"When young Ellsworth P. Bertholf was court-martialed and dismissed from the Naval Academy for a hazing incident in 1883, no one could have predicted his future greatness. Undaunted by the experience, Bertholf pursued a career in the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, earning a special gold medal from Congress in 1902 for his role in a dramatic relief expedition in Alaska to rescue trapped whalers. By 1915 he had bypassed twenty-two officers senior to him to become the first commandant of the U.S.

Coast Guard and went on to successfully steer his fledgling service through the trials of World War I. This biography of the man known as "the savior of the Coast Guard" offers a revealing portrait not only of Bertholf but also of the last years of the Revenue Cutter and Life-Saving services and the formative years of the Coast Guard."--BOOK JACKET.