Basic Information
Name: George Marshall
Nicknames: G-Marsh; Georgie Porgie, The Man With The Plan
Born: December 31, 1880
Died: October 16, 1959
Nationality: American
Hometown: Uniontown, Pennsylvania
WORK & EDUCATION
Occupation: American soldier and statesman; served as Joint Chief of Staff twice and as Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense
Education: Virginia Military Institute, 1901
FAMILY & FRIENDS
Parents: George Catlett Marshall Sr. and Laura Emily (Bradford) Marshall
Siblings: Older sister Marie, older brother Stuart
Spouses: Elizabeth "Lily" Carter Coles Marshall (died in 1927); Katherine Boyce Tupper Brown Marshall (survived as his widow)
Children: Three stepchildren from marriage to Katherine: U.S. Army Lieutenant Allen Tupper Brown, Major Clifton Stevenson Brown Jr., and Molly Brown Winn
Friends: General John J. Pershing
Foes: Communism
Analysis
When George was a wee lad, he was a troublemaker and a subpar student. But that didn't stop him from becoming one of the biggest names in American military history.
He spent his early life slacking off on his studies and being a generally lazy and mischievous dude. But once he decided that he wanted to be a military man, he buckled down, beefed up his study habits, and got after it. He took everything he learned during World War I and used it to help the U.S. navigate World War II and beyond.
George Marshall is the namesake of the Marshall Plan (originally called the European Recovery Program), which was basically a ginormous economic aid program the United States implemented after WWII. The Plan called for $13 billion—yeah, billion—to be spent helping post-war Europe rebuild and get back on its economic feet.
And if you think that's a lot of money now, it was a boatload of money back in the 1940s.
Marshall received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953 for his work, and the Marshall Plan is often talked about as one of the greatest pieces of diplomatic legislation in American history. Maybe one of the greatest pieces of diplomatic legislation ever.
But Marshall took it all in stride and didn't let the fame monster get him. He spent his retirement at his home in Leesburg, Virginia, and concentrated on his two favorite non-military pastimes: horseback riding and gardening. (Aww.)
We bet the orchestrator of Europe's post-war recovery could grow the heck out of some vegetables.