Fair command judgment weighs both success and failure

Halsey was a capable, aggressive commander who nevertheless made a serious mistake at Leyte Gulf. A fair assessment can criticize that failure without turning it into a verdict on his whole career, while his successes cannot erase the consequences of the decision. People in governments and commands can be perceptive in one situation and stubborn or wrong in another. Alternate history tests whether another course was physically and institutionally possible instead of merely assigning blame after the outcome is known. The conditions that produced the error are worth studying so later commanders can avoid repeating it.