Under two American presidents, George Marshall, an American statesman and soldier, led the army as its chief of staff. He also served as Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense under President Harry S. Truman during the course of his lengthy and distinguished career. As an army officer, he rose to prominence for his leadership during World War II, when he built and oversaw the greatest army in history. Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, recognized him as one of the military heroes in the Allied triumph in World War II. He made the decision to enlist at a young age and enrolled at the Virginia Military Institute since he has always had a patriotic soul. He served in numerous positions in the Philippines and the US after graduating as a senior first captain of the Corps of Cadets. He was a key player in the planning and coordination of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and the first American attack and victory of World War I at Cantigny. He eventually rose to the position of Chief of Staff and oversaw the biggest military buildup in American history during World War II. He was appointed Secretary of State by President Truman after the war, and in 1953 he received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Early Childhood & Life
One of the three children born to George Catlett Marshall, Sr. and Laura Emily on December 31, 1880, in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, George Catlett Marshall, Jr. was raised in a middle-class household. His father was the successful owner of a coal company in Pennsylvania.
Early on, he made the decision that he wanted to join the military, and in 1897, he enrolled at the Virginia Military Institute. He earned his degree there in 1901 and served as senior first captain of the Corps of Cadets.
George Marshall’s Career
Over the following few years, he worked in a number of positions in both the Philippines and the United States. He later earned honorary degrees from the Infantry-Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth in 1907 and the Army Staff College in 1908.
He was given significant responsibilities as a planner for training and operations during World War I. He organized the first American assault and victory of the war at Cantigny in May 1918 while serving as the 1st Division’s head of training and planning in France. The same year, he played a crucial role in organizing and preparing the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
He was appointed an aide-de-camp to General John J. Pershing in 1919 when World War I was over. In this role, Marshall concentrated on instructing and training soldiers in contemporary mechanized combat.
In addition to teaching at the Army War College, he was a crucial planner and writer for the War Department. In 1927, he was named Fort Benning’s associate commandant. From June 1932 to June 1933, he served as the fort’s commanding officer at Fort Screven in Savannah Beach, Georgia.
In October 1936, he received the promotion to brigadier general. By this time, he was a well-regarded military officer. In 1938, Marshall was given a job at the War Plans Division in Washington, D.C.; however, he was later transferred to the position of Deputy Chief of Staff.
He received a generalship in 1939 and was appointed Army Chief of Staff. The year that Marshall assumed this position, World War II broke out, and he served in it until the war’s conclusion in 1945.
He got to work planning the biggest military buildup in American history during World War II. During this important period, the knowledge gained from his work as an instructor at the Army War College was helpful.
Although he had never actually commanded troops in battle, he was gifted with excellent planning and leadership abilities that motivated other officers. He was essential in getting the American Army and Army Air Forces ready for the invasion of Europe.
Marshall became the first American Army general to be upgraded to a five-star rank when he was appointed to the recently formed office of General of the Army in December 1944. Throughout the rest of World War II, he supervised Allied operations in Europe and the Pacific before leaving his position as Chief of Staff in 1945.
In the years following World War II, President Truman named him Secretary of State in 1947. The European Recovery Program, also known as the Marshall Plan, was the State Department’s grandiose plan to restore Europe, and George Marshall was chosen as its spokesperson. The goal of the strategy was to hasten Europe’s economic modernization and reconstruction along American lines. In 1949, he left the State Department due to poor health.
George’s Bigger Works
In the years after World War II, George Marshall played a key role in developing and implementing the European Recovery Program. The Marshall Plan was a program designed to undertake significant economic reforms in European nations in order to restore their economies following the destruction brought on by the war. After the plan was put into action in 1948, Europe saw its fastest four years of growth ever.
Recognition & Achievements
In addition to the World War I Victory Medal with four campaign clasps and the World War II Victory Medal, he also received the Distinguished Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster.
His position and accomplishments during and after World War II earned him the Grand Lodge of New York’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 1948.
He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953 in recognition of the Marshall Plan.
The Marshall Scholarship was created by the British Parliament in honor of Marshall’s contributions to Anglo-American relations.
Personal Legacy & Life
In 1902, George Marshall wed Elizabeth Carter Coles. 1927 saw her passing.
In 1930, he wed Katherine Boyce Tupper for the second time. She was the mother of three children and the widow of Baltimore attorney Clifton Stevenson Brown.
On October 16, 1959, he passed away at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. He was 78.
Estimated Net Worth
One of the wealthiest and most well-known war heroes is George Marshall. Our study of George Marshall’s net worth from sources including Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider indicates that it is roughly $1.5 million.