He was not quite five feet and hampered with a hunchback. Throughout his young life, he would be affected by constant headaches and frail health, yet his theories proved prophetic. This colorful individual became one of America’s most proficient geopolitical theorists. Even General MacArthur had his staff read his books. His name was Homer Lea.
Journalist Clare Boothe Luce met with Colonel Charles Willoughby a month before Pearl Harbor. Colonel Willoughby detailed the possible Japanese game plan against the Philippines, Luce asked, “You’re not giving away military secrets?” Willoughby replied that he was quoting the military gospel according to Homer Lea. Unfamiliar with Lea, she asked for more information. Willoughby described Lea as a “self appointed general” who predicated a war between America and Japan.
Born in 1876, Homer Lea’s frail health kept him from finishing his career at West Point and his subsequent attempts to join the military was thwarted by his health problems. Despite these setbacks, Lea turned his attention to China, a nation in turmoil. Manchu Emperor Kwang Hus acknowledged China need for reform but others led by Dowager Empress Tzh-hsi wanted to force all foreigners out. Conflict reigned throughout China. Allied with a secret society known as the Boxers to Westerners, the Empress led a coup that ended Hus reign after 100 days.
The Boxer Rebellion, backed by the Imperial force, targeted European and American trading centers and the Boxers attacked Chinese Christians converts as well for converting to foreign ideas. Lea traveled to China and joined the Chinese reformists. Lea understood that he was entering the stage of great world changes and as young man; he felt ready to make a difference.
Lea viewed the world at a cataclysm with Russia, Britain, France, Germany and Japan set to collide with one another in a conflict that the United States could not avoid. Lea’s adventure in China began the process of formulating his own theories on upcoming events in the Pacific and throughout the world. He visited Hawaii, Guam and the Philippines on his way to China. During these visits, he studied the landscape and began formulating possible military scenarios along the Pacific Rim.
With the Chinese, Lea played the role of little general. He marched into Peking with the European and American forces as the leader of the reformist Chinese forces allied with the Western forces. Lea, dressed in lavish golden uniforms of General, became a celebrity among the Western press. His forces pursued the retreating Imperial forces but they fared poorly against Imperial forces and he found himself a hunted man with a price on his head. After the Boxer’s rebellion, the Empress was left in power by the Western powers, albeit with limited power. The Western powers were not necessarily interested in a strong or united China.
Article comments
1 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Tom, you have written an excellent and thought provoking analysis. I don't agree with everything you say in extending Lea's analyses, but what you say is important enough to pay attention to and worth integrating into the political ananlyses of the writers I'm familiar with.
With your permission, I will forward your artile to the Root & Branch Information Service, which aims at a different audience and has many influential readers.
2 - Tom Donelson
Ruvy,
You have my permission to pass this on. Thank you for the kind comments. Curious could you tell me more about the readers of Root and Branch information?
3 - SonnyD
Interesting, but Tom, you really need a good copy editor.