Get Access George C. Marshall: Education Of A General: 1880-1939 Imagined By Forrest C. Pogue Accessible Through Document

book covers the formative period of General George Marshalls professional and personal life, Therefore, it is likely the most important of Forrest Pogues multivolume biography of Marshall, From this book the reader gains some understanding of the experiences shaped the Generals thinking and leadership,

Like Eisenhower, Marshall did not lead front line combat troops in war, He made his reputation as a staff officer under Pershing in World War I, Although he did command in various locations abroad, such as China and the Philippines, his greatest contribution in the interwar years was as an instructor at the Infantry School at Fort Benning.
In that capacity, he emphasized adaptability, creativity, and personal accountability, The modern equivalent of his practices at Fort Benning are tactical decision exercises and freeplay forceonforce maneuvers,

Perhaps the most fascinating insight I gained from this volume was how Marshalls experience with FDRs Civilian Conservation Corps CCC during the Great Depression, While in charge of various CCC camps, he learned the intricacies and delicacies of dealing with American civilians who, as volunteers, could not be led through coercion or purely hierarchical authority.
Marshall was a master of getting to the “why” and inspiring those he led to do things because they decided they should,

Marshall is an amazing figure, This book is an incredible experience and a mustread for those in the military of any rank and anyone else who is interested in the theory and practice of leadership.
Original thoughts from April: Glad I read this biography of George C, Marshall up to the time he was named U, S. Army Chief of Staff in, Originally, I thought of searching for the other three volumes, but now I'm not so sure, as the author's style is pretty deadly, At least it's clear and understandable, . . just a bit boring.

just finished volume II and have changed my mind about reading the rest of the series, Vol. II was good and I'm about to start on Vol, III.

Just finished Vol, III and very glad I kept going, VERY valuable book. Will get volume four one of these days,

Purchased Vol. IV last year and read in conjunction with “The Wise Men” another excellent book, Finished Marshall today he deserved such comprehensive treatment and Im glad I read the entire series,

See individual reviews of volumes II through IV, Great Bio of a very underrated man, I have volsandbut volis priced out of my league, Guess I get to skip the early war, If you read of all the famous battlefield commanders of WWII, but do not study General Marshall, you are missing a key understanding of how America began WWII, Very few people understood how unprepared the United States was for a global conflict, one that America would lead, From his beginnings as Army Chief of Staff in/to the beginning of War for us in, he implemented a program of war preparation and laid the foundations of our current military establishment.


The author has done great job of describing how the boy became a general, I wish I had read this text earlier and recommend this to one to all, Like Eisenhower and Bradley, Marshall was born to a family of very modest means, The US policy of sponsoring young men into the military academies based on merit mostly resulted in a cadre of exceptional leaders when we really needed them, Ask most people to name the greatest American general of the Second World War and youre likely to hear such famous names as Dwight Eisenhower, George Patton, or Douglas MacArthur.
Only occasionally might someone propose the name George Catlett Marshall, despite his outsized role in the conflict, From Septemberuntil November, Marshall served as the military head of the United States Army, in which role he built up and directed a massive ground and air force that waged war across the globe.
Yet Marshalls role has long been overshadowed by those of the commanders on the battlefield, whose achievements were only possible because of Marshalls organizational abilities and strategic guidance,

How Marshall came to occupy such an important position at such a crucial time in history is the focus of the first volume of Forrest Pogues tetralogy about the general and statesman.
A former member of the U, S. Armys historical division and the author of sitelinkThe Supreme Command, the volume in their famous “green book” series on the supreme command in Europe during the war, Pogue was invited to write Marshalls official biography and was granted unrestricted access to both the general and his papers.
These he combined with additional archival research to provide a comprehensive look at his subjects life and career,

Pogue begins with Marshalls upbringing in western Pennsylvania, The son of a businessman, Marshall enjoyed a comfortable childhood until a poor investment on his fathers part left his family in straitened financial circumstances, While drawn to soldiering, the challenges of gaining an appointment to West Point led young Marshall instead to enroll at the Virginia Military Institute, Upon graduation, Marshall was commissioned into an army recently engorged by the Spanish American War with new officers, making for an extremely competitive contest for promotion,

Nevertheless, Marshall rose gradually through the ranks, As Pogue makes clear, this was due to Marshalls hard work and diligent application to his tasks, The young lieutenant soon demonstrated capabilities far beyond his rank, impressing both his peers and his superiors, After service in the Philippines Marshall returned to the United States, where he distinguished himself as both a student and an instructor in the Armys emerging professional educational system, For Marshall, however, this proved a doubleedged sword for his career prospects, as his gifts as a staff officer denied him the opportunities to serve in the line that were invaluable for an officers promotion prospects.
As a result, Marshall found himself still a captain after the First World War, while many of his peers sported eagles or even on their shoulders,

Yet Marshall benefited enormously from the support of his former commander, General John Pershing, Chosen as Pershings aide during the generals postwar service as chief of staff, Marshall enjoyed Pershings patronage and connections as he rose steadily in rank through a shrunken military establishment.
During thes Marshalls service both as a regional commander within the Civilian Conservation Corps and as Deputy Chief of Staff commended him in the eyes of President Franklin Roosevelt, resulting in his appointment as chief of staff on

the eve of the momentous outbreak of war in Europe.


Thanks to his access to both Marshall and his documentary legacy, Pogue provides his readers with a thorough account of his preSecond World War military career, Though rich in detail, the text never drags thanks to Pogues deft writing and his ability to supply the exact right amount of explanatory context, Yet while Pogue provides an invaluable of Marshalls activities, he falls short in terms of analysis, as he refrains from analyzing Marshalls ideas about tactics or doctrine or strategic thinking.
While this reflects in part a paucity of writing on Marshalls part, his failure to supplement this with his interviews with Marshall represents a missed opportunity, one that Pogue himself never compensates for by offering his own suppositions based on the historical record.
Its an unfortunate omission in what will likely be the most detailed study of Marshalls development, and limits the achievement of what is otherwise a valuable study of an underappreciated American military leader.
Incredible to read of the development of possibly our nation's greatest soldier, George Marshall often seems to fade into the background when studying WWII however, Pogue draws a vivid portrait of this man who rose from almost failing to receive a commission upon graduating at VMI all the way to being promoted to Chief of Staff in front ofother men based on seniority.


I found his teaching at Fort Benning "He sought therefore, to teach the art of improvisation, to extricate tactical principles from the procedural formulas in which they had become fixed by schoolmen,"
his attitude towards formality and honesty "As Roosevelt talked "most of them agreed with him entirely.
. . and He finally came around to me, . . I remember he called me 'George' I don't think he ever did it again, . . I wasn't very enthusiastic over such a misrepresentation of our intimacy, . . 'Don't you think so George' I replied, "I am sorry, Mr, President, but I don't agree with that at all,""
and finally what he believed about himself "My Strength with the Army has rested on the wellknown fact that I attended strictly to business and enlisted no influence of any sort at any time.
"
to be extremely insightful and interesting parts of this story that Pogue brings to light,

Although I felt at times Pogue went away from Marshall's personal career completely and went deeper into setting up the background of what was going on in the world than was necessary I still felt that this book is a great read anyone interested in the military, the keys to successful leadership, or the history of one of the most influential American generals.
I will read again and certainly recommend to others, A slow, but very thorough analysis of the firstyears of Marshall's life, a period that prepared him for the challenges of the job of Army Chief of Staff in WWII.
This book may be of interest to aspiring business leaders as well as military history students, Pogue's Marshall is not just the hardworking and honorable character most of us are slightly familiar with, but a dynamic and diplomatic officer as well, This first entry into the famous George C, Marshall tetralogy by Forrest C, Pogue was a nice treat for what is come, As someone who has read books on Eisenhower, many on Douglas MacArthur, but have yet to read Patton, I have always been curious about the stoic military strategist known as Marshall.
The book covers his life from his endearingly average childhood of being troublemakers with his friends while also trying to earn pocket money by selling vegetables, While also sharing the traits of many a military legend of hating to be the brunt of a joke or being made a fool of, One example Marshall reminesced of was when he told of having made a raft in the river with his friends when a few of the local girls came by and began to irritate and tease Marshall, and naturally he was not willing to be the fool in any situation so he took out the cork that was keeping the water out of the raft, sinking it and forcing the girls to swim ashore.


Pogue did an excellent job of humanizing Marshall and giving him a sense of both his sentimentality and value of his childhood friends, especially when he had come back from the far East in Manchua to his hometown afteryears and seeing how much his hometown had changed and visiting the grave of his childhood friend and seeing his friends now gold dog laying upon the grave and providing the dog with comfort.


Pogue also did a great job of hero worshiping Marshall which could have been a very slippery slope, but instead he made light of the fact that while Marshall may not have been the brightest guy in the room, he was extremely self disciplined and extremely competitive, never being content until he was the topin his class at Levenworth.


I definitely will be looking forward to the next entry into Pogue's series on Marshall and would recommend to anyone looking to learn more about the man, as the reading itself was very smooth and easy and not too academic.
I've been wanting to read Pogue's fourvolume biography of Marshall for years, and judging from this first volume in the series, it was worth the wait, I had a hard time putting it down, Pogue was an exceptional historian and writer well suited to the task of creating this official biography of one of America's greatest generals and statesmen, Excellent reading about a key historical US figure, I've wanted to read this for quite some time, and was fortunate enough to find a good quality copy of Volumeat the Half Price Books outlet for, It was worth every penny and then some, although I'm now challenged to scour every possible outlet to try and find the remaining three volumes,

Pogue's writing is that of a journalistic historian, and reads with an easy, educated, and informationpacked flow reminiscent of William Shirer in The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.
This first volume covers a long span of time, but provides a wealth of information on Marshall's youth and his early experiences in the Army, I was left with a peculiar sense of frustration as a man of such staggering leadership and organizational quality was passed over time and time again for promotion in an antiquated seniority system.
In hindsight, however, one wonders that, had his talents been escalated up the chain earlier, might we have had a different leader in charge of Army affairs during the Second World War and, if so, how might the outcome have changed

I tend not to exhibit a lot of overly patriotic heroworship, but I can truly say that George Marshall is quite high on the list of leaders I admire and, as a corporate manager, aspire to emulate more and more.
I enthusiastically await my future purchase of Volumeso that I can continue the saga,

I highly recommend Marshall's hardtofind WWI account, "Memoirs of My Services in the World War," as a companion to this piece, It provides additional clarity and color to Pogue's chapters on the Great War, Forrest Carlisle Pogue Jr. was an official United States Army historian during World War II, He was a proponent of oral history techniques, and collected many oral histories from the war under the direction of chief Army historian S, L. A. Marshall. He also served for many years as the Executive Director of the George C, Marshall Foundation as well as Director of the Marshall Library located on the campus of Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, .