George Marshall is a bit of an anomaly as a general. He is great and highly regarded in the way that Henry Halleck, Chief of Staff during the US Civil War is. Why? Because his actions behind the scenes made many of the actions on the field possible.

Marshall began his term as Chief of Staff from the US Army on the day that Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and served through the entirety of the war. After the war, he famously relieved Europe with the Marshall Plan, won the Nobel Prize, served as Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State. Considering his accomplishments, it is actually rather amazing that he is not better known.

Part of the reason is that he was notoriously selfless and quiet (at least compared to other generals at the time). For instance in 1944, FDR let it be known that the command for the D-Day invasion was Marshall’s if he wanted it. Roosevelt understand how important Marshall was in Washington, but also understand that a general’s place in history is almost always secured by what they do in the in the field leading troops. If that was what Marshall needed--and many people knew the man ached for the opportunity--all he had to do was say so. In one of their conversations, Marshall made it clear: "The decision is yours, Mr. President; my wishes have nothing to do with the matter." As a result, the role and the glory went to Eisenhower instead of Marshall.

According to Truman, what separated Marshall from nearly everyone else in the military and politics is that "never did General Marshall think about himself." As his wife later observed, the people who saw George Marshall as modest or quiet missed the point. It’s that the other traits that every powerful general has--ego, self-interest, pride, dignity, ambition--were “tempered by a sense of humility and selflessness.” Marshall held onto these values even when it cost him. Like when he turned down $1 million dollars to write his memoirs after the war, even after other officers had written theirs, because he didn’t want to embarrass anyone. In fact, part of the reason we know so little about Marshall and his exploits is because of this decision.

There is a story of Marshall sitting for one of the many official portraits that such officials are required to do. After appearing many times and patiently honoring the requests, the painter finally informed that Marshall was finished and free to go. Marshall stood up and began to leave. “Don’t you want to see the painting?” the artist asked. “No thank you,” Marshall kindly replied, and left.

Now this was not a man who abstained every public show of rank or status. He insisted the FDR call him General Marshall, not George. But while other Generals regularly lobbied for promotions (in fact, General MacArthur advanced over other officers in the pre-war years largely due to aggressive efforts of his mother), Marshall actively discouraged it. In WWI, he put his entire career on the line to defend a senior office under severe criticism (when he could have joined in and then probably replaced him). When others began to push for Marshall to be Chief of Staff, he asked them to stop, because “[it] makes me conspicuous in the army. Too conspicuous in fact.” Later, he discouraged an effort by the House to pass a bill awarding him the rank of Field Marshall--not only because he thought the name Field Marshall Marshall would sound ridiculous--but he wished to not outrank or hurt his mentor, General Pershing, who was near death and a constant source of advice and guidance.

One could say that Marshall was in many ways the opposite of a showy, egotistical general like Douglas MacArthur. For that reason he is both highly regarded but his accomplishments overlooked.