 He has never broken a commitment or promise to me".Chennault was supported in his disputes by Soong Mei-ling, Chiang's politically powerful wife, who was one of the richest women in 1930s China, and unlike her husband, was fluent in English.Stilwell and Chennault loathed each other, having very different personalities, described by the British journalist Jonathan Fenby as a clash between Stilwell, the New England Puritan and proud "Yankee" who "prized moral courage" above all vs. Chennault, the Southern gentleman and "Good Ole Boy" who accepted "human foibles" as natural.