#general marshall

[deadpresidents]

Hi Mr. deadpresidents! I'm in high school and have to write a paper about a person from WW2 but want to choose someone different because I know everyone will pick FDR or Churchill or Hitler, any suggestions? thank you!

In my opinion, the person who never gets enough credit is General George C. Marshall, who was the U.S. Army Chief of Staff during World War II and remembered as the "organizer of victory." Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, de Gaulle, Truman, Eisenhower, and many others considered General Marshall to be the greatest man they ever knew. Stalin once said "I would trust General Marshall with my life." STALIN said that! About an American General! Stalin didn't even trust his children! Marshall was so indispensable to FDR that, instead of appointing him to command the Supreme Allied forces in Europe, the President kept Marshall in the United States to be the overall organizer of the immense logistical challenges required to fight a true world war. And, after being one of the most important reasons for the Allied military victory during the war, Marshall ended up earning a Nobel Peace Prize following the war for his Marshall Plan relief work to help rebuild Europe. He is one of the great Americans in our history -- there should be a national monument honoring him in Washington.

If you want to really pick someone out of left field, I've always been fascinating by King Haakon VII of Norway. His contribution wasn't nearly as active or vital as General Marshall's (or pretty much any of the major figures of World War II). But his refusal to accept the puppet regime installed in Norway when the Nazis occupied his country turned him into a very important symbol that the Norwegian resistance used as a foundation against the Nazis. When King Haakon refused to recognize Quisling (who was such a tool of the Nazis that his name has become synonymous with puppet rulers), he offered to abdicate if that was what the true government of Norway wished, but they supported him. The Nazis were determined to capture the King and the royal family, so they had to form a government-in-exile in England, but the Norwegian people rallied around him and began their resistance. Even the King's "H7" monogram became a symbol of the resistance. There's a good Norwegian-language movie called The King's Choice about his story, which is actually available on YouTube right now for free with ads.

[paintingsandhistory]

The Family of Darius before Alexander

Artist: Gilles Le Plat (Belgian, 1646-1724)

Date: 17th century, 18th century

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, Belgium

Description

In 333 BC Alexander defeated Darius III, the last king of the Achaemenid Empire, at the Battle of Issus. Darius escaped capture, but his wife Stateira I, his mother, Sisygambis, and his daughters Stateira II and Drypetis were taken by Alexander. Alexander displayed forgiveness in victory. According to Plutarch:

[He] gave them leave to bury whom they pleased of the Persians, and to make use for this purpose what garments and furniture they thought fit out of the booty. He diminished nothing of their equipage, or of the attentions and respect formerly paid them, and allowed larger pensions for their maintenance than they had before. But the noblest and most royal part of their usage was, that he treated these illustrious prisoners according to their virtue and character.

[pictures-of-the-war]

JEEP

[deadpresidents]

A questionnaire from the U.S. Army Reserves completed by then-Senator Harry S. Truman of Missouri during World War II.

In 1917, as he approached his mid-30s, Truman had been deployed to Europe and saw combat in France during World War I. As the commander of an artillery battery, Truman and his unit actually fired some of the last shots of the First World War just hours before the Armistice went into effect on November 11, 1918.

As he noted in this questionnaire from 1942, the 58-year-old Senator Truman was more than willing to fight in World War II as well, but when he personally offered his services to Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall, "he very firmly informed me that I was not only too told for my rank, but that he didn't want any Congressmen or Senators in the Army." Truman, who would become Commander-in-Chief of all American forces fighting the war just three years later, added "I am ready to go any time and still consider myself a pretty good Field Artilleryman."

[deadpresidents]

Of all the Presidential candidates of the 20th century who lost in the general election, who are some that would have been particularly good as President had they won (and maybe even better than their successful opponent)?

I've answered this question or some form of this question many times over the years, so I'm not going to go into details explaining my reasoning behind my answers, but the losing candidates from the 20th Century that I think would have been pretty good Presidents include Charles Evans Hughes (lost to Wilson in 1916), Adlai E. Stevenson (lost to Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956), and Michael Dukakis (lost to George H.W. Bush in 1988; terrible campaigner but an excellent administrator).

Whenever this question comes up, I always can't help adding one person who never ran for office but who I think would have been a tremendous President: General George C. Marshall, who I think is the most underrated giant of the 20th Century. Winston Churchill called Marshall "the noblest Roman of them all" and the "true architect" of the Allied military victory in World War II. The Big Three leaders of the Allies in World War II -- Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin -- all felt that way about Marshall, as did General Dwight D. Eisenhower. FDR and Churchill both believed Marshall was the greatest man they ever knew, and even Stalin once remarked that he would trust General Marshall with his life.

[deadpresidents]

If you were to choose four new Presidents to be put onto a second Mount Rushmore, who would they be? Alternatively, who are four non-Presidents that you might choose?

That's a tough one. For the Presidents on the second Mount Rushmore, I think FDR would be a no-brainer. I think I'd also add Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight D. Eisenhower -- not solely because of their Presidencies, but due to their overall importance to American history. The last spot is the hardest to decide upon. I don't think I'd choose anyone who was in office more recently than Eisenhower. Maybe John Adams or James Madison?

As for the four non-Presidents, I'd go with General George C. Marshall, Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, and either Alice Paul, Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, or Clara Barton.

[deadpresidents]

Per era, what figures do you think would have made the best presidents, despite never even running for the position/nomination?

I'm not going to go back through every era of American history and name people, but the two names that I always mention when it comes to who I think could have been great Presidents are George Marshall and William McRaven. It's not that I think military leaders are ideal for the job or anything; it's just that I believe those two particular leaders could have elevated the national discourse and remained above the fray in a way that most politicians could not. I still think Admiral McRaven could play a unifying role and help close this awful chapter of divisiveness that we are currently drowning in. Sometimes the country needs a conscience and those are two extraordinarily effective leaders who achieved remarkable successes and could have acted in that capacity and changed the direction of the nation. And it's still not too late for McRaven to try. If he ran for President, he would not be easy for people to drag into the mud and smear with the petty political attacks that are so prevalent in nearly all of today's campaigns. All he'd need to do is stand on his record.

[deadpresidents]

Are there any Americans in history who you think would have been great presidents if they ever ran?

The first names that always come to mind when I'm asked questions like this are George C. Marshall and William McRaven. And, quite frankly, it's still not too late for Admiral McRaven. I think he'd be an outstanding President and is exactly the type of leader this country needs right now.