George C. Marshall

American secretary of state (1947-1949)

• Born: December 31, 1880
• Birthplace: Uniontown, Pennsylvania
• Died: October 16, 1959
• Place of death: Washington, D.C.

General Marshall created the U.S. Army of World War II, picked the commanders who led it to victory, and exemplified the best in the American military tradition: civilian control, integrity, and competence.

Early Life

George Catlett Marshall, Jr., was born the second son of George C. Marshall, a businessman, and Laura Bradford Marshall. He was an enterprising boy who enjoyed history and who, possibly because of his reading, became interested in a military career. After attending Uniontown’s public schools, he went to the Virginia Military Academy at Lexington. By this time, young Marshall had grown to just under six feet in height and was tough; despite weighing only 145 pounds, he starred in football. His bearing became very military, and he gained self-confidence along with military skills; as first captain, he made his voice heard across the length of the parade ground. Marshall’s manner grew austere, and his “cold blue and seldom smiling eyes” were piercing to those who did less than their best. Despite his bony face, under a thatch of sandy hair, he was becoming a formidable person.

On his graduation, Marshall married the beauty of Lexington, Elizabeth “Lily” Coles, on February 11, 1902. Three years after her death, in 1927, he married Katherine Tupper Brown.

Life’s Work

Marshall was commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry in the U.S. Army in January, 1902, with date of rank from 1901. He was immediately assigned to the newly conquered Philippine Islands, where he was often on his own with troops, and where he revealed the abilities to learn rapidly and to discover and put to best use his subordinates’ talents. He served in Oklahoma and Texas before being assigned, in 1906, to the Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth. Promoted to first lieutenant that year, he stood first in his class and came to the notice of General J. Franklin Bell, the commandant, who kept Marshall on as an instructor. Displaying unusual talent as an instructor, Marshall also learned to watch several maneuvers at once in war games. Returned to the Philippines in 1913, he was made chief of staff for one side in maneuvers, despite his junior rank, effectively commanding five thousand troops. He also visited Japan and Manchuria to learn how the Japanese had won the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).

Reassigned as aide to General Bell, Marshall was promoted to captain in August, 1916. As the United States entered World War I, in April, 1917, Bell became commander of the Eastern Department. Marshall virtually ran the office during Bell’s illness, learning how to cut red tape in the hasty mobilization. Because of his now great reputation as both a thinker and a doer, Marshall was sent to France with the First Division, becoming its chief of operations. He became a major in November, 1917, and a lieutenant colonel in December. By July, 1918, he was an acting colonel at General John J. Pershing’s headquarters, already famous for his gifts of organization and improvisation and nicknamed Wizard. There, and as chief of operations for the First Army, Marshall learned how to maneuver large bodies of troops and how to solve the many problems that arise in war.

At the end of World War I, reduced to the rank of major, Marshall became Pershing’s aide. Because of Pershing’s trust in him, Marshall’s duties were broad; he took part in inspections of many Army posts and in Pershing’s dealings with Congress, coming to know intimately the Army he would command after 1939. Also serving in China, the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest; at the Army War College; and as assistant commandant of the Infantry School, he came to know well some 150 future generals of World War II. A colonel again by 1933, he became a brigadier general in 1936. In 1938, he was assigned to Washington, D.C., first as chief of war plans and then as deputy chief of staff of the Army.

On September 1, 1939, as World War II began in Europe, Marshall became chief of staff of the Army, with the temporary rank of four-star general. President Franklin D. Roosevelt named him to the post because of his breadth of experience, his ability to organize and to train troops, and his ability even to be unorthodox, qualities desperately needed in the building of the Army.

Marshall took command of an army that was small, poorly equipped, and poorly trained. He built a reputation for truth with both the president and Congress, won their respect and support, and slowly obtained the money to build a modern army. He was aided by a new secretary of war, Henry L. Stimson, who, after 1940, used his own considerable influence on Marshall’s behalf. The task was formidable, for World War II brought with it the Blitzkrieg, the “lightning war” of tanks and mobility. Marshall had not only to argue for money but also to find commanders who would use resources effectively. He promoted Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Nelson Bradley, Henry H. Arnold, Mark W. Clark, George S. Patton, and Matthew Ridgway. Marshall was also tireless in supervising the development of new weapons and equipment and of training and maneuvers.

When the United States entered the war after the Pearl Harbor attack of December 7, 1941, Marshall also had to work with allies, especially the British, but also the Russians, Free French, and Nationalist Chinese. He had to deal with British prime ministerWinston Churchill, who saw himself as a military genius, and British reluctance to attack Adolf Hitler’s strong fortifications in Western Europe. Britons were afraid of such trench warfare as had decimated the armies of World War I. Marshall agreed with reasonable British ideas, such as clearing North Africa of Axis forces, but kept the focus on plans for the invasion of France and the defeat of Nazi Germany. He personally chose Eisenhower to command the North African invasion, worked with Roosevelt and Stimson to limit later Mediterranean operations to Italy, and built an ever larger American Army for invading Europe. From less than 200,000 men in 1939, the Army and its air force grew to some 8,300,000 by early 1945, Marshall also built an air force that was capable of destroying German industry. While accomplishing all this, he never forgot that soldiers are human beings and constantly guarded their welfare, from making sure that they received needed medical treatment and their mail, to explaining the reasons for the war to Americans who had to fight thousands of miles from home.

Marshall wanted to command the invasion of France in 1944 but revealed no disappointment when Roosevelt insisted that he remain as chief of staff, saying that he could not sleep well with Marshall out of the country. Marshall then gave Eisenhower the command, supporting him in every possible way. Marshall’s own job became one of keeping supplies flowing and mediating between General Douglas MacArthur and the Navy’s commanders in the Pacific. Marshall supported the Navy’s strategy of a direct attack on Japan itself, via the Pacific islands, rather than MacArthur’s longer route through Southeast Asia.

Named a five-star general of the Army on December 15, 1944, Marshall retired as chief of staff on November 26, 1945. President Harry S. Truman soon asked him to try to bring peace to China, then torn by civil war. Marshall spent almost a year seeking some agreement between Nationalists and Communists but ultimately failed. Truman then appointed him secretary of state on January 21, 1947, and he served until January, 1949, when ill health forced his retirement. As secretary of state, he helped devise the Marshall Plan , massive economic aid to Western Europe that literally rebuilt that region, and helped Truman find ways to deal with the Cold War. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953 because of the Marshall Plan. He served as head of the American Red Cross from 1949 to 1950 and as secretary of defense from September, 1950, to September, 1951. His task was again organizing mobilization, this time for the Korean War, and finding a new commander for Korea and Japan when Truman fired the insubordinate MacArthur. He chose Matthew Ridgway, whose World War II record was superb. Marshall last served his country as its representative at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain in June, 1953.

Significance

Marshall represented the best in the American military tradition: belief in civilian control, uncompromising integrity, quiet competence. Able to learn from the broad experience of a long career, he put what he had learned to work in the United States’ most significant and dangerous war, that against the Axis powers. A superb organizer, he created the Army of World War II, saw that it was competently commanded, kept it well supplied, and never forgot the welfare and morale of the troops in the field. He was able to deal with foreign politicians and military officers with both tact and force, ultimately putting his own stamp on the winning strategies. Indeed, Winston Churchill described Marshall as “the true organizer of victory.”

Marshall’s devotion to his country permitted President Truman to call on him repeatedly for further service, despite the general’s advancing age and worsening health. Marshall attempted an impossible mission in China, led the State Department for two years with an impressive record of realism regarding the Soviet Union, helped rebuild Western Europe, and, as secretary of defense, turned the chaos of sudden remobilization into order.

Bibliography

Ferrell, Robert H. George C. Marshall. In The American Secretaries of State and Their Diplomacy. Vol. 15. New York: Cooper Square Press, 1966. The only major work on Marshall as secretary of state, it was written before many documents were declassified. Gracefully written and well balanced.

Marshall, George Catlett.“The Soldierly Spirit,” December, 1880-June, 1939. Vol. 1 in The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, edited by Larry I. Bland and Fred L. Hadsel. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981. This is the first in a series of volumes containing letters, speeches, and other revealing documents.

Marshall, Katherine T. Together: Annals of an Army Wife. Atlanta, Ga.: Tupper and Love, 1946. An affectionate but useful memoir.

Mosley, Leonard. Marshall: Hero for Our Times. New York: Hearst Books, 1982. The best full biography, covering Marshall’s Army career and postwar civilian appointments. Especially good on the controversies surrounding Pearl Harbor, Marshall and MacArthur, and the World War II summit meetings.

Perry, Mark. Partners in Command: George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower in War and Peace. New York: Penguin Books, 2007. Dual biography tracing the friendship and collaboration of the two men, including their military leadership during World War II and their postwar efforts to implement the Marshall Plan and the work of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Pogue, Forrest C. George C. Marshall. 3 vols. New York: Viking Press, 1963-1972. A three-volume definitive biography, based on exhaustive research. The first volume covers Marshall’s boyhood, education, and Army career to his appointment as chief of staff (1880-1939). The second tells of Marshall’s creation of the United States Army of World War II, his search for new leadership, and the early war years (1939-1942). The third volume carries the tale to victory in Europe in May, 1945, including summit conferences and the invasion of France in June, 1944.

Stoler, Mark A. George C. Marshall: Soldier-Statesman of the American Century. Boston: Twayne, 1989. Biography emphasizing 1939-1951, when Marshall served in World War II, was a special representative to China, and served as secretary of state and defense.