The only American to head the Army, the State Department, and the Pentagon, organizer of Allied victory and architect of the Marshall Plan
At Harvard's commencement on June 5, 1947, Marshall received an honorary degree and delivered a speech of under 1,200 words — barely twelve minutes — sketching a recovery plan directed 'against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos.'
Marshall was the only American to serve as Army Chief of Staff (1939–45), Secretary of State (1947–49), and Secretary of Defense (1950–51): the 'organizer of victory' who presided over the fortyfold expansion of the U.S. Army. At Harvard on June 5, 1947, he proposed a massive aid program to reverse Europe's economic collapse and contain Soviet pressure; the Marshall Plan channeled $13 billion over four years, stabilizing Western Europe's industrial base and currencies while reshaping U.S. Cold War strategy. As Secretary of State he clashed openly with Truman over the recognition of Israel, and as Defense Secretary during the Korean War he approved MacArthur's dismissal, reasserting civilian control of the military. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953, the only career soldier ever to do so.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1880Born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, the youngest child of a coal and coke businessman
- 1902Graduated VMI, commissioned 2nd lieutenant, posted to the Philippines
- 1917–1918WWI: planned the Cantigny and Meuse-Argonne offensives as 1st Division G-3
- 1939–1945Army Chief of Staff: expanded the Army from 189,000 to 8 million, directed Allied strategy
- 1945.12–1947.01Special envoy to China; failed to broker a Nationalist-Communist coalition
- 1947–1949Secretary of State: launched the Marshall Plan and pushed for NATO's creation
- 1950–1951Secretary of Defense during the Korean War; approved MacArthur's relief and rebuilt the Pentagon
- 1953Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Related historical events
- 1914–1918First World War1st Division operations plannerAs 1st Division G-3, he planned the Cantigny and Meuse-Argonne offensives.
- 1941–1944The Second Front and the Normandy LandingsU.S. Army chief of staffA leading candidate for Overlord, he remained Army chief of staff in Washington and supported the operation's preparation.
- 1947–1948The Marshall Plan and the Cold WarArchitect of the Marshall PlanIn his Harvard speech of June 5, 1947, he proposed a massive aid program for European reconstruction; the idea became the $13 billion European Recovery Program that bore his name.
- 1945–1949The Chinese Civil WarUS mediatorMediated for a coalition from December 1945 and declared failure in January 1947.
- 1950–1953The Korean WarApproved MacArthur's reliefAs Secretary of Defense, he approved MacArthur's relief during the Korean War.
Envoy to China and the 'Loss of China' Charge
In December 1945, only weeks after leaving the post of Army Chief of Staff, Marshall was dispatched to China as President Truman's special envoy. His mission was to broker a coalition government between Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists and Mao Zedong's Chinese Communist Party in order to prevent the civil war from resuming. The United States wielded the aid that was indispensable to the Nationalists as leverage, but it had no comparable hold on the Communists. Marshall arrived on 20 December 1945 and drew both sides into negotiations; the talks over a ceasefire and the integration of armies ran for more than a year without reaching substantive agreement, as both parties used the time to prepare for the coming decisive battle.
To preserve the neutrality of the mediation, the United States suspended the sale of weapons and ammunition to the Nationalists from 29 July 1946 until May 1947, a step that provoked domestic controversy. Toward 1946–47 Marshall left China because of his deteriorating health, domestic criticism, and other pressing foreign policy objectives, and the mission itself withdrew in early 1947. The failure of his mediation led to the full resumption of the Chinese Civil War, and the Communists won in 1949. As Secretary of State, Marshall disagreed with the argument inside the State and Defense Departments that Chiang's success was vital to American interests, insisting that U.S. troops must not become directly involved.
The failed mission was later turned into a weapon of anti-communist political attack. In June 1951, Douglas MacArthur, himself dismissed during the Korean War, called Marshall's China mission 'one of the greatest blunders in American diplomatic history,' and Senator Joseph McCarthy cast him as the man responsible for the 'loss of China.' McCarthy alleged that during the mission Marshall had embargoed arms to the Nationalists and forced open the Kalgan mountain pass into Manchuria, thereby turning the situation in the Communists' favor. Alongside the stalemate in Korea, this campaign split American opinion over Marshall's reputation along party lines. In the 1952 election campaign, Dwight Eisenhower denounced the Truman administration's failures in China and Korea while refusing to defend Marshall's policy.