 Our military academy at West Point, for almost 160 years its graduates have been trained rigorously and instilled with the highest standards of honor, duty, and loyalty. A spirit pervades West Point. Its men have taken that spirit with them onto battlefields. It has been a unique force in the life of this nation in peace and war. This West Point spirit came into being almost entirely by the efforts of one man, Sylvainus Thayer, yet his greatness is little recognized by his fellow Americans. At the point he is known as the father of the military academy. Why this title? Who was Sylvainus Thayer? West Point in the early 1800s. Its setting is one of rugged natural beauty. However, the young academy is barely existing, weak, badly organized, much criticized as a retreat for pampered sons of the rich. Most of whom were not even present when Major Thayer was appointed the new superintendent. Oliver! I'm back. I didn't think you would be. You're late for school. Two weeks. Did you, uh, did you have a good time? Beautiful. What brought you back? Oh, you saw the notice? Yes. Fancy. The superintendent of the United States Military Academy places a public notice in a newspaper advertising for the return of his students. Well, it's original, I must say. Oh, he's original this Thayer. Have you seen the new regulations? No. Tell me. I do hope he intends to rid the academy of some of the ill-bred types we had to suffer last year. Some of them cannot even read or write to say nothing of the manner of their speech. You needn't worry about them. Anyone without the ability to read or write cannot be a cadet any longer. But, uh, there is one thing you're not going to like. Oh? No cadet shall be allowed to have a waiter, horse, or dog. I wonder if that means a valet as well. I'm quite sure. It's ridiculous. What will you do? If you keep your horse, you must keep Johnson as well, but you can keep neither. Thayer has appointed a commandant of cadets in charge of discipline, and, uh, already there have been several expulsions. I'm, uh, I'm really concerned, Oliver. Something must be done. I shall notify Father at once. I still cannot understand why my son should not live in his accustomed manner here at your school. My good sir, this is not an ordinary school. I am superintendent of an institution for turning out men who can be trusted with the security of the nation. Surely my son can be so untrusted? He has not shown this. There are certain requirements now for all cadets. Your son has not been able to guide his affairs in conduct according to the regulations. I am sorry. You know I have quite some influence in Washington. I can only say that conditions here two months ago had considerable influence upon the President of the United States, who appointed me to this post and whom I am determined to carry out my responsibility. Superintendent Thayer's insistence upon discipline and subordination to military authority was essential to his reorganization of the academy. Uncle Sam's bad bargains, as many citizens had called the cadets of West Point, were dealt with summarily by the new superintendent. On the morning of the 10th instant, while Professor Ellicott was in the actual performance of the duties of his station, in the recitation room of the first section fourth class, he was struck on the back by slate pencils, thrown and aimed at him by Prescott Robinson of that section. This gross indignity to the Professor, for the viewed as a breach of good order and discipline, or as a transgression against decent and gentlemanly deportment, merits exemplary punishment. Cadet Prescott Robinson is accordingly dismissed from the military academy and will be struck from the rows. In the first months of his administration, cadets became accustomed to Thayer's strict programming of the day's routine, a way of training that continues at the academy to this day. Dear brother, it was my intention to have written to you before, but I have not had one minute of time to spare. Mama wished to know all about the regulations here. I will give you a short account of them. That daylight in the morning, we're called up by the drum beating in the barracks. We must be up in a minute to answer to our names or else be reported and have to sweep about two hours. In about 30 minutes after the drum beats for drill, at which they keep us two hours, then form and go to breakfast. At eight o'clock, go to recite, dismissed at 11. At 12, go to recite French, at one dinner, at four drill again, two hours as before, then supper. At 9 p.m. the roll is called again, and five minutes afterward the lights must be out. Every movement is made in the most perfect order. The only time we have for recreation is about one half hour at noon and Saturday afternoon. I am very well contented here for exercise. We have enough drilling, rather more than I should wish. A practical man as well as a high-minded educator, Thayer found ways of knowing each of his students. Determined to rid the academy of favoritism and to build character, he introduced a system by which all cadets were limited to the same amount of money for clothing, books, and other expenses. Sir, I'm much in need of shirts. I take it for granted you are. You would not have presented this order, but you are in debt. Sir, I'm almost destitute. I have only one shirt to my name. Well, Mr. Dewey, I would suggest that you wear that shirt until you are out of debt. Yes, sir. Good day, Mr. Dewey. Thayer's close friend, Claudius Crozet, Professor of Engineering, formerly of the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. You are not making yourself as popular as you're predecessors. I am far more concerned with making good officers than with making myself popular. Making good officers to Thayer meant cultivating their brains plus their capacity to use them. For this part of his work, Thayer was intellectually and by experience excellently prepared. He had graduated from Dartmouth with highest honors, afterward from West Point. He had seen action in the war of 1812 as an engineer officer. Soon after, he asked to be sent to Europe. His chief interest, the greatest military figure of the time, Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon, reviewing the cadets at the Ecole Polytechnique, France's military engineering school, counterpart of the United States Military Academy, but at that time, far superior. 1815, as Thayer set sail from America, Napoleon was engaged in his last fateful campaign. But from Thayer's arrival in Paris until his departure two years later, he accomplished much. He toured French and other national military schools and carefully studied their educational methods. During his journeys, he collected over a thousand valuable books on military science and engineering. France in particular proved to be a storehouse of information. The books Thayer sent back to West Point were unavailable in the United States. They were to lay the foundation for the largest scientific library here during the 19th century. Crozet was aware of what Thayer was attempting, but he and other members of the staff were often surprised by the decisiveness with which Thayer brought changes to the methods of the academy. Monsieur Berra both you and Monsieur Crozet know my feeling about the importance of your language. The best military knowledge is almost entirely in French. Yes, sir. I am not satisfied with our progress in its teaching here at the academy. I am disappointed, sir. I have, I assure you, tried to do my best. It is not enough. We need more instructors, smaller sections. I would like you to put in effect, as soon as possible, this plan. Select your three best students as assistants. Have them teach under your supervision. We will pay them ten dollars a month. I will propose that your status be advanced from teacher to professor. A fine plan. My good wishes for you, Claudius. Merci, Monsieur Thayer. I am very surprised. I shall try to do my best. Smaller classes not only in French, but in all subjects. This was one of Thayer's innovations aimed at intensifying instruction at the academy. To this day, small sections are the method by which the progress of each student can be carefully observed. Thayer established the academic board, which still has the responsibility for the curriculum. It has proved to be a valuable force in suiting the program of study to changing needs. Thayer's vision was the military officer thoroughly educated, knowledgeable in many areas of human thought and endeavor. The library at West Point today is one of the oldest buildings of the academy, a symbol of Thayer's effort to enrich the background and extend the horizons of his cadets. In Thayer's time and for many years, West Point was under the supervision of the Corps of Engineers. And experienced engineer himself, Thayer saw the need for a broader scientific education and established the first systematic course of engineering in the United States. While most colleges offered courses in the liberal arts, the academy became the only school preparing men to be engineers on a professional level. Men trained here were much in demand for teaching in other colleges and for civilian engineering posts. And West Point became well known for intense concentration of effort and thoroughness. Throughout the course, the cadet was under steady pressure. There were strict rules as to the hours allowed for study. And there were sometimes violations. While Thayer demanded strict adherence to the rules, he placed an even higher value on a cadet's word. Cadet Canfield reporting, sir. Step forward to standard ease, Mr. Canfield. Professor Crozet mentioned that your descriptive geometry drawing was exceedingly well done. Thank you, sir. Is it possible that some of this work was accomplished after Tattoo last night? It was, sir. Have you an explanation? No, sir. Mr. Canfield, you must understand that you are intended to carry out your work within the same period allotted to other cadets. Yes, sir. When you leave my office, please report yourself to the Cominant of Cadets for punishment. Yes, sir. That will be all. Character, honor, discipline. These words came to have deeper meaning and importance to the core of cadets under Sylvainus Thayer. Many are the features of life at West Point today, touched by his conception of the moral and ethical values of the professional military man. An outstanding example is the Honor Committee. Through its own cadets, the Corps zealously guards its code of honor, insisting upon utter truthfulness from all members. This is not merely a matter of pride in truth for its own sake, but an absolute necessity. An untruthful officer cannot be trusted with the lives of his fellow men. The code of honor at West Point has become its most priceless heritage. It is difficult to estimate how much our nation owes to Thayer for this alone. Regulations have changed much since his time, but the quality of purposefulness, of accuracy in all activities, can be traced to Thayer. He intended the work to be hard, to subject the cadet to intense daily pressure, physical, intellectual, and emotional. Beside the purpose of gaining knowledge, study here as a daily exercise in marshalling facts, almost as though for a battle. With a limited amount of time, a cadet must prepare to do as well as he can to meet the situations of the following day. This was Thayer's concept of training the military leader. During the summer, Thayer insisted time was to be spent in familiarizing the cadet with the life of the enlisted man. Without experience in this role, a cadet could not fully understand his role as an officer. The influence at West Point almost amounts to a presence. He is here honored a symbol of the academy's ideals. Today as well as during his years of glorious achievement, years in which his influence began to extend far beyond the confines of these grounds. Sylvainus Thayer in his middle years is impressive, dignified, head of an academy with a national and worldwide reputation. And in the years to come, he is to have a profound influence on the course of his country's growth and progress. Consider America during his time. The West, raw, unexplored, unmapped, a few pioneers, but each trip into the wilderness a struggle which only the hardiest could endure. Meanwhile, young cadets ready to meet the physical as well as the intellectual challenge were being introduced to civil engineering, mathematics, physics, geology, mineralogy and so on. West Point, foremost engineering school of the nation at this time was to provide the brains and skill for opening the American West. At first, the waterways, the primary means of early communication were improved. Construction of canals and locks was under the supervision of the Army's Corps of Engineers, graduates of West Point, Thayer's Men. Then in small groups, Thayer's Men were sent out by the Army with the mission of finding routes for future railroads. They entered the vastness west of the Mississippi, traveling thousands of miles, these tiny units laid out paths for practically all the great transcontinental railways. Matters of scientific interest concerned them as well, geology, mineralogy, biology. Drawing had been a required course back at the academy at this time. It proved valuable. As artists, as well as reporters, they were able to return with excellent records of what could be expected. The edible, the dangerous. Later, this information was to guide those who went west, the miners, the farmers, the ranchmen. They made friendly contacts with the American Indian and their detailed reports of the various tribes were to provide a basis for future understanding. Reporting an Indian prayer ceremony, Thayer's Men reveal their human side, curious but at a respectful distance. Some years after the Pacific Railroad surveys, Thayer's Men were on hand in the building of the railroads, frequently as civilian engineers. This extraordinarily difficult and rapid construction was dependent upon a nucleus of talent that could be found nowhere else in the world. Thayer's adaptation of the academy to the needs of a growing nation played a definite role in our physical expansion and technological development. In large measure, the achievement that linked east and west stem from Thayer's emphasis on technical training. In later years, from the building of the Panama Canal and until this day, the tradition of army engineering has continued. Our harbors, together with inland waterways, the great projects of flood control, all under the army's core of engineers were first developed under the supervision of Thayer's Men. Our scientific and technical skill was harnessed and organized, and the monuments remain. Sylvainas Thayer can not only be called the father of the military academy, but the father of technological education in America. In the war since Thayer's time, West Pointers became known for qualities he had stressed at the academy. During the Mexican war, his graduates achieved a brilliant record. Had it not been for their leadership, military authorities say this war could have lasted some four or five years longer. During the war between the states, West Pointers were prominent in the leadership of both sides. Grant and Sherman, Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and many others. The long gray line from General Pershing to the distinguished graduates of more recent years owes much to Thayer for his deep and lasting influence. Every officer in our army has to some extent been touched by his teachings. The officer of today and the future faces ever-changing developments in the technology of defense. Nothing is more certain in this age of space than change. But qualities which Thayer wished to instill in his officers, these remain constant. Character, independence of mind, a respect for knowledge, a capacity to meet the future with flexibility and purpose. Each year at graduation time, West Pointers gather to honor Sylvainas Thayer. His pride among them in having been cast in a fine mold and gratitude to West Point and to Thayer. For all Americans, there is greatness in the symbol that he has become for our times. He saw that determination to defend this land is not enough. Knowledge and training, the full education of the professional soldier, the engineer, and for that matter every American. This is the source of our strength as our country faces the future.