General of the Army George Catlett Marshall, Jr. GCB (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American military leader, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense. Once noted as the "organizer of victory" by Winston Churchill for his leadership of the Allied victory in World War II, Marshall supervised the U.S. Army during the war and was the chief military advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. As Secretary of State he gave his name to the Marshall Plan, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.

Early life
Following graduation from VMI, Marshall was commissioned a Second Lieutenant the U.S. Army. Until World War I, he was posted to various positions in the US and the Philippines, and was trained in modern warfare. During the war, he had roles as a planner of both training and operations. He went to France in the summer of 1917 as the director of training and planning for the 1st Infantry Division. In mid-1918, he was promoted to American Expeditionary Forces headquarters, where he worked closely with his mentor General John J. Pershing and was a key planner of American operations. 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.

Between WWI and the Eve of World War II
Marshall was promoted to Brigadier General in October 1936. Nominated by President Franklin Roosevelt to be Army Chief of Staff, Marshall was sworn in on September 1, 1939, the day German forces invaded Poland, precipitating World War II. He would hold this post until the end of the war in 1945.
As Chief of Staff, Marshall oversaw the largest military expansion in U. S. history, inheriting an outmoded, poorly equipped army of 200,000 men and, partly drawing from his experience teaching and developing techniques of modern warfare as an instructor at the Army War College, coordinated the large-scale expansion and modernization of the U. S. army into a force of over eight million soldiers by 1942 (a fortyfold increase within three years).
In 1944, he became the second U.S. General to be awarded 5-star rank, otherwise known as General of the Army, after John Pershing, who was awarded the rank in September 1919; although Pershing was promoted to General of the Armies. This position is the American equivalent in rank to Field Marshal. Marshall once joked that he was glad the U.S. never created a Field Marshal rank during World War II, since he would then have to be addressed as Marshal Marshall.
During World War II, Marshall was instrumental in getting the U.S. Army and Army Air Corps reorganized and ready for combat. 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 designed Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy. His success in working with Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, along with his refusal to lobby for the position, ultimately resulted in his being passed over as the Supreme Allied Commander in charge of the D-Day invasion. At the time, the President told him: "I couldn't sleep nights, George, if you were out of Washington."
Throughout the remainder of World War II, Marshall coordinated Allied operations in Europe and the Pacific. He was characterized as the organizer of Allied victory by Winston Churchill. Time Magazine named Marshall Man of the Year in 1944. Marshall resigned his post of Chief of Staff in 1945, but did not retire, as regulations stipulate that Generals of the Army remain on active duty for life.

World War II
In December 1945, Truman sent Marshall to China to broker a coalition government between the Communists under Mao Zedong and America's Nationalist allies under Chiang Kai-shek. Marshall had no leverage over the Communists, but threatened to withdraw American aid essential to the Nationalists. Both sides rejected his proposals and the Chinese Civil War escalated, with the Communists winning in 1948. His mission a failure, he returned in January of 1947. May (2002) suggests the reason was that his first priority was to spend money on his Marshall Plan of aid to Europe.
On his return in early 1947, Truman appointed Marshall Secretary of State. He became the spokesman for the State Department's ambitious plans to rebuild Europe. On June 5, 1947 at a speech at Harvard University, he outlined the American plan. The European Recovery Plan, which became known as the Marshall Plan, would help Europe quickly rebuild and modernize its economy on American lines. Truman wanted to call the plan the Truman Plan, but was warned that the plan would sink before it took off if named that. Truman thought of the idea to call it the Marshall Plan. The Soviet Union forbade its satellites to participate.
Marshall was again named TIME's Man of the Year in 1948, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953. As Secretary of State, Marshall strongly opposed recognizing the State of Israel, telling President Truman, "If you (recognize the state of Israel) and if I were to vote in the election, I would vote against you." [1][2] In 1949, he resigned from the State Department and was named president of the American National Red Cross.

Post War: China and Secretary of State
When the early months of the Korean War showed how poorly prepared was the Defense Department, Truman fired Secretary Louis A. Johnson and named Marshall as Secretary of Defense in September 1950. His main role was to restore confidence. He served in that post for less than one year, retiring from politics for good in September 1951. In 1953, he represented America at the coronation of Elizabeth II.
On June 14, 1951, as the Korean war stalemated in heavy fighting between American and Chinese forces, Republican Senator Joe McCarthy attacked. He charged that Marshall was directly responsible for the "loss of China," as China turned from friend to enemy.
George Catlett Marshall, "The Organizer of Victory", died on Friday October 16, 1959. Marshall's achievements were on a grand scale. Like Eisenhower, he is recognized as a great American soldier despite never actually seeing combat. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Secretary of Defense; attacked by McCarthy
He married Elizabeth Carter Cole of Lexington, Virginia, in 1902. She died in 1927. In 1930, he married Katherine Boyce Tupper. George Marshall maintained a home, known as Dodona Manor (now restored), in Leesburg, Virginia.

Family life

Cray, Ed. General of the Army: George C. Marshall, Soldier and Statesman. Norton, 1990. 847 pp.
Harold I. Gullan; "Expectations of Infamy: Roosevelt and Marshall Prepare for War, 1938-41." Presidential Studies Quarterly Volume: 28#3 1998. pp 510+ online edition
May, Ernest R. "1947-48: When Marshall Kept the U.S. out of War in China." Journal of Military History 2002 66(4): 1001-1010. Issn: 0899-3718 Fulltext: in Swetswise and in Jstor
Levine, Steven I. "A New Look at American Mediation in the Chinese Civil War: the Marshall Mission and Manchuria." Diplomatic History 1979 3(4): 349-375. Issn: 0145-2096
Parrish, Thomas. Roosevelt and Marshall: Partners in Politics and War. 1989. 608 pp.
Steele, Richard W. The First Offensive, 1942: Roosevelt, Marshall, and the Making of American Strategy. 1973. 239 pp.
Mark C. Stoler, George C. Marshall: Soldier-Statesman of the American Century. (1989) 252pp
Forrest Pogue, Viking, (1963–87) Four-volume authorized biography: complete text is online

• George C. Marshall: Education of a General, 1880-1939
  George C Marshall: Ordeal and Hope, 1939-1943
  George C. Marshall: Organizer of Victory 1943-1945
  George C. Marshall: Statesman 1945-1959 Bibliography
  Vol. 1: The Soldierly Spirit," December 1880-June 1939. (1981) Vol. 2: "We Cannot Delay," July 1, 1939-December 6, 1941. (1986) Vol. 3: The Right Man for the Job, December 7, 1941-May 31, 1943. (1991) Vol. 4: "Aggressive and Determined Leadership," June 1, 1943-December 31, 1944. (1996) Vol. 5: "The Finest Soldier," January 1, 1945-January 7, 1947. (2003)
  
  The Papers of George Catlett Marshall: (Larry I. Bland and Sharon Ritenour Stevens, eds.)
  Bland, Larry; Jeans, Roger B.; and Wilkinson, Mark, ed. George C. Marshall's Mediation Mission to China, December 1945-January 1947. Lexington, Va.: George C. Marshall Found., 1998. 661 pp.
  Marshall, George C. George C. Marshall: Interviews and Reminiscences for Forrest C. Pogue. Lexington, Va.: George C. Marshall Found., 1991. 698 pp. online edition
  George Catlett Marshall. Memoirs of My Services in the World War, 1917-1918 (1976) Primary Sources
  
  Second Lieutenant, United States Army: February 2, 1902
  First Lieutenant, United States Army: March 7, 1907
  Captain, United States Army: July 1, 1916
  Major, National Army: August 5, 1917
  Lieutenant Colonel, National Army: January 5, 1918
  Colonel, National Army: August 27, 1918
  Major, Regular Army (reverted to peacetime rank): July 1, 1920
  Lieutenant Colonel, Regular Army: August 21, 1923
  Colonel, Regular Army: September 1, 1933
  Brigadier General, Regular Army: October 1, 1936
  Major General, Regular Army: September 1, 1939
  General, Regular Army, for service as Army Chief of Staff: September 1, 1939
  General of the Army, Army of the United States: December 16, 1944
  General of the Army rank made permanent in the Regular Army: April 11, 1946 Dates of rank
  
  Awards and decorations
  
  Distinguished Service Medal with one Oak leaf cluster
  Silver Star
  Philippine Campaign Medal
  World War I Victory Medal with four battle clasps
  Army of Occupation of Germany Medal
  American Defense Service Medal
  American Campaign Medal
  World War II Victory Medal
  National Defense Service Medal U. S. military honors
  
  British Order of the Bath
  French Legion of Honor
  French Croix de Guerre
  Soviet Order of Suvorov
  Soviet Grand Cross Order of Military Merit
  Moroccan Grand Cross of Ouissam Alaouite
  Cuban Order of Military Merit, First Class
  Liberian Centennial Medal
  Greek Grand Cross Order of George I with swords
  Order of the Crown of Italy
  Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Italy)
  Netherlands Grand Cross with Swords in the Order of Orange Nassau
  Montenegro Silver Medal for Bravery
  Panamanian Medal of La Solidaridad, Second Class
  Peruvian Gran Official del Sol del Peru
  Brazilian Order of Military Merit
  Chilean Order del Merito
  Ecuadorian Star of Abdon Calderon, First Class
  Colombian Grand Cross of the Order of Boyaco Cherifien Foreign military honors
  
  In 1948, he was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award for his role and contributions during and after World War II.
  Nobel Peace Prize 1953 for the Marshall Plan
  1959 Karlspreis (International Charlemagne Prize of the city of Aachen)
  The British Parliament established the Marshall Scholarship in recognition of Marshall's contributions to Anglo-American relations.
  Many building and streets throughout the U.S. and other nations are named in his honor.
  George C. Marshall Award, the highest award given to a chapter in Kappa Alpha Order
  George C. Marshall High School, founded in 1962 and located in Falls Church, Virginia, is the only public school in the United States named for Marshall. The nickname of the school -- "The Statesmen" -- appropriately reflects his life and contributions. Quotations