Berlin's defender

By Bruce Kennedy
CNN Interactive

Few people have had as profound an impact on their times as Gen. Lucius DuBignon Clay.

Clay appeared groomed from his childhood for bigger things. Born in Marietta Georgia, the son of a U.S. senator, he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1918. He served in the Army Corps of Engineers, where he distinguished himself during the Depression years -- eventually becoming head of the national civil airport program.

When the United States entered World War II, Clay was placed in charge of materiel -- making sure equipment and supplies reached the front lines. His primary instructions were to "find out what the Army needs and get it." Clay thus oversaw one of the most successful military supply operations in history.

In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Clay deputy governor in Germany under Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Clay later wrote that, during his first visit to the defeated Nazi capital, "my exultation in victory was diminished as I witnessed this degradation of man." He promised to remember that "we were responsible for the government of human beings." Two years later, Clay was promoted to commander in chief of U.S. forces in Europe -- as well as military governor of the U.S. zone in Germany.

In his book, "Lucius D. Clay, An American Life," Jean Edward Smith writes that Clay was truly the father of what became West Germany. By supervising a de-Nazification program, directing the Berlin airlift, instituting currency reform, helping to establish constitutional law and self-government, and by standing up to both the Soviets as well as Washington's Western allies, who wanted to keep Germany divided and weak, Clay was more responsible than anyone, Smith argues, for "the creation of a prosperous, stable and democratic Germany."

Following his retirement in 1949, Clay went into private business -- and prospered in the employment of several civilian firms. When asked why a major company would be interested in a retired general, Clay said he didn't know of anyone else on Wall Street "who ever conducted a major currency reform. Or for that matter, who established a government."

Clay played a part in Eisenhower's successful presidential campaign. A decade later, he served as President John F. Kennedy's personal representative in Germany.

It was in this role that Clay returned to Berlin in 1961, while the Berlin Wall was being constructed. Clay angered many U.S. officials there by going around the local military hierarchy and taking steps to restore the fading morale in West Berlin.

It was on Clay's orders that U.S. tanks were brought to "Checkpoint Charlie" after East German guards refused to let a U.S. official back into West Berlin until he showed his credentials. Clay said his response proved it was the Russians -- and not the East German government -- behind the construction of the Wall. The appearance of those U.S. tanks prompted the arrival of Soviet tanks on the eastern side of the checkpoint.

"These were Russian tanks, not East German tanks," Clay later remembered. "It was obvious that the Russians did not trust the East Germans in this situation. As soon as they did that, I was no longer concerned. The Russians had come out of hiding, and I was sure they were not going to do anything. But we had proved our point. The Russians were in charge."

The standoff at Checkpoint Charlie made international headlines and prompted a protest by the British against what they called Clay's "foolish posturing." It also ignited fears that Berlin would become the flashpoint for a new world war. But Clay's actions further endeared him to West Berliners. In his final appearance in Berlin, at a May Day rally in 1962, 750,000 people -- one out of every three Berliners -- turned out to see him.

Clay died in 1978. At the foot of his grave in West Point is a memorial from the citizens of Berlin that says, "Wir danken dem Bewahrer unserer Freiheit" -- "We thank the defender of our freedom."