General Dwight Eisenhower as a Critical Thinker - 710 Words

Strategic decisions made by General Dwight Eisenhower during WWII were significant and give excellent examples of four components of Steve Gerras’ Critical Thinking model. Generals during World War II faced daily innumerable difficult and grave decisions. Critical decisions made during WWII did not have the depth and speed of today’s modern communications infrastructure. Eisenhower quoted, â€Å"Making decisions is of the essence in leadership.†1 During World War II, while in command of the Mediterranean theater, Eisenhower made the strategic decision of making the commitment to radiate confidence no matter how dire the circumstances or how pessimistic he might actually feel. He wrote, â€Å"My mannerisms and speech in public would always reflect the cheerful certainty of victory that any pessimism and discouragement that I might ever feel would be reserved for my pillow.† 2 Critical thinking according to Professor Steve Gerras is deliberate. Gerras’ Critical Thinking Model components are as follows: â€Å"clarify the concern, point of view, assumptions, inferences, evaluation of information, and implications.† The model is not meant to be sequential or linear, however always starts with â€Å"clarify the concern†. Evaluation of Eisenhower’s decision to radiate confidence no matter how dire the circumstances in context to Gerras’ Critical thinking model spotlights â€Å"clarify the concern† and â€Å"point of view†. Application of these two components to his strategic decision demonstratesShow MoreRelated The Way and Life of General Carl A. Spaatz Essay3113 Words   |  13 Pages The Way and Life of General Carl A. Spaatz nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The name General Carl ‘Tooey’ Andrew Spaatz has become synonymous with the phrase air power and strategist. Air power has come along way since Wilbur and Orville launched the first airplane in 1902 in the city of Kitty Hawk. 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Each chapter of the study guide includes learning objectives, a description of the chapter’s context and purpose, a chapter review, key terms and definitions, advanced critical thinking questions, and helpful hints for understanding difficult concepts. Students can develop their understanding by doing the practice problems and short-answer questions, and then assess theory mastery of the key concepts with the self-test