George C. Marshall

George Catlett Marshall (1880-1959) graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1901. He went to France in the summer of 1917 where he was a key planner of American operations in WWI. He was instrumental in the design and coordination of the Meuse-Argonne offensive, which contributed to the defeat of the German Army on the Western Front.

In 1919 he became an aide to General John J. Pershing. Marshall worked in a number of positions in the US Army, focusing on training and teaching modern, mechanized warfare.

Marshall was executive officer of the 15th Regiment in China from 1924-27 and was chief of instruction at the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia from 1927-32. In 1939 he was selected by Franklin D. Roosevelt as Army Chief of Staff.

Marshall was instrumental in preparing the U.S. Army and Army Air Corps for war. Marshall wrote the document that would become the central strategy for all Allied operations in Europe, selected Dwight Eisenhower as Supreme Commander in Europe, and directed the planning for the invasion of Normandy. Marshall coordinated Allied operations in Europe and the Pacific throughout the war. Time Magazine named Marshall Man of the Year in 1944.

After WW II he was sent to China to negotiate a truce between the Nationalists and Communists fighting the Chinese Civil War. He was recalled in January 1947.

Marshall was named Secretary of State in 1947. He outlined the U.S. government's preparedness to contribute to European recovery. The European Recovery Plan which became known as the Marshall Plan, helped Europe rebuild and earned Marshall, once again, the honor of Time Magazine Man of the Year in 1948 and a Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.

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