Architect of Victory: Biography of General George C. Marshall of WWII

On September 1, 1939, promoted from MG to GEN, General George C. Marshall was sworn in as the United States Army Chief of Staff. An excerpt from the article:

"Promoted to colonel in September 1933, Marshall saw service in South Carolina and Illinois. In August 1936, he was given command of the 5th Brigade at Fort Vancouver, WA with the rank of brigadier general. Returning to Washington DC in July 1938, Marshall worked as Assistant Chief of Staff War Plans Division. With tensions rising in Europe, President Franklin Roosevelt nominated Marshall to be Chief of Staff of the US Army with the rank of general. Accepting, Marshall moved into his new post on September 1, 1939.

George Marshall in World War II
With war raging in Europe, Marshall oversaw a massive expansion of the US Army as well as worked to develop American war plans. A close advisor to Roosevelt, Marshall attended the Atlantic Charter Conference in Newfoundland in August 1941 and played a key role in the December 1941/January 1942 ARCADIA Conference. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he authored the principal American war plan for defeating the Axis Powers and worked with other Allied leaders. Remaining near the President, Marshall traveled with Roosevelt to the Casablanca (January 1943)) and Tehran (November/December 1943) Conferences.

In December 1943, Marshall appointed General Dwight D. Eisenhower to command Allied forces in Europe. Though he desired the position himself, Marshall was unwilling to lobby to get it. In addition, due to his ability to work with Congress and his skill in planning, Roosevelt desired that Marshall remains in Washington. In recognition of his senior position, Marshall was promoted to General of the Army (5-star) on December 16, 1944. He became the first US Army officer to achieve this rank and only the second American officer (Fleet Admiral William Leahy was first)."