This study addresses how operational and strategic commanders best implement strategies to accomplish their specific goals by analyzing the three distinct tasks that strategic commanders must accomplish in order to successfully build the support they require: 1) develop and communicate a vision of the future state of affairs with regard to the strategic situation to subordinates, peers, and superiors; 2) generate the requisite political power to bridge the gaps between themselves and other peer actors in order to 3) influence superiors to support the strategy. Using the cases of Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and David H. Petraeus, this study demonstrates that support for a strategy can be built using a number of different methods. It finds that different methods are suitable in different situations, but that whatever method is used, the best course is to gain broad-based support for a strategy by gaining the support of subordinates, peers, and superiors.
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