George Washington Goethals

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Born in Brooklyn on 29 June 1858, Goethals graduated second in his West Point class in 1880, and went on to achieve what William Tecumseh Sherman predicted would be a “brilliant future.” Early in his career with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he worked on lock and dam projects that later served him well in Panama. More engineer than soldier, Goethals viewed the military simply as a vehicle through which he could express his talent.

On President Theodore Roosevelt's order, Goethals was appointed chief engineer of the Panama Canal in 1907 when John F. Stevens resigned because of the difficulties in the first three years of construction. Goethals supervised nearly all major excavation and all construction. He vastly expanded the proposed canal's size, taking into account U.S. Navy preferences for access, passage, and defense. To oversee the building of immense locks and dams, Goethals brought in army and civilian engineers who had distinguished themselves in similar work. He then set the two groups to work on opposite sides of the canal, expectant that professional rivalry would encourage speed and excellence.

Goethals's responsibilities at Panama extended well beyond construction. He organized a strictly regimented social order, with engineers and designers at the top and workers at the bottom. Each lived in separate communities with separate amenities, with a court system adjudicated by Goethals himself. Goethals had the ability to manage an incredibly diverse number of workers. He completed the canal in 1914, having done the job under budget and ahead of schedule, and still operating with most of the original construction equipment. General Goethals served as governor of the Canal Zone (1914–16) and then with the War Department's supply agencies in World War I.

Bibliography

• Joseph B. Bishop, Goethals, Genius of the Panama Canal: A Biography, 1930

Ǝlz (1858-1928) military officer and chief engineer of the Panama Canal, born in Brooklyn, New York. Goethals's responsibilities included housing and provisioning the work force on the Canal, for which he became a hero. Following the successful completion of the canal (1914), ahead of time and under budget, Goethals remained as governor of the Panama Canal Zone (1914-17). After a series of mediocre results in positions in which he did not have absolute authority, he was given control of, and totally reorganized, the Quartermaster Department, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal (1918).

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

U.S. Army officer and engineer George Washington Goethals (1858-1928) succeeded in building the Panama Canal after many others had failed.

On June 29, 1858, George W. Goethals was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to a Dutch immigrant family. Intending to become a physician, he attended the City College of New York for 3 years. He then won a coveted appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, from which he graduated in 1880, second in a class of 52. He was one of two members of his class selected to go on to engineering school.

From 1882 to 1903 Goethals served with distinction on projects dealing with river and harbor improvements. He taught engineering at West Point (1885-1889, 1898-1900) and was assistant to the Army chief of engineers (1894-1898). During the Spanish-American War he was chief engineer of the I Army Corps, and from 1903 to 1907 he was on the general staff of the Army.

Meanwhile the United States had begun construction of the Panama Canal, but the Isthmian Canal Commission and the two civilian engineers who headed the project had made slow progress. In 1907 President Theodore Roosevelt decided to place a military engineer in complete charge, picking Goethals over many other talented engineering officers.

Combining administrative ability with professional skill, Goethals overcame enormous obstacles of engineering, climate, disease, and living conditions before the canal was officially opened in 1914. The most difficult part of building the canal, Goethals later wrote, was the problem caused by the "human element." As many as 45,000 persons, of many nationalities and speaking a variety of languages, worked on the canal. Goethals made himself accessible to all, heard complaints, visited every aspect of the project, and had an uncanny mastery of the smallest details. In the process, sanitary officer William C. Gorgas succeeded in eliminating yellow fever.

Goethals served as governor of the Canal Zone from 1914 to 1917. During World War I he was in charge of the purchase, storage, and transport of all supplies and the movement of all troops within the United States and overseas, winning the Distinguished Service Medal for his achievements. After retiring from the Army in 1919, he was a private consulting engineer on many important projects, including the Holland Tunnel and the George Washington Bridge, connecting Manhattan and New Jersey, and the Goethals Bridge, connecting Staten Island and New Jersey. He died on Jan. 21, 1928, and was buried in the Army West Point cemetery.

Further Reading

Goethals's life is best described in Joseph Bucklin Bishop and Farnham Bishop, Goethals: Genius of the Panama Canal (1930). See also Gerstle Mack, The Land Divided: A History of the Panama Canal and Other Isthmian Canal Projects (1944).

Quotes:

"Faith in the ability of a leader is of slight service unless it be united with faith in his justice."

George Washington Goethals
Personal information
Nationality	American
Birth date	June 29, 1858(1858-06-29)
Birth place	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Date of death	January 21, 1928 (aged 69)
Place of death	New York City, U.S.
Education	United States Military Academy
Work
Significant projects	Panama Canal

George Washington Goethals (pronounced gō-thülz; June 29, 1858 – January 21, 1928) was a United States Army officer and civil engineer, best known for his supervision of construction and the opening of the Panama Canal. The Goethals Bridge between Staten Island, New York City and Elizabeth, New Jersey is named in his honor, as is the Goethals Medal.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Trivia 3 See also 4 References

Biography

Goethals was born in Brooklyn, New York to Flemish (Stekene-Flanders-Belgium) immigrants^[1][2] Johannes Baptista (John Louis) Goethals, a carpenter, and wife Marie Le Barron. Aged 14, he entered the College of the City of New York. In April 1876, after three years of college, he won a cadetship to the United States Military Academy at West Point. There, he was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. He graduated second in his class in 1880, a distinction that led that year to a commission as second lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers.

Goethals remained at the military academy during the summer and fall of 1880 as an assistant instructor in practical astronomy. In 1881 he attended the Engineer School of Application at Willets Point, New York. His first field assignment came in the following year with his appointment as engineer officer of the Department of Columbia in Vancouver, Washington. His routine duties included reconnaissance, surveys, and astronomical work, while his most consequential project was the replacement of a 120-foot bridge across the Spokane River.

In September 1884 he transferred to Cincinnati, Ohio, as an assistant to Lieutenant Colonel William E. Merrill, who was in charge of the navigational improvements of the Ohio River. Goethals worked his way up from rodman on the hydrographic surveys to foreman of concrete work and, finally, to chief of construction. Also in 1884 he married Effie Rodman; they had two children. From 1885 to 1889 he taught civil and military engineering at West Point. He returned to the field in 1889 to assist Colonel John W. Barlow with navigational improvements on the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers. While an instructor at West Point Goethals agreed to tutor Charles Young who graduated in 1889 after being reexamined in engineering^[3]

In 1891 Goethals was promoted to captain and placed in charge of the completion of the Muscle Shoals Canal along the Tennessee River near Chattanooga. This was his first independent command, and his responsibilities included the design and construction of the Riverton Lock at Colbert Shoals. Goethals's recommendation of a single lock with an unprecedented lift of twenty-six feet was initially opposed by his superiors in Washington, and he was forced to persuade the conservative army engineers of the merits of his design. The success of the Riverton Lock inspired the eventual adoption of high-lift locks elsewhere, including those for the Panama Canal.

During the Spanish-American War he was lieutenant colonel and chief of engineers of United States Volunteers. In 1907 US President Theodore Roosevelt appointed George Washington Goethals chief engineer of the Panama Canal. The building of the Canal was completed in 1914, one year ahead of the target date of June 1, 1916.

Colonel Goethals received unstinted praise from visiting engineers and from the technical press of the entire civilized world. In 1913 the degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by the University of Pennsylvania, and in the spring of 1914 he was awarded medals by the National Geographic Society, the Civic Forum (New York), and the National Institute of Social Sciences. President Wilson appointed him the first Civil Governor of the Panama Canal Zone.

He resigned from the post of Governor of the Canal Zone in 1916 and was made chairman of the board of inquiry in regard to the Adamson eight-hour law. His positions thereafter were: State engineer of New Jersey in 1917, manager of the Emergency Fleet Corporation (briefly), acting quartermaster of the United States Army, and a member of the War Industries Board (1918). In 1919, he requested his release from his active service. Later on, he headed an engineering and construction firm. He became the first consulting engineer of the Port of New York Authority (now the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey), and the Goethals Bridge, one of the authority's bridges between New York and New Jersey, was named for him. He died in New York City.

He is the great-great-grandfather of actress Angela Goethals.

In World War II the United States liberty ship SS G. W. Goethals was named in his honor. He has one street named for him in the city of Richland, Washington. Another one named Goethals Avenue in Queens, New York City at St John's University

Trivia

In the play and film Arsenic and Old Lace, the character Teddy Brewster mistakes Dr. Einstein for Goethals, inviting him to inspect a new canal.

See also

• Panama Canal

United States Army portal

References

1. ^ http://people.zeelandnet.nl/vanput/genam.htm (in Dutch)
2. ^ http://people.zeelandnet.nl/vanput/belgoet.htm (in Dutch)
3. ^ Black cadet in a White bastion By Brian Shellum, Vincent K. Brooks

• Panama Canal Authority biography
• Bishop, Farnham (August 1912). "The Builder Of The Canal: Col. George Washington Goethals". The World's Work: A History of Our Time XXIV: 389–402. 
• Mellander, Gustavo A.; Nelly Maldonado Mellander (1999). Charles Edward Magoon: The Panama Years. Río Piedras, Puerto Rico: Editorial Plaza Mayor. ISBN 1563281554. OCLC 42970390.
• Mellander, Gustavo A. (1971). The United States in Panamanian Politics: The Intriguing Formative Years. Danville, Ill.: Interstate Publishers. OCLC 138568.
• "Goethals, George Washington" in American National Biography. American Council of Learned Societies, 2000.

Preceded by Military Governor Richard Lee Metcalfe

Governor of Panama Canal Zone 1914–1917

Succeeded by Chester Harding (governor)

Persondata
NAME	Goethals, George Washington
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	United States Army officer and civil engineer
DATE OF BIRTH	June 29, 1858
PLACE OF BIRTH	Brooklyn, New York
DATE OF DEATH	January 21, 1928
PLACE OF DEATH	New York City

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