(b. December 31, 1880; d. October 16, 1959) Soldier-statesman.

George Catlett Marshall began his career as a U.S. Army officer after graduating from the Virginia Military Institute in 1901. He served as a staff officer with U.S. forces in France (1917–1918) and in numerous important posts in the period between World Wars I and II before being made army chief of staff on September 1, 1939. After Marshall retired from active duty in late 1945, President Harry S. Truman selected him to handle three major jobs: special ambassador to China (December 1945–January 1947), secretary of state (January 1947–January 1949), and secretary of defense (September 1950–September 1951).

Vigorous criticism of the Truman administration for its China policies caused Truman to call on the respected and politically neutral Marshall to mediate the growing Chinese civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists. Marshall believed that although the Nationalists appeared to be militarily superior, neither side was...