Julius Caesar's Decisions During World War II

“Veni, vidi, vici.” These Latin words, translated into English as “I came, I saw, I conquered”, were spoken by Julius Caesar, and captured his decision making and leadership skills (“Latin Quotes by Julius Caesar”). Julius Caesar is considered one of the greatest military minds of all time. Through a series of political alliances and battles, he expanded the Roman Republic and built the foundations for the Roman Empire (“Julius Caesar – Dictator, General”). As with other successful leaders, such as Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower, Caesar’s success was highly dependent on his decision making skills. Good decision making is oftentimes the result of confidence, determination, and courage. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “If I have lost confidence in myself, I have the universe against me” (Moncur, “Quotations by
After postponing military operations for a month to allow the Allies time to build and gather the landing craft they would need to transport troops to the beaches of Normandy, Eisenhower set June 5, 1944 as D-Day, the date the Allies would invade the Germans in France. Time and weather were not on Eisenhower’s side. The weather forecast for June 5 was cloudy skies, rain, and turbulent seas. He had a very small window to coordinate the attack, as the tides would not favor another invasion for nearly two weeks, and in that amount of time the Germans could possibly learn of the plan. Eisenhower took a gamble with the weather. He postponed D-Day for one day, and the invasion took place on June 6, 1944. Utilizing over four thousand warships, almost ten thousand aircraft, and approximately one hundred sixty thousand troops, it was the largest amphibious invasion in the history of the world (“Eisenhower Decides on D-Day”). Though many Allied lives were lost, the invasion was a success, because Eisenhower was determined to defeat Nazi Germany, despite the