George Marshall

--- created: 2026-05-15 updated: 2026-05-15 title: George Marshall aliases:

• George Catlett Marshall
• General Marshall tags:
• Person
• Military
• StateDepartment
• ColdWar
• 1940s
• 1950s category: "Military & Government" summary: "George Marshall was the U.S. Army Chief of Staff during World War II and Secretary of State from 1947 to 1949 who proposed the European Recovery Program that bears his name, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953, and was attacked by Senator Joseph McCarthy in one of the most reckless moments of the Red Scare." born: 1880-12-31 died: 1959-10-16 location: "Washington, D.C."

George Catlett Marshall (December 31, 1880 - October 16, 1959) was a U.S. Army officer who served as Army Chief of Staff throughout World War II, Secretary of State from 1947 to 1949, and briefly as Secretary of Defense from 1950 to 1951. As Secretary of State, Marshall proposed the European Recovery Program that became known as the Marshall Plan, delivered in a Harvard commencement address on June 5, 1947, which Secretary of State Dean Acheson later said was "one of the greatest acts of statesmanship in the twentieth century." Marshall received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953 - the only career military officer to do so - and was the subject of one of Senator Joseph McCarthy's most extreme attacks, which even many of McCarthy's allies considered indefensible.¹

Military Career

Marshall was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army in 1902 and rose through progressive assignments that included service in the Philippines, WWI France, and increasingly senior staff positions. His administrative ability and strategic judgment brought him to the attention of Army leadership; President Franklin Roosevelt appointed him Army Chief of Staff in September 1939, over the heads of many senior officers.

As Chief of Staff from 1939 to 1945, Marshall built the American military from a small peacetime force into the largest army in American history - approximately 8 million men at peak strength. He coordinated the Army's global strategy, managed the allocation of resources among competing theaters, and worked with Allied commanders and civilian leadership. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called him "the true organizer of victory" and the "greatest Roman" - comparisons intended to convey his combination of administrative genius and personal integrity.¹

Secretary of State

President Harry Truman appointed Marshall as Secretary of State in January 1947, replacing James Byrnes. Marshall immediately confronted the deterioration of European economies and growing Soviet pressure. His June 1947 Harvard speech offered American aid for European economic reconstruction on the condition that European nations coordinate their plans - a condition the Soviet Union rejected after initial participation in discussions.

The Marshall Plan, authorized by Congress as the Economic Recovery Act of 1948, provided approximately $13 billion over four years to rebuild Western European economies. George Kennan, Marshall's Director of Policy Planning, viewed the plan as the correct application of containment strategy. The Soviet refusal to participate, which Marshall had anticipated, effectively confirmed the division of Europe that the Cold War institutionalized.

Marshall resigned as Secretary of State in January 1949 for health reasons.²

McCarthy Attack

Senator Joseph McCarthy's 1951 Senate speech attacking Marshall was one of the most extreme moments of the McCarthy era. McCarthy accused Marshall of being part of "a conspiracy so immense and an infamy so black as to dwarf any previous venture in the history of man" - suggesting that Marshall's entire career had been a long treason in service of communist interests. The speech specifically attributed Marshall's strategic decisions during World War II and his 1946 China mediation mission to deliberate sabotage.

The attack on Marshall was widely regarded even at the time as preposterous and was condemned by many who had been willing to countenance McCarthy's earlier targets. Eisenhower, who had served under Marshall and revered him, privately was enraged but declined to publicly defend Marshall against McCarthy during the 1952 campaign - a failure Eisenhower later described as one of his greatest regrets.

Nobel Prize and Death

Marshall received the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1953, for the Marshall Plan. He was the only career military officer to receive the prize, which recognized his role in European reconstruction as a contribution to international peace. He died in Washington, D.C. on October 16, 1959, following a series of strokes.