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George C. Marshall

 
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George C. Marshall, Military Leader / World War II Figure / U.S. Secretary of State

George C. Marshall
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  • Born: 31 December 1880
  • Birthplace: Uniontown, Pennsylvania
  • Died: 16 October 1959
  • Best Known As: World War II-era U.S. General and Secretary of State

George Catlett Marshall served in the U.S. Army in France during World War I, emerging as aide-de-camp to General John Joseph Pershing. Marshall rose through the administrative ranks and served as the army's Chief of Staff during World War II, then as a U.S. ambassador to China. He returned to the U.S. to serve in President Harry Truman's cabinet, as Secretary of State and then Secretary of Defense. Beginning in 1948, General Marshall oversaw the implementation of the European Recovery Program, since called The Marshall Plan, an economic policy to help Western Europe recover from the devastation of World War II. For his efforts toward world peace, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:

George Catlett Marshall

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George C. Marshall.
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George C. Marshall. (credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.)
(born Dec. 31, 1880, Uniontown, Pa., U.S. — died Oct. 16, 1959, Washington, D.C.) U.S. Army officer and statesman. After graduating from the Virginia Military Institute, he served in the Philippines (1902 – 03) and in World War I. He was later an aide to Gen. John Pershing (1919 – 24) and assistant commandant of the army's infantry school (1927 – 33), where he taught many future commanders. As chief of staff of the U.S. Army (1939 – 45), he directed army operations throughout World War II. After his retirement in 1945, Pres. Harry Truman sent him to China to mediate the civil war there. As secretary of state (1947 – 49), Marshall proposed the European aid program known as the Marshall Plan and initiated discussions that led to the formation of NATO. He resigned because of ill health but was called back by Truman to become secretary of defense (1950 – 51) and to prepare the armed forces for the Korean War. In 1953 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.

For more information on George Catlett Marshall, visit Britannica.com.

Oxford Dictionary of Political Biography:

George Catlett Marshall

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(b. Uniontown, Pennsylvania, 31 Dec. 1880; d. 16 Oct. 1959) US; Chief of Staff 1939 – 45, Secretary of State 1947 – 9, Secretary of Defense 1950 – 1 Marshall was educated at the Virginia Military Institute, 1897 – 1901, graduated with honours from the US Infantry-Cavalry School 1907 and from the Army Staff College 1908. In 1901 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant of infantry and served first in the Philippines and then as a Staff College instructor. In the First World War he went overseas as chief of operations on the staff of the First Division, services for which he was decorated both by his own country and France.

Franklin Roosevelt recognized Marshall's qualities and during the Second World War appointed him Chief of Staff, tasked with building up and modernizing the army. After the war, as Special Presidential Envoy to China, Marshall assumed the mission impossible of trying to bring about peace in the civil war between Communists and Kuomintang forces. His failure to do so influenced America's decision to abandon containment in China, and led to Marshall's censure by Senator McCarthy for betraying America's vital interest.

In 1947, with the unanimous endorsement of the Senate, Marshall became Secretary of State. Many brilliant minds contributed to the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of post-war Europe. It was Marshall, however, as Secretary of State, who played a key role in persuading Americans to shoulder a major burden in the recovery programme and in persuading Europeans of the need for co-operation with each other.

Marshall retired on health grounds in 1949. During the Korean War, at the urging of Truman, he returned to office as Secretary of Defense and played an influential part in the demise of General McArthur.

General Marshall was recognized by his own countrymen and by the Allies as a man of courage, vision, and integrity, who made a major contribution to winning the war and the peace. In addition to numerous decorations and honorary degrees, in 1953 he received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Oxford Companion to Military History:

Gen George Marshall

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Marshall, Gen George (1880-1959), US army COS during WW II, appointed general of the army in 1944, Secretary of State in 1947-9, and Secretary of Defense in 1950-1. Author of the Marshall Plan for European recovery in 1947 and Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1953, he was the most prominent member of a generation of austere and selfless public servants who shaped American policies at the time of her greatest relative world power.

From an old Virginia family, he entered the army via the Virginia Military Institute rather than West Point. His first service was during the Philippines insurrection in 1902-3. He was operations chief of the 1st US Division in France in 1917 and of the First Army during the 1918 Meuse-Argonne offensive. He was one of the ‘inner circle’ around Pershing and served as his ADC 1919-24. From 1927 to 1933 he was in charge of the infantry school at Fort Benning and became COS on the day Nazi Germany invaded Poland to begin WW II.

Like Franklin D. Roosevelt, his efforts at first were devoted to preventing further weakening of an army that many, Hitler among them, regarded as irrelevant. Starting from a baseline of less than 200, 000, by mid-1941 Marshall was able to organize war games with twice that number, during which Eisenhower, whom he was to promote over the heads of 366 senior officers to command US forces in Europe, first caught his eye. He also recalled his far-better-known predecessor MacArthur to active service in the Philippines and was to show great forbearance in handling him and other prima donnas like Patton and Clark during the course of the war.

After Pearl Harbor he directed the largest military build-up in history, training and equipping a citizen army that eventually numbered nearly 8.5 million men and women. In the face of an achievement on such a scale there is a tendency to overlook serious deficiencies in both the training and equipment with which the American host was sent to war. The selection and training of infantry officers was particularly poor, an odd lapse considering Marshall's background, while the massive commitment to the under-gunned, under-armoured Sherman tank, known to the Germans as ‘the Ronson’, was a choice of quantity over quality with a horrible human cost.

He shared a common US suspicion of British motives in seeking to postpone the cross-Channel invasion, and seriously underestimated the fighting power of the Wehrmacht. Had the invasion been launched in 1943 as he wished, it would almost certainly have been defeated with untold consequences for the shape of post-war Europe. As it was, a doctrinaire hostility towards geopolitical considerations, allied to the knowledge that whoever got there first was going to pay a high price, led him to divert the main American drive away from Berlin towards a chimerical ‘southern redoubt’. The consequences of this decision during the Cold War were to be painful, but it faithfully reflected the views of Roosevelt and cannot be attributed solely to Marshall.

He played a central role in the policy of containment developed when he was Secretary of State under Roosevelt's successor Truman. The Berlin airlift; the European Recovery Programme; military assistance to Greece, Turkey, and Israel; and the preliminary discussions that eventually led to the formation of NATO all took place during his watch. Until Britain confessed to bankruptcy in early 1947, American policy assumed that London must take care of security concerns in Europe. The ‘Truman Doctrine’ was not merely an awakening to geopolitical realities; it was a philosophical revolution involving a commitment to ‘overseas entanglements’, the avoidance of which had hitherto dominated US diplomacy.

He resigned because of ill health in 1949, to be appointed Secretary of Defense a year later to provide political cover for Truman after the outbreak of the Korean war revealed deplorable military unpreparedness. It is difficult to imagine that Truman would have been unmoved by a protest against the manner in which the army was run down from a man he respected to the point of awe but that, to Marshall, was not his province. Nor did he feel it necessary to defend himself when Sen McCarthy accused him of being the mastermind of a communist conspiracy, although he did resign a few months later. The unkindest cut of all was when, in a shameful ethical lapse, the Republican presidential candidate and his protégé Eisenhower was prevailed upon not to defend him from McCarthy's odious slander.

— Hugh Bicheno


(1880–1959), World War II army chief of staff; secretary of state, 1947–49; Korean War secretary of defense

Marshall is considered the creator of the World War II U.S. Army, the organizer of Allied victory, and the architect of key U.S. Cold War policies. In 1953, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for the European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan) that bears his name. He is the first professional soldier to be so honored.

Born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, Marshall graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1901 and in 1902 was commissioned a second lieutenant. Throughout his early military career, he exhibited extraordinary ability as a staff officer. Consequently, he was given responsibilities far beyond his rank and deeply impressed his superiors—most notably Gen. John J. Pershing, who assigned Marshall to his World War I staff and became his mentor and supporter. Marshall played a major role in planning the St. Mihiel and Meuse‐Argonne offensives, and developed an exceptional reputation for organizing and operating within Allied commands. During the interwar years, he developed a similar reputation for working with civilians. As head of the Infantry School at Fort Benning (1927–32) he also trained what would become the U.S. High Command in World War II. Promotion during this time was slow, however, and only in 1936 did he obtain his first general's star. Yet in 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt selected him over numerous senior officers to be the new army chief of staff.

In 1939–41, Marshall focused his energies on the creation of a large, modern army to meet the threat posed by Axis military victories. In the process he developed an extraordinary reputation with Congress for honesty as well as military expertise, and he became the administration's most convincing military advocate on Capitol Hill. Largely as a result of his efforts, the army expanded from 175,000 in 1939 to 1.4 million in 1941. Plans were also completed for additional expansion to 8 million and for a global strategy of alliance with Britain to defeat Germany before Japan, if and when the United States officially entered the war. Marshall was far less successful in halting Roosevelt's proclivity to overcommitment, however, particularly in the Far East, and over whether scarce resources should be allocated to the U.S. Army or to potential allies under the Lend‐Lease Act and Agreements.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Marshall became the leading figure in the newly formed U.S. Joint and Anglo‐American Combined Chiefs of Staff and gradually emerged as Roosevelt's chief military adviser. He attended all Allied wartime summit conferences and played a major role in the creation of the joint and combined chiefs and in the application of the unity of command principle to all U.S. and British ground, naval, and air forces. He also strongly promoted a cross‐Channel invasion over British‐supported Mediterranean operations, but he lost that debate and was forced to acquiesce in the 1942–43 North Africa Campaign and the 1943 invasion and conquest of Sicily and Italy. In return, Marshall won presidential and British support for the 1944 cross‐Channel assault that would culminate in the decisive invasion of Normandy. Although it was expected he would command that operation, Marshall was not selected because he had become indispensable in Washington and because he refused to request the position. For such self‐denial as well as for his accomplishments, Marshall was selected Time magazine's “Man of the Year” in 1944, and Congress awarded him a fifth star and the title “General of the Army.”

After World War II, Marshall served as special presidential emissary to China in an unsuccessful effort to avert civil war, and then as Truman's secretary of state from 1947 to 1949. In this position he played a major role in defining, implementing, and winning bipartisan support for an activist Cold War policy of containing Soviet expansionism, most notably in the European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan), and won a second “Man of the Year” award as well as a Nobel Prize. He played a major role, too, in the formation of West Germany and NATO. As secretary of defense (1950–51), he rebuilt U.S. military forces during the Korean War and took a key part in the controversial relief of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. For this, as well as his Asian policies while secretary of state, he became a target of attacks by Senator Joseph McCarthy and his associates.

Despite those attacks, Marshall's reputation continued to grow after his death in 1959. In addition to his extraordinary accomplishments, he was one of the foremost defenders of civilian control of the military, a key definer of the army's proper role in a democratic society, and a model of both personal integrity and selfless public service. For all of this he is widely considered one of the world's greatest soldier‐statesmen.

[See also Civil‐Military Relations: Civil Control of the Military; World War II: Military and Diplomatic Course; Joint Chiefs of Staff.]

Bibliography

  • Forrest C. Pogue, George C. Marshall, 4 vols., 1963–87.
  • Larry I. Bland, ed., The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, 3 of 6 vols., 1981–91.
  • Thomas Parrish, Roosevelt and Marshall: Partners in Politics and War, 1989.
  • Mark A. Stoler, George C. Marshall: Soldier‐Statesman of the American Century, 1989.
  • Edward Cray, General of the Army: George C. Marshall, Soldier and Statesman, 1990.
  • Larry I. Bland, ed., George C. Marshall: Interviews and Reminiscences for Forrest C. Pogue, 1991
Oxford Dictionary of the US Military:

George Catlett Marshall, Jr.

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Marshall, George Catlett, Jr. (1880-1959) General of the Army and statesman, army chief of staff (1939-45), secretary of state (1947-49), and secretary of defense (1950-51). Marshall was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He is generally recognized as the architect and organizer of the Allied victory during World War II, during which he was unofficial leader of the joint chiefs, first among equals within the combined chiefs, and key military advisor to the commander in chief, Franklin D. Roosevelt.) He played a major role in such crucial strategic decisions as the invasion of Normandy and the unity of command for all British and American forces. As secretary of state in the early years of the Cold War, Marshall helped to define the U.S. role in international affairs and to restructure the state department accordingly. The European Recovery Program, commonly known as the Marshall Plan and for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize (1953), provided more than $13 billion in aid to the war-torn nations of Western Europe. In his brief tenure as secretary of defense, Marshall was involved in the decision to recall Gen. Douglas MacArthur from Korea. Earlier in his career Marshall had played a major role in planning the offensives of St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne (1918) during World War I while on the operations staff of Gen. John J. Pershing's headquarters.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Oxford Grove Music Encyclopedia:

George W(illiam) L(ouis) Marshall-Hall

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(b London, 26 March 1862; d Melbourne, 18 July 1915). English conductor and composer. He studied in Berlin and at the RCM and in 1890 was appointed professor at Melbourne University, becoming a leading controversial figure in the city's musical life and founding a conservatory. He wrote five operas, orchestral and chamber music.



Gale Encyclopedia of Biography:

George Catlett Marshall

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George Catlett Marshall (1880-1959), American soldier and statesman, was one of the most important military leaders during World War II.

George C. Marshall was born at Uniontown, Pa., on Dec. 31, 1880. He early chose a military career and graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1902. His first assignment was in the Philippines (1902-1903). In World War I he served as chief of operations of the 1st Army and chief of staff of the 1st Army Corps. In these capacities he directed operations in France at Saint-Mihiel in September 1918 and then transferred a military force of almost 250,000 men to the front in the Argonne. At the end of the war he was assigned to the staff of Gen. John Pershing (1919-1924) and served in China (1924-1927). From 1927 to 1932 Marshall was in charge of instruction at the military school at Fort Benning, Ga., where he left an important mark on American military doctrine and made contact with many of the military figures who were to play important roles in World War II.

In 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Marshall chief of staff of the army, and during the next 2 years he had a central role in preparing for United States entrance into World War II. Austere in person, Marshall was an administrator of the first order. He was a strong advocate of universal military training and played an important role in the passage of the draft law of 1941.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor came in December 1941. This surprise attack has been the subject of much controversy. Marshall has been criticized for his failure to give more specific warning to the commanders on the spot, for the War Department, when informed of the increasing diplomatic tension, never alerted the Hawaiian base except against sabotage. Much of the responsibility must lie, however, with the local commanders.

Marshall directed the war operations from 1941 to 1945. He would have dearly liked to be in command of the operations in Europe, but he accepted with his customary coolness, detachment, and patriotism the nomination of Dwight Eisenhower to that important post. Marshall had, however, a highly positive influence on the general strategy of the war. His belief that the primary task was the defeat of Germany's Adolf Hitler brought him into conflict with Gen. Douglas MacArthur and with powerful elements in the Navy, but his view prevailed.

Marshall not only organized the immense armed forces of the United States but served as an adviser to President Roosevelt at the wartime conferences at Casablanca, Teheran, and Yalta. On the President's death in 1945, he retained his post and enjoyed the entire confidence of the new president, Harry Truman. Marshall was present at Potsdam in July 1945 and shared in the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan.

Resigning in November 1945, Marshall undertook, with reluctance but in obedience to his strong sense of duty, a mission to China. His purpose was to bring about an understanding between the Nationalist government of Gen. Chiang Kai-shek and the growing Communist forces under Mao Tse-tung. He failed in this effort because of the intransigence of both sides.

On Jan. 21, 1947, Marshall was named secretary of state. He had a principal part in negotiations with the Soviet Union. More important, at Harvard on June 5, 1947, he propounded the plan for the rehabilitation of Europe (the Marshall Plan). The credit for this plan must go in no small part to the men Marshall had placed around him, notably William Clayton, Dean Acheson, and George Kennan, but Marshall lent it the immense prestige of his name. (In 1953 he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on this plan.) He was also central in the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Marshall resigned in January 1949 but was called back by President Truman to serve as secretary of defense in the period of the Korean War. His voice was important during the crisis created by Gen. Douglas MacArthur's defiance of the civil authority, when MacArthur took the war across the 38th parallel into North Korea. Marshall favored removal of the general.

There has rarely been a more disinterested public servant than Marshall. His judgments were sound rather than brilliant, but his record of achievement stands almost unequaled. Primarily a military man, he served with immense distinction in other fields, and he had much to do with bringing out many of the distinguished soldiers of the war period. Marshall died in Washington Oct. 16, 1959, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Further Reading

An authoritative biography of Marshall in three volumes is in preparation by Forrest C. Pogue, George C. Marshall (2 vols., 1963, 1967). The first two volumes carry his career to 1943. Pogue also wrote George C. Marshall: Global Commander (1968). A specialized study of Marshall is John Robinson Beal, Marshall in China (1970). See also Rose Page Wilson, General Marshall Remembered (1968). Marshall's career as secretary of state is covered in Robert H. Ferrell, ed., The American Secretaries of State and Their Diplomacy, vol. 15 (1966), and in George F. Kennan, Memoirs, 1925-1950 (1967).

(1880-1959), U.S. Army general, secretary of state, and secretary of defense. Commissioned lieutenant of infantry in 1902 after graduation from the Virginia Military Institute, Marshall won armywide recognition in World War I as training and planning officer of the first (American) division to go into action in France, as a planner at Gen. John J. Pershing's headquarters, and as chief of operations of the First Army. His vital contributions between the wars came in the five years he served as assistant commandant in charge of instruction at the Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia. Named chief of staff of the army in 1939, Marshall assumed command of the army and its air forces on the day war began in Europe. Holding this position for more than six years, Marshall increased his combined forces from 200,000 to more than 8.5 million. Winston Churchill pronounced him "the true organizer of victory" for his work as trainer, planner, and strategist. More than any other military leader, he was known for his advocacy of a cross-channel attack as the quickest way to defeat Germany.

He retired from the army in November 1945 only to be sent as head of a mission to China to make peace there between the Nationalists and Communists. After the failure of that mission, in early 1947 President Harry S. Truman appointed him secretary of state. Soon Marshall attended a conference in Moscow with British, French, and Soviet counterparts, trying futilely to make treaties with Germany and Austria. He saw the growing economic collapse of Europe and the obvious intent of Soviet Russia to benefit from that collapse, and he returned from the conference in April determined to seek a solution to this problem.

In a June 5 address during Harvard University's commencement observances, Marshall proposed that European countries take the initiative and suggest a plan for American economic aid for their recovery. When that proposal, dubbed by Truman "the Marshall Plan," was debated in Congress early in 1948, Marshall worked with congressional committees and made speeches throughout the country to guide the legislation through a Republican-controlled Congress. At the end of a year of crises and confrontations with the Soviets in central Europe, Marshall entered a hospital for removal of a diseased kidney and resigned early in the new year. When he recovered, Truman asked him that fall to head the American Red Cross.

A year later when North Korean troops had invaded South Korea, Truman urged Marshall to become secretary of defense. During the year that he agreed to stay in that post, the aging Marshall augmented army strength, secured U.N. military aid, and strengthened the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that he had helped foster in 1948. He retired for the last time in September 1951, after nearly fifty years of military and civilian public service. For his efforts toward European political and economic reconstruction he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.

Often aloof and austere in manner in wartime, Marshall was remembered by friends as a man of warmth and compassion and of absolute integrity. Associates have placed him in the company of George Washington and Robert E. Lee as one who served his country selflessly, without thought of ambition or reward. Nonpartisan to the extent of never voting, he firmly believed that a democratic society required complete military subordination to civilian control.

Bibliography:

Larry Bland, ed., The Papers of George C. Marshall, 2 vols. to date (1981-); George C. Marshall, Memoirs of My Service in the World War (1976); Forrest C. Pogue, George C. Marshall, 4 vols. (1963-1987).

Author:

Forrest C. Pogue

See also Armed Forces; Korean War; Marshall Plan; North Atlantic Treaty Organization; World War II.


Columbia Encyclopedia:

George Catlett Marshall

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Marshall, George Catlett, 1880-1959, American general and cabinet member, b. Uniontown, Pa. A career army officer, Marshall graduated from the Virginia Military Institute. He first distinguished himself as a staff officer in World War I and later (1919-24) was aide to General Pershing. After varied tasks, including service in China (1924-27), he headed (1939-45) the army as Chief of Staff, becoming General of the Army (five-star general) in Dec., 1944. In this capacity, he reorganized and mobilized the military during World War II by coordinating training, planning for rearmament, supplying Great Britain with important material, and finally directing the war. Marshall influenced Congress to change the rules of promotion so that promising officers, regardless of seniority, could be promoted. Among his protégés were Dwight D. Eisenhower, H. H. Arnold, Omar Bradley, Mark Clark, and Joseph Stilwell. During World War II he developed and executed U.S. strategy. Marshall advocated the conquest of Germany through France, and his plan was finally adopted. Many of his wartime tasks were diplomatic. When he resigned as Chief of Staff, he was promptly appointed (Nov., 1945) special ambassador to China by President Truman and was later recalled (Jan., 1947) to be made Secretary of State. After engineering (Feb., 1947) immediate aid to Greece and Turkey, he fostered the European Recovery Program (called the Marshall Plan) to promote postwar economic recovery in Europe. This plan was a great success and it laid the groundwork for a revitalized Europe and the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He resigned because of ill health in Jan., 1949. In Sept., 1950, he was called out of retirement to become Secretary of Defense, but he resigned from this post in Sept., 1951. For the Marshall Plan he received the 1953 Nobel Peace Prize.

Bibliography

See his collected papers (3 vol., ed. by L. Bland and F. Hadsel, 1981-86); biographies by F. C. Pogue (3 vol., 1963-73) and Ed Cray (1990); M. Perry, Partners in Command: George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower in War and Peace (2007); S. Weintraub, 15 Stars: Eisenhower, MacArthur, Marshall (2007); A. Roberts, Masters and Commanders (2009).

A soldier and diplomat of the twentieth century. He was a leading planner of strategy for the Allies in World War II. Marshall served as secretary of state from 1947 to 1949, during which time he put forth the Marshall Plan. In 1953, he received the Nobel Prize for peace.

Quotes By:

George Marshall

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Quotes:

"Morale is a state of mind. It is steadfastness and courage and hope."

Wikipedia on Answers.com:

George Marshall

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General of the Army
George Catlett Marshall
50th United States Secretary of State
In office
January 21, 1947 – January 20, 1949
President Harry S. Truman
Preceded by James F. Byrnes
Succeeded by Dean Acheson
3rd United States Secretary of Defense
In office
September 21, 1950 – September 12, 1951
President Harry S. Truman
Preceded by Louis A. Johnson
Succeeded by Robert A. Lovett
15th United States Army Chief of Staff
In office
September 1, 1939 – November 18, 1945
Preceded by Malin Craig
Succeeded by Dwight D. Eisenhower
Personal details
Born December 31, 1880(1880-12-31)
Uniontown, Pennsylvania
Died October 16, 1959(1959-10-16) (aged 78)
Washington, D.C.
Political party Nonpartisan[1]
Spouse(s) Katherine Boyce Tupper
Elizabeth Carter Cole
Alma mater Virginia Military Institute
Profession Soldier
Statesman
Religion Episcopal[2]
Signature
Military service
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service 1902–1945 also through to 1959 (General of the Army regulations)
Rank US-O11 insignia.svg General of the Army
Commands Flag US Army Chief of Staff.svg Chief of Staff of the United States Army
Battles/wars Philippine–American War
World War I

World War II

Awards Distinguished Service Medal (2)
Silver Star
Nobel Peace Prize

George Catlett Marshall (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American military leader, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense. Once noted as the "organizer of victory" by Winston Churchill for his leadership of the Allied victory in World War II,[3] Marshall served as the United States Army Chief of Staff during the war and as the chief military adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. As Secretary of State, his name was given to the Marshall Plan, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.[4]

Contents

Early life

George Catlett Marshall was born into a middle-class family in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, the son of George Catlett Marshall, Sr. and Laura Emily (Bradford) Marshall.[5] Marshall was a scion of an old Virginia family, as well as a distant relative of former Chief Justice John Marshall. Marshall graduated from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI),[6] where he was initiated into the Kappa Alpha Order, in 1901.

World War I

Following graduation from VMI, Marshall was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Until World War I, he was posted to various positions in the US and the Philippines and was trained in modern warfare. His pre-war service included a tour at Fort Leavenworth, KS from 1906 to 1910 as both a student and an instructor.[7] During the war, he had roles as a planner of both training and operations. He went to France in mid-1917 as the director of training and planning for the 1st Infantry Division. In mid-1918, he was promoted to American Expeditionary Forces headquarters, where he worked closely with his mentor General John J. Pershing and was a key planner of American operations. He was instrumental in the design and coordination of the Meuse-Argonne offensive, which contributed to the defeat of the German Army on the Western Front.[8]

Colonel Marshall in France during or just after World War I.

Between World War I and II

In 1919, he became an aide-de-camp to General John J. Pershing. Between 1920 and 1924, while Pershing was Army Chief of Staff, Marshall worked in a number of positions in the US Army, focusing on training and teaching modern, mechanized warfare. Between World Wars I and II, he was a key planner and writer in the War Department, commanded the 15th Infantry Regiment (United States) for three years in China, and taught at the Army War College. From June 1932 to June 1933 he was the Commanding Officer at Fort Screven, Savannah Beach, Georgia, now named Tybee Island. In 1934, Col. Marshall put Edwin F. Harding in charge of the Infantry School's publications, and Harding became editor[9]:41 of Infantry in Battle, a book that codified the lessons of World War I. Infantry in Battle is still used as an officer's training manual in the Infantry Officer's Course and was the training manual for most of the infantry officers and leaders of World War II.

Marshall was promoted to Brigadier General in October 1936. He commanded the Vancouver Barracks in Vancouver, Washington from 1936–1938. Nominated by President Franklin Roosevelt to be Army Chief of Staff, Marshall was promoted to General and sworn in on September 1, 1939, the day German forces invaded Poland, which began World War II. He would hold this post until the end of the war in 1945.

World War II

As Chief of Staff, Marshall organized the largest military expansion in U.S. history, inheriting an outmoded, poorly equipped army of 189,000 men and, partly drawing from his experience teaching and developing techniques of modern warfare as an instructor at the Army War College, coordinated the large-scale expansion and modernization of the U.S. Army. Though he had never actually led troops in combat, Marshall was a skilled organizer with a talent for inspiring other officers.[10] Many of the American generals who were given top commands during the war were either picked or recommended by Marshall, including Dwight Eisenhower, Lloyd Fredendall, Leslie McNair, Mark Wayne Clark and Omar Bradley.[11]

Expands military force forty fold

Faced with the necessity of turning an army of former civilians into a force of over eight million soldiers by 1942 (a fortyfold increase within three years), Marshall directed General Leslie McNair to focus efforts on rapidly producing large numbers of soldiers. With the exception of airborne forces, Marshall approved McNair's concept of an abbreviated training schedule for men entering Army land forces training, particularly in regard to basic infantry skills, weapons proficiency, and combat tactics.[12][13] At the time, most U.S. commanders at lower levels had little or no combat experience of any kind; without the input of experienced British or Allied combat officers on the nature of modern warfare and enemy tactics, many of them resorted to formulaic training methods emphasizing static defense and orderly large-scale advances by motorized convoys over improved roads.[14] In consequence, Army forces deploying to Africa suffered serious initial reverses when encountering German armored combat units in Africa at Kasserine Pass and other major battles.[15] Even as late as 1944, U.S. soldiers undergoing stateside training in preparation for deployment against German forces in Europe were not being trained in combat procedures and tactics currently being employed there.[16]

Replacement system criticized

Originally, Marshall had planned a 200-division Army with a system of unit rotation such as practiced by the British and other Allies.[17] By mid-1943, however, after pressure from government and business leaders to preserve manpower for industry and agriculture, he had abandoned this plan in favor of a 90-division Army using individual replacements sent via a circuitous process from training to divisions in combat.[17] The individual replacement system (IRS) devised by Marshall and implemented by McNair greatly exacerbated problems with unit cohesion and effective transfer of combat experience to newly-trained soldiers and officers.[15][18] In Europe, where there were few pauses in combat with German forces, the individual replacement system had broken down completely by late 1944.[19] Hastily trained replacements or service personnel re-assigned as infantry were given six weeks' refresher training and thrown into battle with Army divisions locked in front-line combat. The new men were often not even proficient in the use of their own rifles or weapons systems, and once in combat, could not receive enough practical instruction from veterans before being killed or wounded, usually within the first three or four days.[15][20][21] Under such conditions, many replacements suffered a crippling loss of morale, while veteran soldiers were kept in line units until they were killed, wounded, or incapacitated by battle fatigue or physical illness. Incidents of soldiers AWOL from combat duty as well as battle fatigue and self-inflicted injury rose rapidly during the last eight months of the war with Germany.[15][18][20] As one historian later concluded, "Had the Germans been given a free hand to devise a replacement system..., one that would do the Americans the most harm and the least good, they could not have done a better job."[20][22]

Marshall's abilities to pick competent field commanders during the early part of the war was decidedly mixed. While he had been instrumental in advancing the career of the able Dwight D. Eisenhower, he had also recommended the swaggering Lloyd Fredendall to Eisenhower for a major command in the American invasion of North Africa during Operation Torch. Marshall was especially fond of Fredendall, describing him as "one of the best" and remarking in a staff meeting when his name was mentioned, "I like that man; you can see determination all over his face." Eisenhower duly picked him to command the 39,000-man Central Task Force (the largest of three) in Operation Torch. Both men would later come to regret that decision after the U.S. Army debacle at Kasserine Pass.[11]

Plans invasion of Europe

During World War II, Marshall was instrumental in preparing the U.S. Army and Army Air Forces for the invasion of the European continent. Marshall wrote the document that would become the central strategy for all Allied operations in Europe. He initially scheduled Operation Overlord for April 1, 1943, but met with strong opposition from Winston Churchill, who convinced Roosevelt to commit troops to Operation Husky for the invasion of Italy. Some authors think that World War II could have been terminated one year earlier if Marshall had had his way, others think that such invasion would have meant utter failure. But it is true that the German Army in 1943 was overstretched, and defense works in Normandy were not ready.[citation needed]

It was assumed that Marshall would become the Supreme Commander of Operation Overlord, but Roosevelt selected Dwight Eisenhower as Supreme Commander. While Marshall enjoyed considerable success in working with Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he refused to lobby for the position. President Roosevelt didn't want to lose his presence in the states. He told Marshall, "I didn't feel I could sleep at ease if you were out of Washington."[23] When rumors circulated that the top job would go to Marshall, many critics viewed the transfer as a demotion for Marshall, since he would leave his position as Chief of Staff of the Army and lose his seat on the Combined Chiefs of Staff.[citation needed]

On December 16, 1944, Marshall became the first American general to be promoted to five-star rank, the newly created General of the Army. He was the second American to be promoted to a five-star rank, as William Leahy was promoted to fleet admiral the previous day. This position is the American equivalent rank to field marshal.

Throughout the remainder of World War II, Marshall coordinated Allied operations in Europe and the Pacific. He was characterized as the organizer of Allied victory by Winston Churchill. Time Magazine named Marshall Man of the Year for 1943. Marshall resigned his post of Chief of Staff in 1945, but did not retire, as regulations[citation needed] stipulate that Generals of the Army remain on active duty for life.

Analysis of Pearl Harbor intelligence failure

After World War II ended, the Congressional Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack received testimony on the intelligence failure. It amassed 25,000 pages of documents, 40 volumes, and included nine reports and investigations, eight of which had been previously completed. Among these documents was a report critical of Marshall for his delay in sending General Walter Short, the Army commander in Hawaii, important information concerning a possible attack on December 6 and 7. The report also criticized Marshall’s admitted lack of knowledge of the readiness of the Hawaiian Command during November and December 1941. Ten days after the attack, Lt. General Short and Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, commander of the Navy at Pearl Harbor, were both relieved of their duties. The final report of the Joint Committee did not single out and fault Marshall. While the report was critical of the overall situation, the committee noted that subordinates had failed to pass on important information to their superiors, including Marshall. The report noted that once General Marshall received information about the impending attack, he immediately passed it on.[24][25]

Post War: China, Secretary of State, Nobel Peace Prize

In December 1945, President Harry Truman sent Marshall to China to broker a coalition government between the Nationalist allies under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and Communists under Mao Zedong. Marshall had no leverage over the Communists, but he threatened to withdraw American aid essential to the Nationalists. Both sides rejected his proposals and the Chinese Civil War escalated, with the Communists winning in 1949. His mission a failure, he returned to the United States in January 1947.[26][27] As Secretary of State in 1947–48, Marshall seems to have disagreed with strong opinions in The Pentagon and State department that Chiang's success was vital to American interests, insisting that U.S. troops not become involved.

After Marshall's return to the U.S. in early 1947, Truman appointed Marshall Secretary of State. He became the spokesman for the State Department's ambitious plans to rebuild Europe. On June 5, 1947 in a speech[28] at Harvard University, he outlined the American plan. The European Recovery Program, as it was formally known, became known as the Marshall Plan. Clark Clifford had suggested to Truman that the plan be called the Truman Plan, but Truman immediately dismissed that idea and insisted that it be called the Marshall Plan.[29][30] The Marshall Plan would help Europe quickly rebuild and modernize its economy along American lines. The Soviet Union forbade its satellites to participate.

Cover to the book Infantry in Battle, the World War II officer's guide to infantry combat operations. Marshall directed production of the book, which is still used as a reference today.

Marshall was again named Time's Man of the Year for 1947 and received the Nobel Peace Prize for his post-war work in 1953. He was the only U.S. Army General to have received this honor.

As Secretary of State, Marshall strongly opposed recognizing the state of Israel. Marshall felt that if the state of Israel was declared that a war would break out in the Middle East (which it did in 1948 one day after Israel declared independence). Marshall saw recognizing the Jewish state as a political move to gain Jewish support in the upcoming election, in which Truman was expected to lose to Dewey. He told President Truman in May 1948, "If you (recognize the state of Israel) and if I were to vote in the election, I would vote against you."[31][32][33]

Marshall resigned from the State Department because of ill health on January 7, 1949, and the same month became chairman of American Battle Monuments Commission.[34] In September 1949, Marshall was named president of the American National Red Cross.

Secretary of Defense

When the early months of the Korean War showed how poorly prepared the Defense Department was, Truman fired Secretary Louis A. Johnson and named Marshall as Secretary of Defense in September 1950. On September 30, Defense Secretary George Marshall sent an eyes-only message to MacArthur instructing MacArthur to escalate the war in Korea "We want you to feel unhampered tactically and strategically to proceed north of the 38th parallel."[35] His main role was to restore confidence and rebuild the armed forces from the post-war state of demobilization. He served in that post for one year, retiring from public office for good in September 1951. In 1953, he represented America at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

Impact of McCarthyism

U.S. Senator Joe McCarthy, whose hearings and black lists later spawned the term McCarthyism, gave a speech titled America's Retreat from Victory: The Story of George Catlett Marshall (1951), in which he argued that General Albert Coady Wedemeyer had prepared a wise plan that would keep China a valued ally, but that it had been sabotaged. He concluded that "If Marshall were merely stupid, the laws of probability would dictate that part of his decisions would serve this country's interest."[36] He suggested that Marshall was old and feeble and easily duped but did not charge Marshall with treason. McCarthy specifically alleged:

"When Marshall was sent to China with secret State Department orders, the Communists at that time were bottled up in two areas and were fighting a losing battle, but that because of those orders the situation was radically changed in favor of the Communists. Under those orders, as we know, Marshall embargoed all arms and ammunition to our allies in China. He forced the opening of the Nationalist-held Kalgan Mountain pass into Manchuria, to the end that the Chinese Communists gained access to the mountains of captured Japanese equipment. No need to tell the country about how Marshall tried to force Chiang Kai-shek to form a partnership government with the Communists."[37][38]

Legacy

Marshall died on Friday, October 16, 1959. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

After leaving office, in a television interview, Harry Truman was asked who he thought was the American who made the greatest contribution of the last thirty years. Without hesitation, Truman picked Marshall, adding "I don't think in this age in which I have lived, that there has been a man who has been a greater administrator; a man with a knowledge of military affairs equal to General Marshall."[39]

Orson Welles, in an interview with Dick Cavett, called Marshall "...the greatest human being who was also a great man... He was a tremendous gentlemen, an old fashioned institution which isn't with us anymore."[40]

In spite of world-wide acclaim, dozens of national and international awards and honors and the Nobel Peace prize, public opinion became bitterly divided along party lines on Marshall's record. While campaigning for president in 1952, Eisenhower denounced the Truman administration's failures in Korea, campaigned alongside McCarthy, and refused to defend Marshall's policies. Marshall, who assisted Eisenhower in his promotions, and in refusing to lobby for the position of supreme commander effectively stood aside, thus allowing Eisenhower an opportunity to be chosen for that role, was surprised at the lack of a positive statement supporting him from Eisenhower during the McCarthy hearings.[41][42]

Family life

Statue of George C. Marshall at Dodona Manor in Leesburg, Virginia. The museum is a National Historic Landmark and is owned by the George C. Marshall International Center

He married Elizabeth Carter Cole of San Antonio, Texas, in 1902. She died in 1927. In 1930, he married Katherine Boyce Tupper (formerly Mrs. Clifton Stevenson Brown), a widowed mother of three children. One of Marshall's stepsons with Tupper, Army Lt. Allen Tupper Brown, was killed by a German sniper in Italy on May 29, 1944. George Marshall maintained a home, known as Dodona Manor (now restored), in Leesburg, Virginia. Actress Kitty Winn is his step-granddaughter.

Dramatic portrayals

Dates of rank

No pin insignia in 1902 Second Lieutenant, United States Army: February 2, 1902
US-O2 insignia.svg First Lieutenant, United States Army: March 7, 1907
US-O3 insignia.svg Captain, United States Army: July 1, 1916
US-O4 insignia.svg Major, National Army: August 5, 1917
US-O5 insignia.svg Lieutenant Colonel, National Army: January 5, 1918
US-O6 insignia.svg Colonel, National Army: August 27, 1918
US-O3 insignia.svg Captain, Regular Army (reverted to peacetime rank): June 30, 1920
US-O4 insignia.svg Major, Regular Army : July 1, 1920
US-O5 insignia.svg Lieutenant Colonel, Regular Army: August 21, 1923
US-O6 insignia.svg Colonel, Regular Army: September 1, 1933
US-O7 insignia.svg Brigadier General, Regular Army: October 1, 1936
US-O8 insignia.svg Major General, Regular Army: July 1, 1939
US-O9 insignia.svg
Lieutenant General, Regular Army: August 1, 1939
US-O10 insignia.svg General, Regular Army, for service as Army Chief of Staff: September 1, 1939
US-O11 insignia.svg General of the Army, Army of the United States: December 16, 1944
General of the Army rank made permanent in the Regular Army: April 11, 1946

Awards and decorations

U.S. military honors

Bronze oak leaf cluster
Distinguished Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster
Silver Star ribbon.svg Silver Star
Philippine Campaign Medal ribbon.svg Philippine Campaign Medal
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
World War I Victory Medal with four battle clasps
Army of Occupation of Germany ribbon.svg Army of Occupation of Germany Medal
American Defense Service ribbon.svg American Defense Service Medal
American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg American Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg World War II Victory Medal

Foreign military honors

Civilian honors

  • In 1948, he was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award for his role and contributions during and after World War II.
  • Nobel Peace Prize 1953 for the Marshall Plan.
  • The United States Postal Service honored him with a Prominent Americans series (1965–1978) 20¢ postage stamp.
  • 1959 Karlspreis (International Charlemagne Prize of the city of Aachen).
  • 1960 George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, originally the Army Ballistics Missile Agency at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville Alabama, became a NASA field center and was renamed.
  • The British Parliament established the Marshall Scholarship in recognition of Marshall's contributions to Anglo-American relations.
  • Many buildings and streets throughout the U.S. and other nations are named in his honor.
  • George C. Marshall Award, the highest award given to a chapter in Kappa Alpha Order.
  • George C. Marshall High School, founded in 1962 and located in Falls Church, Virginia, is the only public high school in the United States named for Marshall. The nickname of the school – "The Statesmen" – appropriately reflects his life and contributions.
  • The Marshall Elementary School is in the Laurel Highlands School District, Uniontown, Pennsylvania.
  • George C. Marshall Elementary School: located in Vancouver, Washington.

The George C. Marshal European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

Bibliography

  • Cray, Ed. General of the Army: George C. Marshall, Soldier and Statesman. Norton, 1990. 847 pp.
  • Harold I. Gullan; "Expectations of Infamy: Roosevelt and Marshall Prepare for War, 1938–41." Presidential Studies Quarterly Volume: 28#3 1998. pp 510+ online edition
  • May, Ernest R. "1947–48: When Marshall Kept the U.S. out of War in China." Journal of Military History 2002 66(4): 1001–1010. Issn: 0899-3718
  • Levine, Steven I. "A New Look at American Mediation in the Chinese Civil War: the Marshall Mission and Manchuria." Diplomatic History 1979 3(4): 349–375. Issn: 0145-2096
  • Parrish, Thomas. Roosevelt and Marshall: Partners in Politics and War. 1989. 608 pp.
  • Steele, Richard W. The First Offensive, 1942: Roosevelt, Marshall, and the Making of American Strategy. 1973. 239 pp.
  • Mark C. Stoler, George C. Marshall: Soldier-Statesman of the American Century. (1989) 252pp
  • Forrest Pogue, Viking, (1963–87) Four-volume authorized biography: complete text is online

See also

References

  1. ^ Marshall Papers Pentagon Office Selected Correspondence Box 69 Folder 18 George C. Marshall Foundation http://www.marshallfoundation.org
  2. ^ George Catlett Marshall, General of the Army
  3. ^ "George Catlett Marshall, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, Secretary of State". CNN. Archived from the original on 2007-11-13. http://web.archive.org/web/20071113061529/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profiles/marshall/. Retrieved 2007-12-12. 
  4. ^ W. Del Testa, David; Florence Lemoine and John Strickland (2001). Government Leaders, Military Rulers, and Political Activists. pp. 120. 
  5. ^ George Marshall Childhood
  6. ^ Uldrich, Jack (2005). Soldier, Statesman, Peacemaker: Leadership Lessons From George C. Marshall. pp. 14–15. 
  7. ^ Stoler, Mark (1989). George C. Marshall: Soldier-Statesman of the American Century. pp. 21–25. 
  8. ^ Lengel, Edward G. (2008). To Conquer Hell.. New York: Henry Holt. ISBN 0805079319.. 
  9. ^ Campbell, James (September 30, 2008). The Ghost Mountain Boys: Their Epic March and the Terrifying Battle for New Guinea—The Forgotten War of the South Pacific. Three Rivers Press. pp. 400. ISBN 978-0307335975. 
  10. ^ Bland, Larry I., George C. Marshall and the Education of Army Leaders, Military Review 68 (October 1988) 27–51, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas
  11. ^ a b Ossad, Steven L., Command Failures: Lessons Learned from Lloyd R. Fredendall, Army Magazine, March 2003
  12. ^ Ambrose, Stephen, Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany June 7, 1944 – May 7, 1945, New York: Simon & Schuster (1997), pp. 271–284
  13. ^ Keast, William R. (Maj), Provision of Enlisted Replacements, Army Ground Forces Study No. 7, Washington, D.C.: Historical Section – Headquarters Army Ground Forces, 314.7(1 Sept 1946)GNHIS September 1, 1945
  14. ^ George, John B. (Lt. Col), Shots Fired In Anger, NRA Press (1981), ISBN 0-935998-42-X, pp. 13–21
  15. ^ a b c d Keast, William R. (Maj), Provision of Enlisted Replacements
  16. ^ Hanford, William B., A Dangerous Assignment, Stackpole Books, ISBN 978-0-8117-3485-1, p. viii
  17. ^ a b Vandergriff, Donald E., Seven Wars and a Century Later, a Failed System, Article
  18. ^ a b Ambrose, Stephen, Citizen Soldiers, pp. 277–284
  19. ^ Henry, Mark R., The US Army in World War II: Northwest Europe, Osprey Publishing (2001), ISBN 1-84176-086-2, 9781841760865, pp. 12–14
  20. ^ a b c Henry, Mark R., The US Army in World War II: Northwest Europe, Osprey Publishing (2001), ISBN 1-84176-086-2, 9781841760865, pp. 12–14
  21. ^ Ambrose, Stephen, Citizen Soldiers, pp. 271–284
  22. ^ Ambrose, Stephen, Citizen Soldiers, p. 277
  23. ^ Buell, Thomas B.; John H. Bradley. The Second World War: Europe and the Mediterranean. pp. 258. 
  24. ^ Hearings before the Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack, Congress of the United States, Seventy-Ninth Congress (Washington, D.C.), Part 39, P 144-145.
  25. ^ Conclusions and Recommendations of the Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack, Congress of the United States, Seventy-Ninth Congress (Washington, D.C.)P. 252, 265
  26. ^ Stoler, Mark A. (1989). George C. Marshall. pp. 145–51. 
  27. ^ Tsou, Tang (1963). America's Failure in China, 1941–50. 
  28. ^ "The Marshall Plan". http://www.georgecmarshall.org/learn/index.asp?L=17. Retrieved 2009-02-17. [dead link]
  29. ^ McCullough, David (1992). Truman. New York: Simon and Schuster. pp. 717. ISBN 0-671-86920-5. 
  30. ^ Behrman, Greg (2007). The Most Noble Adventure: The Marshall Plan and the Time When America Helped Save Europe. Free Press. ISBN 0743282639. 
  31. ^ "President Truman's Decision to Recognize Israel". http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=376&PID=0&IID=2203. Retrieved 2009-02-17. 
  32. ^ "Truman Adviser Recalls May 14, 1948 US Decision to Recognize Israel". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. May/June 1991. pp. 17. http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0591/9105017.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-17. 
  33. ^ "Recognition of Israel". The Truman Library. http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hst/h.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-17. 
  34. ^ New York Times: January 8, 1949, p. 1.
  35. ^ Weintraub, Stanley. MacArthur’s war: Korea and the Undoing of an American Hero, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-684-83419-7. p.157:158.
  36. ^ McCarthy, Joe (1951). Major Speeches and Debates. pp. 264. 
  37. ^ McCarthy, Joe (1951). Major Speeches and Debates. pp. 191, from speech of March 14, 1951. 
  38. ^ Reeves, Thomas C. (1982). The Life and Times of Joe McCarthy. pp. 371–374. 
  39. ^ "The David Susskind Show: Interview with President Harry S. Truman". http://www.hulu.com/watch/46482/the-david-susskind-show-interview-with-president-harry-s-truman#s-p2-so-i0. 
  40. ^ "Orson Welles talks about Cornelia Lunt". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1fauAc48tA&feature=related. 
  41. ^ "American Experience: The Presidents: Dwight D. Eisenhower". http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/34_eisenhower/printable.html. 
  42. ^ "American Experience: The Presidents: Dwight D. Eisenhower (Film Script". http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/34_eisenhower/filmmore/filmscript.html. 

Primary sources

  • The Papers of George Catlett Marshall: (Larry I. Bland and Sharon Ritenour Stevens, eds.)
    • Vol. 1: The Soldierly Spirit," December 1880 – June 1939. (1981)
    • Vol. 2: "We Cannot Delay," July 1, 1939 – December 6, 1941. (1986)
    • Vol. 3: The Right Man for the Job, December 7, 1941 – May 31, 1943. (1991)
    • Vol. 4: "Aggressive and Determined Leadership," June 1, 1943 – December 31, 1944. (1996)
    • Vol. 5: "The Finest Soldier," January 1, 1945 – January 7, 1947. (2003)
  • Bland, Larry; Jeans, Roger B.; and Wilkinson, Mark, ed. George C. Marshall's Mediation Mission to China, December 1945 – January 1947. Lexington, Va.: George C. Marshall Found., 1998. 661 pp.
  • Marshall, George C. George C. Marshall: Interviews and Reminiscences for Forrest C. Pogue. Lexington, Va.: George C. Marshall Found., 1991. 698 pp. online edition
  • George Catlett Marshall. Memoirs of My Services in the World War, 1917–1918 (1976)
  • Greg Behrman. The Most Noble Adventure: The Marshall Plan and the Time When America Helped Save Europe Free Press, 2007.

Further reading

External links

Military offices
Preceded by
Malin Craig
Chief of Staff of the United States Army
1939 – 1945
Succeeded by
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Political offices
Preceded by
James F. Byrnes
United States Secretary of State
Served under: Harry S. Truman

1947–1949
Succeeded by
Dean Acheson
Preceded by
Louis A. Johnson
United States Secretary of Defense
Served under: Harry S. Truman

1950–1951
Succeeded by
Robert A. Lovett
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Prince Konoye
Cover of Time Magazine
July 29, 1940
Succeeded by
Sir Alan F. Brooke
Preceded by
Ed Flynn
Cover of Time Magazine
October 19, 1942
Succeeded by
John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort
Preceded by
Patriarch Sergius I of Moscow
Cover of Time Magazine
January 3, 1944
Succeeded by
Erich von Manstein

 
 
Related topics:
Marshall Plan (History)
Redstone Arsenal (agency, United States – in aviation, government)
Uniontown (city, Pennsylvania)

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