General Leslie Groves
| Leslie Groves | |
|---|---|
Groves as a major general
|
|
| Birth name | Leslie Richard Groves Jr. |
| Born |
17 August 1896 Albany, New York |
| Died | 13 July 1970 (aged 73) Washington, D.C. |
| Place of burial | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America |
| Service/ |
 United States Army
|
| Years of service | 1918–1948 |
| Rank |
 Lieutenant General
|
| Commands held |
Armed Forces Special Weapons Project Manhattan Project |
| Battles/wars |
World War I Occupation of Nicaragua World War II |
| Awards |
Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit Order of the Crown (Belgium) Companion of the Order of the Bath (Great Britain) Medal of Merit (Nicaragua) |
| Other work | Vice President Sperry Rand |
Lieutenant General Leslie Richard Groves Jr. (17 August 1896 – 13 July 1970) was a United States Army Corps of Engineers officer who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan Project, a top secret research project that developed the atomic bomb during World War II.
The son of a United States Army chaplain, Groves lived at various Army posts during his childhood. In 1918, he graduated fourth in his class at the United States Military Academy at West Point and was commissioned into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In 1929, he went to Nicaragua as part of an expedition to conduct a survey for the Inter-Oceanic Nicaragua Canal. Following the 1931 Nicaragua earthquake, Groves took over Managua's water supply system, for which he was awarded the Nicaraguan Presidential Medal of Merit. He attended the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1935 and 1936; and the Army War College in 1938 and 1939, after which he was posted to the War Department General Staff. Groves developed "a reputation as a doer, a driver, and a stickler for duty" and in 1940 he became special assistant for construction to the Quartermaster General, tasked with inspecting construction sites and checking on their progress. In August 1941, he was appointed to create the gigantic office complex for the War Department's 40,000 staff that would ultimately become the Pentagon.
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