George C. Marshall

GEORGE CATLETT MARSHALL, (1880-1959), American general of the army, chief of staff, secretary of state, and secretary of defense. His career roughly paralleled the first 50 years of the 20th century. He saw his country grow from an isolated position to one of world leadership. As a global soldier-statesman, he was a leader in the victory over the Axis powers in WORLD WAR II . Marshall was the only professional soldier ever awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.

He was born in Uniontown, Pa., on Dec. 31, 1880, and graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1902, where he was first captain. Commissioned a lieutenant of infantry, Marshall served in the Philippines from 1902 to 1903. In 1907 he was first in his class at the School of the Line, Fort Leavenworth, Kans. After completing a more advanced course, he served as an instructor there from 1908 to 1910. From 1913 to 1916 he served a second tour in Philippines, and then had brief tours in San Francisco and Governors Island, N.Y. In World War I he went with 1st Division units to France in 1917. As chief of operations, he helped plan the first U.S. campaigns in France. Later, at general headquarters, he helped plan the attack in the St. Mihiel salient and the Meuse-Argonne offensive, serving as chief of operations, First Army, in the final weeks of the war.

From 1919 to 1924, Marshall was senior aide to Gen. John J. Pershing. From 1924 to 1927 he was executive officer of the 15th Infantry Regiment in Tientsin, China. As chief of instruction at the Infantry School, Fort Benning, Ga., from 1927 to 1932, he trained many who later became key officers in World War II.

As a battalion commander in Georgia and regimental commander in South Carolina, in 1932-1933, Marshall helped build and develop camps for the Civilian Conservation Corps. He was senior instructor with the Illinois National Guard from 1933 to 1936, and, as a brigade commander, served in Vancouver Barracks, Wash., from 1936 to 1938.

In Washington, D.C., in 1938, Marshall served briefly as chief of war plans and then as deputy chief of staff. Nominated by President Franklin D. ROOSEVELT in the spring to succeed Gen. Malin Craig as head of the Army, Marshall was acting chief for two months and then took full control on Sept. 1, 1939, the day war began in Europe. He held the position for more than six years, retiring in late November 1945.

As chief of staff, Marshall increased the Army (which then included the Army Air Corps) from a strength of some 200,000 to almost 8.5 million. He was present at all the great conferences of the war, from Argentia, Newfoundland, in the late summer of 1941 to Potsdam in the summer of 1945. He was the chief protagonist of the cross-channel invasion of Europe strategy. For his efforts in training, planning, and supplying the Allies, Britain's Prime Minister Winston CHURCHILL called him the "true organizer of victory.

Shortly after retiring as Army chief, Marshall went to China in 1946 with the mission of ending the fighting between the Chinese Nationalists and Communists. After initial success, he saw his efforts end in failure. In late 1946 he accepted the appointment of secretary of state.

The years 1947 to 1950 saw increasing tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. Marshall concluded after lengthy negotiations in Moscow that the Soviet Union believed its plans for controlling Europe were helped by continuing economic chaos. Marshall, therefore, in a speech at Harvard University on June 5, 1947, outlined a plan for economic recovery--a plan that bears his name. In addition, Marshall worked diligently at the United Nations and in meetings in London and Paris for treaties with the defeated powers and for action that would strengthen western Europe against Soviet expansion. At Rio de Janeiro and Bogota, he sought to develop greater cooperation between Latin America and the United States. Ill health led to his resignation early in 1949.

After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, General Marshall was asked to take up the task of heading the U.S. Department of Defense. In the year he served, he enlarged the Army, pushed a plan for universal military training, and helped develop the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In Asia he helped to contain the expansion of the Korean War. While favoring a strong United States, he nevertheless sought peaceful solutions to the conflicts that threatened world order. In December 1953 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.

Marshall died on Oct. 16, 1959, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. In 1964 he was honored by the dedication of the George C. Marshall Research Library, in Lexington, Va., in ceremonies that included speeches by President Lyndon B. Johnson and former President Dwight D. EISENHOWER.

Forrest C. Pogue
Director
Dwight D. Eisenhower Institute for Historical Research