US Politics

Leadership & The Measure

James Stewart (actor)

James Maitland “Jimmy” Stewart (20 May 1908 – 2 July 1997).

A brief excerpt from Jimmy Stewart’s Biography

Popularly known as Jimmy Stewart, especially in English speaking countries, James Stewart was an American film and stage actor, best known for his self-effacing screen persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and one life achievement award. He also had a noted military career, rising from the rank of private to that of Brigadier General in the United States Air Force.

Early life and career

James Maitland Stewart was born on 20 May 1908 in Indiana, Pennsylvania, the son of Elizabeth Ruth (née Jackson) and Alexander Maitland Stewart, who owned a hardware store.^[1] Stewart’s parents were Presbyterian and of Scottish origin.^[2][3] His Jackson ancestors served in the American Revolution, War of 1812 and the Civil War.^[4] The eldest of three children (he had two younger sisters, Virginia and Mary), he was expected to continue his father’s business, which had been in the family for three generations.

His mother was an excellent pianist but his father discouraged Stewart’s request for lessons. But when his father accepted a gift of an accordion from a guest, young Stewart quickly learned to play the instrument, which became a fixture off-stage during his acting career. As the family grew, music continued to be an important part of family life.^[5]

A shy child, Stewart spent much of his after school time in the basement working on model airplanes, mechanical drawing and chemistry — all with a dream of going into aviation. But he abandoned visions of being a pilot when his father insisted that instead of the Naval Academy he attend Princeton University. Stewart enrolled there in 1928 as a member of the Class of 1932. Earlier, he had graduated from Mercersburg Academy prep school.

At Mercersburg, Stewart was active in a variety of activities. He played on the football team and track team. He was art editor for the KARUX yearbook and member of the choir club, glee club, and John Marshall Literary Society. During his first summer break, Stewart returned to Indiana Pennsylvania to work as a brick loader for a local construction company and on highway and road construction jobs where he painted lines on the roads. Over the following two summers, he took a job as an assistant with a professional magician.^[6] He also made his first appearance on the stage at Mercersburg, as Buquet in the play The Wolves.^[7]

At Princeton, Stewart excelled at studying architecture, so impressing his professors with his thesis on an airport design that he was awarded a scholarship for graduate studies,^[8] but he gradually became attracted to the school’s drama and music clubs, including the famous Princeton Triangle Club.^[9] He was a member of the Princeton Charter Club as well as a head cheerleader. In his spare time, he enjoyed going to the movies at the time when “talkies” were just displacing silent films. Stewart graduated in Architecture from Princeton in 1932.

Military service

The Stewart family had deep military roots as both grandfathers had fought in the Civil War, and his father had served during both the Spanish-American War and World War I. Since Stewart considered his father to be the biggest influence on his life, it was not surprising that when another war eventually came, he too served. Unlike his family’s previous infantry service, Stewart chose to become a military flyer.^[25]

An early interest in flying led Stewart to gain his Private Pilot License in 1935 and Commercial Pilot Certificate in 1938. He often flew cross country to visit his parents in Pennsylvania, navigating by the railroad tracks.[26] Nearly two years before the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Stewart had accumulated over 400 hours of flying time. 

Considered a highly proficient pilot, he even entered a cross-country race as a co-pilot in 1939.^[28] Along with musician/composer Hoagy Carmichael, seeing the need for trained war pilots, Stewart teamed with other Hollywood moguls and put their own money into creating a flying school in Glendale, Arizona, which they named Thunderbird Field. This airfield trained more than 200,000 pilots during the War, became the origin of the Flying Thunderbirds, and is now the home of Thunderbird School of Global Management.^[29]

Later in 1940, Stewart was drafted into the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) but was rejected due to a weight problem. The USAAC had strict height and weight requirements for new recruits and Stewart was five pounds under the standard. To get up to 148 pounds he sought out the help of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s muscle man, Don Loomis, who was legendary for his ability to add or subtract pounds in his studio gymnasium. Stewart subsequently attempted to enlist in the USAAC but still came in under the weight requirement although he persuaded the AAC enlistment officer to run new tests, this time passing the weigh-in,[30] with the result that Stewart successfully enlisted in the Army in March 1941.

He became the first major American movie star to wear a military uniform in World War II. Since the United States had not entered the conflict and the Army was unwilling to put celebrities on the front lines, Stewart was initially held back from combat duty. Although he enlisted as a private, he earned a commission as a second lieutenant and completed pilot training. During training, his previous experience was downplayed as he was concerned that his expertise would relegate him to instructor duties “behind the lines.”[31] His fears were confirmed when he was subsequently stationed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, becoming an instructor pilot for the B-17 Flying Fortress.

The only public appearances after he went into flight school were limited engagements scheduled by the Air Corps. “Stewart appeared several times on network radio with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, he performed with Orson Welles, Edward G. Robinson, Walter Huston and Lionel Barrymore in an all-network radio program called We Hold These Truths, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. But mostly, Stewart’s days and nights were spent preparing for his upcoming flight tests, ground school and academic examinations for his commission.”^[32]

“Still, the war was moving on. For the 36-year-old Stewart, combat duty seemed far away and unreachable and he had no clear plans for the future. But then a rumor that Stewart would be taken off flying status and assigned to making training films or selling bonds called for his immediate and decisive action, because what he dreaded most was the hope-shattering spectre of a dead end.”^[33] So he appealed to his commander, a pre-war aviator, who understood the situation and reassigned him to a unit going overseas.

Col. Stewart being awarded the Croix de guerre with palm by Lt. Gen. Henri Valin, Chief of Staff of the French Air Force, for his role in the liberation of France. USAF photo.

In August 1943 he was finally assigned to the 445th Bombardment Group in Sioux City, Iowa, first as Operations Officer of the 703rd Bombardment Squadron and then its commander. In December, the 445th Bombardment Group flew its B-24 Liberator bombers to RAF Tibenham, England and immediately began combat operations. While flying missions over Germany, Stewart was promoted to Major. In March 1944, he was transferred as group operations officer to the 453rd Bombardment Group, a new B-24 unit that had been experiencing difficulties. As a means to inspire his new group, Stewart flew as command pilot in the lead B-24 on numerous missions deep into Nazi-occupied Europe. These missions went uncounted at Stewart’s orders. His “official” total is listed as 20 and is limited to those with the 445th. In 1944, he twice received the Distinguished Flying Cross for actions in combat and was awarded the Croix de Guerre. He also received the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters. In July 1944, after flying 20 combat missions, Stewart was made Chief of Staff of the 2nd Combat Bombardment Wing of the Eighth Air Force. Before the war ended, he was promoted to colonel, one of only a few Americans to rise from private to colonel in four years.

At the beginning of June 1945, Stewart was the presiding officer of the court-martial of a pilot and navigator who were charged with dereliction of duty when they accidentally bombed the Swiss city of Zurich the previous March – the first instance of U.S. personnel being tried over an attack on a neutral country. The Court acquitted the accused.^[34]

Stewart continued to play an active role in the United States Air Force Reserve after the war, achieving the rank of Brigadier General on 23 July 1959.^[35] Stewart did not often talk of his wartime service, perhaps due to his desire to be seen as a regular soldier doing his duty instead of as a celebrity. He did appear on the TV series, The World At War to discuss the 14 October 1943, bombing mission to Schweinfurt, which was the center of the German ball bearing manufacturing industry. This mission is known in USAF history as Black Thursday due to the high casualties it sustained; in total, 60 aircraft were lost out of 291 dispatched, as the raid consisting entirely of B-17s was unescorted all the way to Schweinfurt and back due to the current escort aircraft available lacking the range. Fittingly, he was identified only as “James Stewart, Squadron Commander” in the documentary.

He served as Air Force Reserve commander of Dobbins Air Reserve Base in the early 1950s. In 1966, Brigadier General James Stewart flew as a non-duty observer in a B-52 on a bombing mission during the Vietnam conflict. At the time of his B-52 flight, he refused the release of any publicity regarding his participation as he did not want it treated as a stunt, but as part of his job as an officer in the Air Force Reserve. After 27 years of service, Stewart retired from the Air Force on 31 May 1968.

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