After William Moffett died in the crash of USS Akron, King received temporary rear-admiral rank and control of the Bureau of Aeronautics, but permanent appointment was not automatic. His supporters sought help from a newspaper editor and a senator, while Chief of Naval Operations William Pratt publicly ranked three admirals ahead of him and still hoped to send King to the Naval War College. Secretary of the Navy Claude Swanson had observed King's work on the S-51 and S-4 salvage operations and preferred him for the aviation bureau. Pratt's temporary appointment may itself have been political positioning: it demonstrated King's suitability while allowing Pratt to say that the bureau was taking a preferred War College candidate. Professional performance, civilian sponsorship, and institutional maneuvering all shaped promotion at the top of the interwar US Navy.
Notable Point · 54:03-56:38
King's Bureau appointment required political sponsorship
King's promotion after Moffett's death shows how technical reputation, civilian observation, lobbying, and CNO maneuvering interacted in senior naval appointments.