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The Rickover Corpus: A digital archive of Admiral Rickover's speeches and memos
74 points by stmw 18 hours ago | 17 comments
  • Animats
    "Some thoughts on the presidency" [1]

    (The site's index dates this to 1952, but it mentions "the events of 1974.")

    [1] https://rickover-corpus.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/Some+Thou...

    • emmelaich
      Yes, it mentions the energy crisis so dates it to late 70s at least. Also President Reagan, so after 1981. Probably well after.
    • andrewl
      I'm two pages in, and it is excellent.
      • ndileas
        There's a lot of timeless, good analysis. But there's also somewhat dated concerns (like the energy crisis stuff) where it's clear that he's responding to the issue du jour.
      • emmelaich
        Quotables in in every paragraph!
    • uncletaco
      The Nixon memo is dated for 1980 from after Nixon was president.
  • thomassmith65

      Unless the one person truly responsible can be identified when something goes wrong, then no one has been really responsible
    Ah, it's Apple's DRI (Directly Responsible Individual) designation!
    • stmw
      It is always interesting how such principles are much older than our current examples!
  • andrewl
    I've read a few articles about him, but I never heard him speak. I just pulled this up, and I find it fascinating:

    https://taproot.com/rickover-60-minutes-interview/

    • xtiansimon
      I’ve known some lovable @$$#ol3$ who have the rare amalgamation of talent, self-possession, misanthropy. Their successes seem unrelated to their persons. Purely anecdotal, but don’t they all have difficult parents…
  • acidburnNSA
    Truly amazing resource. Thanks to the folks funding this, and doing the scans.
    • ripe
      From the website:

      This project was compiled and digitized by Charles Yang under the Center for Industrial Strategy, with assistance from Jacks Flenniken.

  • kreelman
    Ah, the "Kindly Old Gentleman"...

    Though a very difficult man to get on with... He did champion the correct building of the first nuclear subs.

    • CamperBob2
      Yep, a complex, flawed character.

      Unquestionably the right person for that particular job, though. He was Mr. "Failure is Not an Option" years before Gene Kranz.

  • brcmthrowaway
    Never heard of this guy - Nimitz seems better
    • chrisg23
      Different domains. Admiral Rickover focused on the nuclear propulsion aspect of the navy. Its like comparing the CEO of a company with one of the heads of engineering.