Page 1 1 HENRY STIMSON AND GEORGE MARSHALL: AN ...

HENRY STIMSON AND GEORGE MARSHALL: AN ENDURING FRIENDSHIP
By Greg Franke
Few men other than Marshall and Stimson have served the country in a greater variety of
positions: Stimson as US attorney, Secretary of War twice, Governor General of the Philippines,
Emissary to mediate the Nicaraguan civil war, and Secretary of State; and Marshall as Chief of Staff of
the US Army, Presidential Representative to mediate the Chinese civil war, Secretary of State, President
of the American Red Cross, and Secretary of Defense. It should come as no surprise that these two men
developed a very close relationship that endured for over thirty years. This relationship began during the
end of World War I and the interwar years and arguably helped to foster the decisive Allied victory in
1945 and the successful foreign policy measures enacted in the postwar period. This was an enduring
friendship that shaped the course of the twentieth century.
EARLY INTERACTIONS
Marshall and Stimson each had pleasant recollections of their first meeting in 1918. Marshall had
been a lecturer at the General Staff School in Langres, France, from March 20–29 while Lieutenant
Colonel Stimson was enrolled there. On April 11, 1957, almost forty years after this first encounter,
Marshall recalled that the two of them went horseback riding together and shared a mess. 1 Stimson wrote
to Marshall in 1928, “I have never forgotten the impression of efficiency you made on me when you came
to the school at Langres and I had the pleasure of talking with you as well as listening to your lecture.” 2
1 Larry Bland, ed., Interviews and Reminiscences for Forrest C. Pogue, Interview 7, April 11, 1957 (Lexington, Va.: George C.
Marshall Research Foundation, 1991), 230–1.
2 Henry Stimson to George Marshall, January 21, 1928, quoted in Larry Bland, ed., The Papers of George Catlett Marshall,
Volume 1: “The Soldierly Spirit,” December 1880–June 1939 (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press,
1981), 322f.
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In fact, this impression was so great that in 1927 Stimson, the new Governor General of the
Philippine Islands, asked Marshall to serve as his aide there. Marshall responded, “I am deeply grateful to
you for honoring me with this opportunity”, but he felt “sure, that to the army at large I would be
convicted of being only an aide and never a commander” had he accepted this position. 3 Stimson thought
this was a “sound reason for preferring military duty.” 4 Clearly these two great men had developed a close
relationship already before preparations for the Second World War began, and their deep sense of respect
for each other would carry them towards victory at the end of the war.
WORLD WAR II
As the Second World War progressed, Stimson anointed Marshall the most important man of the
“best staff he ever had.” 5 They cooperated to make the War Department a model of efficiency that
Washington had not seen up to that point, reconciling frequently contradictory civil and military
interests. 6 One reason for this unusual and pioneering relationship between the Chief of Staff and the
Secretary of War was Executive Order 9082, which gave the Chief of Staff direct access to the president
for consultation of military matters. 7 Stimson’s and Marshall’s mutual approval of this order indicates
how their shared selflessness and dedication to the welfare of the country—militarily and otherwise—
helped to launch Allied successes in the war.
As in any personal and professional relationship, Marshall and Stimson had some disagreements.
Marshall recalled one between the two men prior to the Pearl Harbor attack about the development of
officer training schools. According to Marshall, Stimson advocated the establishment of large camps to
train officers, but Marshall opposed this strategy. 8 He believed this was foolish since the army was “so
short of officers that we didn’t have the men to train the others,” and he threatened to resign if Stimson
moved forward before recruiting more trainers, an attitude Marshall later described as “reprehensible” for
a government and military official. 9 This appears to reveal a more human side of these two great men;
even they could not avoid the discord that inevitably arises out of stressful interactions and admitted to
making some mistakes.
In spite of such disagreements, their relationship continued to strengthen through the end of the
war. As the United States began to consider various postwar political and economic policies for Europe,
Stimson voiced his strong opposition to the Morgenthau plan, which called for the partition,
demilitarization, and practical deindustrialization of Germany. His famous September 1944 memo
concluded, “War is destruction. . . The need for the recuperative benefits of productivity is more evident
now than ever before throughout the world.” 10 The similarities between this and Marshall’s call for
substantial and concrete aid to Europe in 1947 are obvious. In fact, Marshall wrote to Stimson on April
28, 1947, regarding the tools for building a peaceful Europe that the “correctness of your vision and
judgment is clearly evident in the struggles we are having today.” 11
3 George Marshall to Henry L. Stimson, December 22, 1927, in Ibid., 322.
4 Stimson to Marshall, January 21, 1928, in Ibid., 322f.
5 Quoted in David F. Schmitz, Henry L. Stimson: The First Wise Man (Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, Inc., Books, 2001),
135.
6 See Elting E. Morison, Turmoil and Tradition: A Study of the Life and Times of Henry L. Stimson (New York: History Book
Club, 1960, 2003), 496–500.
7 Ibid., 543–4.
8 Bland, Interviews, Interview 10, January 22, 1957, 299–300.
9 Ibid.
10 Quoted in Henry Stimson and McGeorge Bundy, On Active Service in Peace and War (New York: Harper & Bros., 1947,
1949), 572.
11 Marshall to Stimson, April 28, 1947, (George C. Marshall Research Library/George C. Marshall Papers, Secretary of State
File).
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When the Allies finally claimed victory in 1945, these two men frequently attributed the success
to each other. Stimson, who had described Marshall in 1943 as “the strongest man there is in America,”
confessed, “It is rare in late life to make new friends; at my age it is a slow process but there is no one for
whom I have such deep respect and I think greater affection. . . [Marshall was] the finest soldier I have
ever known.” 12 Marshall, in his typically succinct style, responded, “You have been a buttress of integrity
and resolute determination behind me. I am deeply grateful.” 13 Upon his resignation, Stimson wrote to
President Truman, Marshall “is the outstanding man among the English speaking soldiers of this war, bar
none,” thanks to his “intellectual power, his selfless integrity, and his inflexible habit of considering only
the general interest and never his own.” 14 Later in the 1950s, Marshall looked back on his relationship
with Stimson during the war and emphasized, the secretary’s “greatest contribution lay in his strength of
character. . . I don’t know what we would have done with someone different. I had to have someone who
was aware of the civilian implications of the army.” 15 Their constant contact during the war produced its
fair share of conflict, but each valued greatly the other’s determination for success and victory with no
consideration of self-advancement, which would help bolster a friendship that endured through the rest of
the decade.
THE POSTWAR PERIOD
These two great men remained connected through correspondence in spite of Stimson’s
retirement from public service and Marshall’s mission to mediate the Chinese civil war. As Marshall
prepared to depart for China, Stimson advised, “Very few white men. . .had ever understood the Chinese
political mind. The only way in which [he] could hope to succeed was to limit his mission to matters
purely military. The aim should be to convince China that she must do the fighting ‘necessary to eject
such Japanese as she does not wish to have around.’” 16 Stimson apparently thought this job suited
Marshall superbly, since the former Secretary of War had seen Marshall handle purely military functions
so well during his tenure as Army Chief of Staff.
Upon Marshall’s appointment as Secretary of State, Stimson, a former Secretary of State himself,
offered advice, to which Marshall replied, “As you will realize, there is no one whose views I would have
greater confidence in than yourself. . . I hope you will forgive me if I call on you later in regard to specific
matters.” He averred later to Stimson, “I only have one painting hanging in my new office and that is of
you.” 17 Marshall’s final appointment in Washington, as Secretary of Defense, occurred right before
Stimson’s death in October 1950. Stimson wrote to him, “My spirits gave a great leap of relief and
happiness last night when I heard over the radio that you had been appointed Secretary of Defense. The
President has at last taken the right step by placing the military preparation of our country on the right
track for dealing with the world crisis with which we are faced.” 18 Again, Marshall acknowledged, “there
is no one in the world whose opinion and support could mean so much to me as yours.” 19
12 Stimson’s Diary, May 25, 1943, quoted in Bland, The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, vol. 3, 708; Stimson to Roosevelt,
August 10, 1943, quoted in Papers, vol. 4, 127; Secretary of War’s Remarks to General Marshall on V-E Day, May 8, 1945, in
Papers, vol. 5, 171.
13 General Marshall’s Reply, quoted in Papers, vol. 5, 171f.
14 Henry Stimson to Harry Truman, September 18, 1945, in Papers, vol. 5, 303.
15 Bland, Interviews, Notes, November 13, 1956, 621–2.
16 Quoted in Stimson, On Active Service, 646–7.
17 Marshall to Stimson, January 22, 1947, and April 28, 1947 (George C. Marshall Research Library/George C. Marshall Papers,
Secretary of State File).
18 Stimson to Marshall, September 13, 1950 (George C. Marshall Research Library/George C. Marshall Papers, Secretary of
Defense File).
19 Marshall to Stimson, September 18, 1950 (George C. Marshall Research Library/George C. Marshall Papers, Secretary of
Defense File).
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Stimson died only a month later. In an official press release, Marshall stated that Stimson “was a
great American, a model citizen. I found him a tower of strength throughout the war. He showed the
highest integrity in his every purpose. I feel that I have lost a very dear friend.” 20 At his memorial service,
Marshall reminisced, “Wherever he served, Mr. Stimson’s administration was always clearly in the public
interest. His was always the voice of courage. . . In the present crisis Mr. Stimson would have been a rock
of support for all of us. [His views] should inspire us to continue his good fight for the right and the just
to help preserve our country and the ideals for which he so completely devoted himself.” 21
CONCLUSION
Army Chief of Staff George Marshall and Secretary of War Henry Stimson necessarily and
frequently crossed paths during World War II and produced a wealth of correspondence in those years,
but few realize how strong their relationship had grown before and how it endured beyond this
transformative period in American history. The camaraderie they first developed at the end of World War
I and during the interwar period allowed them to foster the Allied victory in World War II. This close
friendship continued after the war and led Marshall to call Stimson at his memorial service in 1951, “a
courageous soldier, a great lawyer, a profound statesman, and an inspiring leader.” 22
20 Statements on the Death of Henry Stimson, October 21, 1950 (George C. Marshall Research Library/George C. Marshall
Papers, Speech File).
21 Address by Marshall at a Tribute to Henry L. Stimson, January 21, 1951 (George C. Marshall Research Library/George C.
Marshall Papers, Secretary of Defense File).
22 Address by Marshall at a Tribute to Henry L. Stimson, January 21, 1951 (George C. Marshall Research Library/George C.
Marshall Papers, Secretary of Defense File).
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