"Vice Adm. John T. "Chick" Hayward's long and eventful career spanned the decades from naval aviation's infancy to the dawn of the jet age. A high school dropout who became a nuclear physicist, he was both eminently successful and humanly colorful. The story of his role in the development of the atomic bomb and his interaction with the other Los Alamos scientists who changed the world forever is justification enough for this biography, but Hayward's contributions to the U.S.

Navy go significantly beyond that period.".

"During his rise from enlisted man to flag officer, Hayward saw combat in World War II, participated in the Korean War and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and helped make many of the decisions that shaped the present-day navy. He experienced life as a "powder monkey" on a battleship, a president of the Naval War College, a founder of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, a key player in getting nuclear weapons to sea, and an early developer of cruise missiles.

An avid supporter of naval aviation, he amassed more pilot hours than any other flag officer and was one of the navy's first jet-qualified pilots.".

"Hayward's longtime friend C. W. Borklund developed this autobiography from the admiral's three-hundred-page diary. It captures the spirit as well as the facts of Hayward's history-making career, focusing on his involvement in events that had a major impact on politics, military policies, and plans. Highly personalized and sometimes opinionated, the memoir provides insight into matters still under discussion in today's navy."--BOOK JACKET.