General of the Army (United States)

History

Post–American Civil War era

Toward the end of the American Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant achieved the first fixed promotion to lieutenant general in the U.S. since George Washington. On 25 July 1866, the U.S. Congress further established the rank of "General of the Army of the United States" for General Grant. His pay was "four hundred dollars per month, and his allowance for fuel and quarters", except "when his headquarters are in Washington, shall be at the rate of three hundred dollars per month." (His combined monthly pay and allowance of seven hundred dollars in 1866 is ). When appointed General of the Army, Grant wore the rank insignia of four stars and coat buttons arranged in three groups of four.

Unlike the World War II rank with a similar title, the 1866 rank of General of the Army was nominally a four-star rank, but this rank held all the authority and power of a 1799 proposal for a rank of "General of the Armies", even though Grant was never called by this title. Despite being titled General of the Army instead of General of the Armies, the Comptroller General of the United States would rule in 1924 that the grade revived in 1866 for Grant (and later William T. Sherman and Philip H. Sheridan) was the same grade that had been proposed for Washington in 1799 and revived for Pershing in 1919.{{cite book

In contrast to the modern four-star rank of general, only one officer at a time could hold the 1866–1888 rank of General of the Army. For a few months in 1885, as he was dying, Grant was accorded a special honor and his rank was restored by Congressional legislation.

After Grant became U.S. president, he was succeeded as General of the Army by William T. Sherman, effective 4 March 1869. In 1872, Sherman ordered the insignia changed to two stars, with the coat of arms of the United States in between.

By an Act of Congress on 1 June 1888, the grade was conferred upon Philip Sheridan, who by then was in failing health. The rank of General of the Army ceased to exist with Sheridan's death on 5 August 1888.

Generals of the Army (post–Civil War)

World War II and Korean War era

Although briefly considered, the U.S. Army did not introduce a rank by the name of field marshal. In the United States, the term "Marshal" has traditionally been used for civilian law enforcement officers, particularly the U.S. Marshals, as well as formerly for state and local police chiefs. In addition, giving the rank the name "marshal" would have resulted in George Marshall being designated as "Field Marshal Marshall", which was considered undignified. The five-star rank and authority of General of the Army and equivalent naval Fleet Admiral were created by an Act of Congress on a temporary basis when was passed on 14 December 1944,{{cite web | access-date= 29 April 2008 |access-date = 22 October 2007 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071013212055/http://history.navy.mil/faqs/faq36-6.htm |archive-date = 13 October 2007

The insignia for the 1944 General of the Army rank consists of five stars in a pentagonal pattern, with points touching. The five officers who have held the 1944 version of General of the Army and the date of each's appointment are as follows:

Generals of the Army (WWII)

The timing of the first four of these appointments was coordinated with the first three of the following appointments of the U.S. Navy's first five-star Fleet Admirals:

This was to establish both an order of seniority among the generals and a near-equivalence between the services.

Eisenhower resigned his Army commission on 31 May 1952 to run for the U.S. presidency. After Eisenhower was elected and served two terms, President John F. Kennedy on 22 March 1961 signed , which authorized reappointing Eisenhower "to the active list of the Regular Army in his former grade, of General of the Army with his former date of rank in such grade". This rank is today commemorated on the signs denoting Interstate Highways as part of the Eisenhower Interstate System, which display five silver stars on a light blue background.{{cite web |access-date = 22 October 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070612214526/http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/quick_links/military/ranks.html |archive-date = 12 June 2007}}{{cite web |access-date = 22 October 2007 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070612213156/http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/Quick_links/Eisenhower_FAQ/Eisenhower_resigns_as_General_of_the_Army.html |archive-date = 12 June 2007

Arnold, a general in the Army, was the Commanding General of the [[United States Army Air Forces| Army Air Forces]] throughout World War II, when he was promoted. After his United States Air Force became a separate service on 18 September 1947, Arnold's rank was carried over to the Air Force, just as all Army Air Forces airmen's rank carried over. Arnold was the first and, to date, only General of the Air Force. He is also the only person to have ever held a five-star rank in two branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Bradley received the 5-star rank upon being made the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (serving from 1949 to 1953). This was to make him equal in rank to General of the Army MacArthur, who was still serving at the time.

These officers who held the rank of General of the Army remained officers of the United States Army for life, with an annual $20,000 in pay and allowances, . They were entitled to an office maintained by the Army along with an aide (of the rank of colonel), a secretary, and an orderly.

Modern usage

No officers have been promoted to the rank of General of the Army since Omar Bradley (who was also the last living officer of such rank when he died in 1981). The rank is still maintained in the Army's structure, and could be awarded by the president with the consent of the United States Senate.

Although the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), Omar Bradley, was eventually awarded a fifth star, such a promotion does not come with that office; Bradley's elevation ensured that he would not be outranked by his subordinate, Douglas MacArthur.

In the 1990s, there were proposals in Department of Defense academic circles to bestow a five-star rank on the office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

After the conclusion of the Persian Gulf War, but before his tenure as Secretary of State, there was talk of awarding a fifth star to General Colin Powell, who had served as CJCS during the conflict. But even in the face of public and Congressional pressure to do so, Clinton presidential transition team staffers decided against it for political reasons, fearing that a fifth star might have assisted Powell (a Republican) had he decided to run for office. An effort was also made to promote General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. to General of the Army, although it was not carried out.

As recently as the late 2000s, some commentators proposed that the military leader in the Global War on Terrorism be promoted to a five-star rank. In January 2011, the founders of the Vets for Freedom political advocacy group published an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal calling for David Petraeus to be awarded a fifth star in recognition of his work and the importance of his mission. Earlier, in July 2010, David W. Brown wrote an article in The Atlantic supporting the same promotion.

Ranks senior to General of the Army

Main article: General of the Armies

The rank of General of the Armies is senior to General of the Army and has been bestowed on only three officers in U.S. history. In 1919, John J. Pershing was promoted to General of the Armies for his services in World War I.

In 1944, when Congress authorized the creation of the five-star grade of General of the Army, a provision was added to the law doing so that stated, "Nothing in this Act shall affect the provisions of the Act of September 3, 1919 (41 Stat. 283: 10 U.S.C. 671a), or any other law relating to the office of General of the Armies of the United States."

In 1976, during the United States Bicentennial, Congress conferred a promotion upon George Washington to the rank of General of the Armies of the United States. President Gerald Ford approved the promotion in October, but historians found that congressional and presidential actions were not enough and that the Army had to issue orders to make the promotion official. Thus, Washington will always be the most senior general of the United States.

In 2024, Ulysses S. Grant was posthumously promoted to the rank of General of the Armies to celebrate 200 years since his birth. Congress authorized the promotion as part of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed into law on 23 December 2022. The promotion was officially conferred on 19 April 2024 with the same rank and precedence as Pershing, upholding the standard that Washington would permanently remain the army's highest-ranking officer.

In 1903, retroactive to 1899, George Dewey was promoted to Admiral of the Navy, a rank equivalent to that of a five-star admiral. The promotion of Admiral Dewey is the only time an Admiral of the Navy has been named and the rank ceased to exist after his death.

References

References

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