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West Point changed to meet the demands of a new century,
but its graduates continued to lead the nation’s armed forces in war and peace.
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World War I mobilization seriously disrupted West Point. Appointed superintendent after the Armistice, Douglas MacArthur (Class of 1903)
oversaw the academy’s restoration to good health. Although World War II proved less damaging
to normal functioning, it stimulated even more far-reaching reforms, first by Maxwell Taylor (1922),
then by Garrison Davidson (1927).
West Point’s 20th-century curriculum grew to include a new range of subjects
required of the well-schooled officer. Until the 1950s, everyone took the same courses.
Now cadets may choose among many. Who might become an officer also changed. After mid-century
West Point’s doors opened wider, first to African Americans and other minority men, then in 1976
to the formerly excluded women of America. By the end of the 20th century, West Point’s faculty
and corps of cadets had become far more representative of the nation they served than had been
true in the 19th century.
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Did you know that astronaut Michael Collins (Class of 1967), a participant in the first manned lunar landing, was the
first director of the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum?
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