful in passing the civilian word back to the Navy. Result: Charlie Thomas ably kept the Navy on course as it steamed at flank speed into the...