He was as tough as nails and carried himself as stiffly as a poker. He was blunt and stand-offish, almost to the point of rudeness. At the start, he was intolerant and suspicious of all things British, especially the Royal Navy; but he was almost equally intolerant and suspicious of the American Army. War against Japan was the problem to which he had devoted the study of a lifetime, and he resented the idea of American resources being used for any other purpose than to destroy Japanese. He mistrusted Churchill’s powers of advocacy, and was apprehensive that he would wheedle President Roosevelt into neglecting the war in the Pacific.
(January 1943); The Memoirs of General Lord Ismay (1960)
