William D. Pawley by Anthony R Carrozza

William D. Pawley by Anthony R Carrozza

William Douglas Pawley was a cross between Indiana Jones and Donald Trump. A self-made millionaire with little education, he immersed himself in whatever business venture he chose and usually came out on top. As a sales representative for the Curtiss-Wright Corporation, Pawley traveled to China in the 1930s and positioned himself as the single source of American military aircraft for the Chinese government. Eventually he worked to support the Flying Tigers, the American volunteers flying for the Chinese Air Force, and built an airplane factory in India to give the Allies air power in Asia. President Harry Truman appointed Pawley ambassador to Peru (1945–1946), and to Brazil (1946–1948). When Dwight Eisenhower ran for president, Pawley switched parties, campaigned for Ike, and was later assigned to the State Department. During this period, he dealt with world leaders on sensitive national security matters, such as backdoor diplomacy in the Dominican Republic under Rafael Trujillo, in Cuba at the time of Fidel Castro’s takeover, and in a plot to overthrow the Guatemalan government in 1954. Later, in an effort to discredit President John Kennedy, Pawley financed Operation Red Cross, a secret effort to help Russian missile officers defect from Cuba to the United States. This episode, involving a cast of characters from Mafia members to soldiers of fortune, was one of many in an adventurous life story nearly beyond belief. Anthony R. Carrozza’s in-depth biography looks at the extraordinary life of a man whose work influenced thirty critical years of American and international relations during World War II and the Cold War.

A graduate of Florida Atlantic University with a bachelor's degree in mathematics, Anthony Carrozza spent eight years researching William D. Pawley's life. He writes biographies and novels and lives in Elmira, New York.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781597977142
ISBN 10	1597977144
Title	William D. Pawley
Author	Anthony R Carrozza
Condition	Unavailable
Publisher	Potomac Books Inc
Year published	2012-03-30
Number of pages	432
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.