Figure 1.--

"It renmains a mystery to me as yet unexplained how the very small staffs which the United States kept during the years of peace were able not only to to build up the armiies and air force units, but also to find the leaders and vast staffs capable of handling enormous masses and of moving them faster and farther than masses had ever been moved in war before."

Gen. George C. Marshall has been christened by none other than British World War II Prime-minister Winston Churchill as the 'Architect of Victory'. President Franklin Roosevelt picked out Gen. Marshall over many senior commanders to be U.S. Army Chief of Staff. This was rate for the President. He did intercede in Navy appointments but much less so with Army appointments. Harry Hopkins who worked with Gen. Marshall on the New Deal CCC brought him to the President's attention. Marshall had been in the army since 1902 but promotions had been slow in coming. This is commonly the fate of staff officers. He was promoted to full General and sworn in (September 1, 1939). This was of course the the same year that German Panzers invaded Poland launching World War II. What a year go be appointed to lead the U.S. Army. Gen. Marshall would serve in that position throughout the War. America had virtually no army when General Marshall became chief of staff. The U.S. Army was the size of that of Romania and the great bulk of the population were determined to stay out of the War. It was President Roosevelt who mustered the political will to begin the creation of a massive armed forces with America's first peace time draft. It was General Marshall who oversaw the creation of that vast military force and the strategy that defeated the Axis. Of all the great Five-Star American commanders of World War II, it was General Marshall who played the most critical role. He was and probably still is the most under appreciated figure in World War II. He is a large part of the mystery Churchill identifies above. He did this with a close partnership with Secretary of the Army, Henry Stimson. 【Aldrich】 During the War they had adjoining offices and the door was left open. Americans in a poll conducted in America during the War barely mentioned Marshall. Americans like historians focus on the fighting commanders and because of the press coverage were fixated on General MacArthur who was in fact one of the most ineffective American commanders. America fought the war with a green citizen army. The peace time army was tiny, so small that civilians had to play major roles in the war effort. It was Marshall who oversaw that expansion and made sure they got the training and weapons they needed to win the War. It was also Marshall who chose the key commanders. He would stick with MacArthur in the Pacific, but Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and others were men that he brought forward in Europe. The key American action of World War II was the D-Day cross-channel invasion. From the onset, it was assumed that Marshall would oversee the invasion. Finally President Roosevelt decided that he could not spare Marshall at his side in Washington and selected Gen. Eisenhower. This was probably the greatest disappointment in Marshall's career. He took it like a soldier and Eisenhower received the appointment. It was one of the key decisions of the War. It is impossible to think of an Allied commander who could have done a better job than Ike. But nothing speaks more highly of Marshall's character than his refusal to use his position and close association with the President to secure this apportionment.

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Created: 12:41 AM 3/23/2023
Last updated: 12:41 AM 3/23/2023