George C. Marshall, 1908

He was one of the greatest Americans of the 20th Century, but compared to other military figures like Patton, Eisenhower and MacArthur, George C. Marshall is almost unknown. He shouldn't be.

Marshall was sworn in as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army (which then included our Air Forces) in 1939, on the same day that Hitler launched the Second World War in Europe. To say that our military was unprepared is a great understatement. The Army had fewer than 200,000 men. It was badly equipped, and for the most part badly led. Yet by the time he stepped down as Chief of Staff in 1945, the U.S. Army had grown to more than 7 million troops, had defeated Japan and played a role second only to the Soviet Union in defeating Nazi Germany.

In a few short years, Marshall raised our armies, oversaw their training, selected their top leaders, and played the leading role in plotting the strategy with our Allies to defeat the Axis powers. It was an almost mind-boggling job for a single person to handle, but Marshall was a tower of quiet strength. The generals who served under him got the headlines and the parades, but nobody played a more important role in winning that war than George C. Marshall.

But his achievements didn't end there. As Secretary of State, he later oversaw what became known as the Marshall Plan, the aid program that saved Europe after the war had ended. It won him the Nobel Peace Prize. He also served as Secretary of Defense before retiring. Marshall died in 1959.

This photo was taken of Marshall when he was a second lieutenant at Fort Leavenworth.