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George C. Marshall was the commanding general of the US Army in WWII. This position is called "Chief of Staff" for the last one hundred years. Marshall deserves to be better remembered for this role. He was the true architect of victory in WWII. Marshall took over as Chief of Staff on September 3, 1939, two days after Nazi tanks rolled in Poland. He inherited an army which was the 21st largest in the world (just below Bulgaria on the list) and was equipped and primed to refight WWI. The army was hidebound with Bureaus dating back to the War of 1812. Marshall successfully modernized and streamlined the Army, and reorganized its forces. By the end of the war, six years after he took command, he had eight million soldiers victorious around the globe, and an army second to none. Its not always remembered today that the Air Force was still a part of the Army then, and remained part of the Army until 1947, so Marshall also had three million more airmen under his direction. Marshall also directed the building of the Pentagon, and the creation of the atomic bombs.
Marshall had always intended to go to Europe and command in person when the invasion of mainland Europe came. Had he done so, it might take a real scholar today to know who Eisenhower was. President Roosevelt said he would not be able to sleep at night if Marshall were away from Washington, so Marshall did not get to go personally to direct the crowning achievement of his efforts.
Marshall did not go to West Point, and yet still rose to the top of the Army. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1915, and performed brilliantly as a staff officer in France in WWI. He rose to the wartime rank of colonel by the age of 25.
In late 1945 Marshall retired. He was at home six days before President Truman called him and asked him to undertake a special diplomatic mission to China. There was no question that Marshall would do what any President asked of him. About a year later Marshall was made Secretary of State. He is mostly remembered today for creating the Marshall Plan, which was an extremely effective program he devised for getting Europe back on its feet after the War. One of the truly great Americans of all time.
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