2. Rickover was unimpressed with the life at Annapolis
In an interview with Diane Sawyer for 60 Minutes in 1984, Rickover briefly discussed his life at the Naval Academy. He claimed he never dated, never went to class dances or balls, and only occasionally went to movies shown at the Academy. Instead, he studied, driven by a fear of failure. He also endured hazing, which was the practice of senior midshipmen harassing those less advanced in rank. Jewish midshipmen were a rarity at Annapolis, and because of his physical stature and being Jewish, “…everybody got hazing there at that time. I probably got somewhat more than the average”. When Sawyer pressed Rickover on why he likely got more hazing he replied, “Because I was Jewish”. Rickover also recalled one midshipman who hazed him at Annapolis later asked the then senior officer for a favor. “I wouldn’t do it”, said Rickover.
Later in the interview, Rickover referred to the Naval Academy as “…that lousy boys’ school“. His comments stand in stark contrast with most Academy graduates who went on to Naval Careers, most of whom held the school on the Severn with reverence. Rickover also delivered a comment somewhat disparaging of the Naval Academy when he gave a commencement address at Columbia, a school at which he obtained a graduate degree during his naval career. In the address, he referred to Columbia as the first school which taught him to think, rather than simply memorize. He was also openly contemptuous of Naval traditions and military courtesies, telling Sawyer in the same interview, “…what the hell is there about standing up and saluting and dressing up in uniform? You can put dummies to do that job”.