General of the Armies
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General of the Armies of the United States is the highest possible-land based rank in the United States military hierarchy and is traditionally considered a six star General, equal to a Generalissimo. The rank of General of the Armies has only been bestowed twice in the history of the United States Army and only once in an active duty capacity. The rank is senior to that of General of the Army (note the difference between the singular and the plural of the two ranks).
The only people in United States history to hold the title General of the Armies were John J. Pershing, who held the official title "General of the Armies" and, posthumously, George Washington, who was appointed to the official title of "General of the Armies of the United States".
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[edit] John Pershing
John Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948), the senior U.S. Army General of World War I, was granted the rank of "General of the Armies" in 1919 in recognition of his performance as the commander of the American Expeditionary Force. General Pershing was offered the option to create his own insignia for the new position, but continued to wear the four stars of a General. At the time of Pershing's appointment to the rank, the position was considered more of a title than a rank, comparable to the Civil War title "General of the Army" in the respect that no authority over the Navy was implied.
The tradition of General of the Armies being considered a six-star rank only began in World War II with the establishment of the five-star rank General of the Army. By order of seniority, it was decided that General Pershing (still living when the rank of General of the Army was created in 1944) would be senior to all the newly appointed General of the Army officers. When asked whether or not this made Pershing a six-star general, the then Secretary of War (Henry L. Stimson) stated that Pershing was superior to a five-star general but, as he was no longer active in the military and had never worn more than four General's stars, he should not be seen as holding six-star rank.
[edit] George Washington
During his lifetime, George Washington (February 22 1732 – December 14 1799) never held the rank "General of the Armies." During the American Revolution he held the title of "General and Commander in Chief" of the Continental Army.George Washington was not answerable to Continental Congress or the President of Congress while he commanded the Continental Army. In that regard, George Washington was the only person in United States history to actively command with complete authority all military forces of the United States.
A year prior to his death, Washington was appointed by President John Adams to the rank of Lieutenant General in the United States Army during the Quasi-War, after he had left office as President of the United States. Washington never exercised active authority under his new rank, however, and Adams made the appointment mainly to frighten the French, with whom war seemed certain.
Making up for lost time, and to maintain George Washington's proper position as the first Commanding General of the United States Army, he was appointed, posthumously, to the grade of General of the Armies of the United States by congressional joint resolution of 1976-01-19, approved by President Gerald R. Ford on 1976-10-11, and formalized in Department of the Army Special Order Number 31-3 of 1978-03-13, with an effective appointment date of 1776-07-04. The appointment confirmed George Washington as the most-senior United States military officer - more senior than Pershing because the date of Washington's posthumous commission predates Pershing by 143 years, but still subordinate in rank to the Commander In Chief. By normal US Military policy and precedent, no person may be elevated in seniority before their original date of appointment or enlistment.
Since George Washington is considered to be the most senior military officer, permanently outranking all other military officers, except the Commander In Chief, it is inferred that Washington's rank is considered a six star general, but there has never been any six-star insignia authorized or manufactured. [1] [2] [3], since the rank of a five star general has already been established.
[edit] Six-Star Rank?
Whether or not General of the Armies is a six-star rank will most likely remain unanswered unless the United States Congress ever again appoints anyone to the position. This almost occurred in 1945, as part of the preparation for the invasion of Japan, when a proposal was discussed in the War Department to appoint Douglas MacArthur to the rank of General of the Armies. Following the use of the atomic bomb in August 1945, however, the proposal to promote MacArthur to General of the Armies was dropped.
The matter was raised again in 1955, when the United States Congress considered a bill authorizing President Dwight D. Eisenhower to promote Douglas MacArthur to General of the Armies, in recognition of his many years of service. At that time, the Army Judge Advocate General warned that, should MacArthur accept promotion to the new rank, he would lose a large amount of retirement pay and benefits associated with the much more firmly-established rank of five-star General of the Army, which he still held. The Army General Staff was also concerned that George C. Marshall was senior to MacArthur and that, should MacArthur be made a General of the Armies, a similar measure would have to be passed, promoting George Marshall, as well. Due to the various complications, MacArthur declined promotion and the bill to promote him was dropped.
When MacArthur was proposed for the rank in 1955, Eisenhower, who had been outranked by MacArthur during their time as serving five-star generals due to MacArthur's seniority (MacArthur was appointed to the rank two days earlier), was the sitting President. For constitutional reasons, he could not have been promoted to the rank, had Congress been willing.
The matter of MacArthur's sixth star must not have been finished with this first proposal for the promotion. The MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk has numerous letters on file dating from 1962 to 1964 between advocates (former MacArthur aides and others) and government officials attempting to obtain the 6-star promotion. In the letters as well as a congressional record appendix from February 1962 (pages A864-A865, this promotion was referred to alternately as "six-star general" and "general of the armies". The proponents even obtained a vote of neutral support from Harry Truman. (He would neither support nor attempt to scuttle the promotion.) The ultimate outcome of the proponents promotion attempts were finally scuttled by the tumultuous events of November 1963 and then MacArthur's passing in 1964.
[edit] United States Navy
In the United States Navy the equivalent of General of the Armies was the rank Admiral of the Navy. It has only been held by one person in history, George Dewey. As with General of the Army, a proposal was made during World War II to bring back the rank as a six-star equivalent, under the title Flag Admiral. Chester Nimitz was briefly considered for the position, but the proposal was dropped by the United States Navy Department before the war ended, and has not been revived since.
[edit] Insignia
In 1945, the Institute of Heraldry prepared a conjectural insignia which would have incorporated a sixth star into the five-star design of General of the Army. As no proposal to appoint a new General of the Armies was ever firmly developed, the United States Army has never officially approved a six-star general insignia.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| U.S. commissioned officer ranks | |||||||||||||
| Student Officer | O-1 | O-2 | O-3 | O-4 | O-5 | O-6 | O-7 | O-8 | O-9 | O-10 | O-11 (wartime only) | Special Grade | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States Navy: | MIDN/OC | ENS | LTJG | LT | LCDR | CDR | CAPT | RDML | RADM | VADM | ADM | FADM | Admiral of the Navy |
| United States Marine Corps: | Midn | 2ndLt | 1stLt | Capt | Maj | LtCol | Col | BGen | MajGen | LtGen | Gen | (no equivalent) | (no equivalent) |
| United States Army: | CDT/OC | 2LT | 1LT | CPT | MAJ | LTC | COL | BG | MG | LTG | GEN | General of the Army | General of the Armies |
| United States Air Force: | Cadet | 2nd Lt | 1st Lt | Capt | Maj | Lt Col | Col | Brig Gen | Maj Gen | Lt Gen | Gen | General of the Air Force | (no equivalent) |
| United States Coast Guard: | CDT | ENS | LTJG | LT | LCDR | CDR | CAPT | RDML | RADM | VADM | ADM | (no equivalent) | (no equivalent) |
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