Harry Litman - A 21-Gun Salute to Admiral Alvin Holsey

Hi everyone. Happy Friday. Where the frequently dispiriting news permits, we like to close the week on an upbeat note. This week it’s easy. Yesterday was probably the worst day for Trump’s autocratic ambitions, and the best day for democracy, in 2025. The Administration took it directly on the chin in 4 important stories: the rebuff of their third effort to indict Letitia James; the implicit surrender in the effort to appoint Lindsay Halligan U.S. Attorney; the ordered release of Kilmar Abrego-Garcia; and the overwhelming rejection of a nasty gerrymander scheme by Indiana Republicans in the face of huge pressure from Trump.

I’ll be writing on some of those issues next week. But this week’s coda is a tribute to a quiet hero in American government.

Even though Trump and company have taken a chainsaw to the executive branch, purging thousands of employees and cowing many of those remaining, there are still honorable public servants quietly giving their best to the American people and strictly upholding their oaths to the Constitution, not Donald Trump. One exemplary figure is Admiral Alvin Holsey, whose forced retirement becomes official today.

Admiral Holsey compiled an incredible career in the Navy, beginning as a member of ROTC at Morehouse College, and over a 37-year career, worked his way from helicopter pilot to 4-star Admiral, effectively the highest position in the service. (The only rank above it, Fleet Admiral, has not been awarded since World War II.)Last year, he was named the Commander of U.S. Southern Command.

https://harrylitman.substack.com/p/a-21-gun-salute-to-admiral-alvin