Leadership:
"Ridgway's performance in Korea was the greatest feat of personal leadership in the history of the Army."
- General Omar Bradley
General Matthew Ridgway recognized three essential elements of leadership: character, courage and competence. Throughout Ridgway's military career, he clearly exuded these leadership qualities. Ridgway's passion for intelligence, fearlessness, and confidence in his men made him one of the most effective military commanders. General Omar Bradley greatly emphasized Ridgway's leadership skills when he said,
"It is not often in wartime that a single battlefield commander can make a decisive difference. But in Korea, Ridgway would prove to be the exception. His brilliant, driving, uncompromising leadership would turn the battle like no other general in our military history." Various military officers, authors and politicians have also commented on the significance of Ridgway's accomplishments in the Korean War.
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"Ridgway’s concept of leadership was better suited for a more egalitarian era. He intended not to impose his will on his men, but to allow the men under him to find something within themselves that would make them more confident, more purposeful fighting men.” - David Halberstam, author of The Coldest Winter; America and the Korean War and The Fifties
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