George C. Marshall: Statesman 1945-1959 (GCM #4)

George C. Marshall: Statesman 1945-1959 (GCM #4)

By Forrest C. Pogue

Hardcover Cloth 603 pages. Condition Very Good Dust Jacket Good. Reprint edition 1987. Attractive cream colored boards with tan buckram 1/8 spine shows off this Clean, tight, square copy with no marks, highlights or bookplates. Book shows some shelf wear; chips, bumped corners, stains to covers, stains to bottom edge. An unclipped dust jacket shows remainders of price tag and considerable shelf wear - a tears, scrapes, stains, scratches, wrinkles and chips. Not an ex-library, book club or remainder copy.

In Statesman 1945-1949, the fourth and final volume of the authorized biography of George C. Marshall, Forrest C. Pogue gives us a unique view of the years immediately following World War II and a portrait of a man who, after a distinguished military career, went on to serve his country in even more indispensable ways as a statesman.

On November 26, 1945, George C. Marshall retired after six years as U.S. Army Chief of Staff. one day later, President Truman appointed him Special Ambassador to China. For the next six years, Marshall would confront the most difficult issues of the postwar world. As Secretary of State, he addressed the economic and social plight of war-devastated Europe by initiating the Marshall Plan, called by Churchill "the most unsordid act in history." As Secretary of State during the Korean War, Marshall advocated America's foreign policy. And thea vision of the military's role in a democracy that was at the heart of the controversial decision to recall General Douglas MacArthur.

The years after World War II were marked by an extraordinary bipartisan effort in the creation of America's foreign policy. And the linchpin of this unity was Marshall. The men who worked with him—Dean Acheson, George Kennan, Robert Lovett—were devoted to him; the world leaders he served—Truman, Churchill, Chiang Kai-shek, and Bidault—constantly solicited his counsel. In Statesman, Forrest Pogue presents a portrait of Marshall at once majestic and moving: a portrait of an unselfish and unassuming man who saw no greater responsibility—or privilege—than the chance to serve his country.

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.