George Marshall

American army officer and statesman (1880–1959)

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Lived 1880–1959, aged 79United States

United States PoliticiansPolitician

Wikipedia
82 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1880–1959
Aged 79
Awards
23
recognised works

Summary

Updated 2026-08-17

The only U.S. Army general to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Marshall rebuilt a shattered continent after helping to destroy the Axis. Churchill called him the "organizer of victory"; Truman handed him the wreckage of postwar Europe and told him to fix it.

Biography

About

Born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, Marshall graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1901 and took a commission in the Infantry, serving in the Philippines during the Philippine–American War and rising through staff schools where he graduated first. He spent World War I planning American operations in France, including the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, then worked his way through interwar assignments—aide to Pershing, instructor, a stint modernizing the Infantry School's methods in 1927. When war returned in 1939 he became Chief of Staff and built the largest military expansion in U.S. histo…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from George Marshall

George Marshall

saidOct 1948

It is not enough to fight. It is the spirit which we bring to the fight that decides the issue. It is morale that wins the victory.

— Military Review (October 1948)

George Marshall

saidOct 1948

Morale is the state of mind. It is steadfastness and courage and hope. It is confidence and zeal and loyalty. It is élan, esprit de corps and determination.

— Military Review (October 1948)

George Marshall

said1946

I would say—when the fighting is at its fiercest, it is invariably the Infantry that carries the ball over for the touchdown.

— Quoted from Katherine Tupper Marshall, Together: Annals of an Army Wife (1946), p. 153

George Marshall

said1 Sep 1945

If man does find the solution for world peace it will be the most revolutionary reversal of his record we have ever known.

— Biennial Report of the Chief of Staff, US Army (1 September 1945)

George Marshall

said1 Sep 1945

The refusal of the British and Russian peoples to accept what appeared to be inevitable defeat was the great factor in the salvage of our civilization.

— Biennial Report of the Chief of Staff, US Army (1 September 1945)

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