Today, the highest rank of a general in the U.S. military is a four-star general.
Historically, the United States has awarded the rank of five-star general to 10 famous generals: Marshall, MacArthur, Eisenhower, Arnold, Bradley, Leahy, Ernest King, Nimitz, Halsey, and Spruance. These 10 people, during World War II, made great achievements for the US military to defeat the fascist countries. The five-star rank of general in the United States, which is equivalent to the rank of marshal on the mainland, is only a military rank awarded during the war. In peacetime, it is almost impossible for an American general to obtain the rank of five-star general.
Five-star general, just the third highest rank in the U.S. military. The United States has also awarded three people the rank of five-star general, which is higher than that of a six-star general.
1. Washington
Washington, the founding father of the United States.
Thirteen states in North America, once a British colony. The British Empire, at its peak, covered an area of 34 million square kilometers and had colonies all over the world, so it was called the "empire on which the sun never sets". Many of Britain's colonies were robbed by the British government by sending troops, money, and force, but the thirteen states of North America were established by the British Puritans after immigrating to the North American continent, which made the British who controlled the thirteen states of North America feel that they have nothing to do with the British government and refuse to pay taxes to the British government. The wealthy British Empire does not care about the thirteen states of North America, and almost does not levy taxes on the thirteen states of North America, and the two sides have always been at peace with each other.
From 1756 to 1763, the Seven Years' War broke out between Britain and France over the colonies. Britain defeated France, but owed a huge debt of £133 million because of the huge investment in the war. Interest alone costs 43% of the UK's fiscal revenue every year, which puts a lot of pressure on the UK government. In order to solve the financial problems, Britain could only increase taxes on the colonies, which caused discontent among the colonies, including the thirteen North American states. The thirteen states in North America believe that "no tax without representation", and they have no members of the British Parliament and refuse to pay taxes to the UK. The British government believes that the thirteen North American states are its own territory and should pay taxes to the British government. The British Parliament has successively passed the "Stamp Duty Act", "Mandatory Act" and other bills to force taxation on the thirteen states of North America.
As a result, relations between the British government and the thirteen North American states deteriorated rapidly. On April 19, 1775, Lexington fired the first shot against the British colonists. Subsequently, 12 other states in North America responded one after another, and the American Revolutionary War, which affected world history, officially broke out.
Washington, born in Virginia. In 1754, he fought in the Franco-Indian War. In 1759, Washington resigned from the military and became a member of the House of Commons of Virginia. During his tenure as a congressman, Washington advocated North American independence and national autonomy because of his opposition to the British colonialists, which gave him great prestige in the hearts of the people of the thirteen North American states. In 1775, after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, the North American people recommended Washington as the commander-in-chief of the army, and Washington commanded the North American army to fight against the British army. The American Revolutionary War lasted for 8 years, although Britain was unwilling to give up the thirteen states of North America and continued to increase its troops to suppress the independence forces of the thirteen states of North America, but under the leadership of Washington, the North American army was very tenacious, causing huge casualties to the British army, so that it had to sit down and negotiate with the US army.
In 1783, Britain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris between the United States and Great Britain, which recognized the independence of the United States.
At the time of American independence, the mainland was in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, many countries in the world were also in the period of feudal monarchy. Washington, who led the people of North America to gain independence and controlled the army, could be called emperor, but the United States at that time was a loose organization composed of 13 states, each of which had its own militia, and they did not want a strong central government to run themselves and did not support Washington to become emperor. At the same time, the people of North America were also deeply influenced by the ideas of the European Enlightenment and did not want an emperor in the country. The most important thing is that Washington himself is not greedy for power and has no ambition to become emperor. He chose to surrender his military powers, making the United States a presidential state. In 1789, Washington was elected the first president of the United States. In 1793, Washington was re-elected president.
In 1797, with Washington's great popularity in the United States, he could have been elected president of the United States for a third time, but this time, he voluntarily gave up and did not run for president. So far, the United States has stipulated that the president can only serve two consecutive terms, and cannot serve for life. During World War II, President Roosevelt was elected president four times in a row due to the needs of the war, but this was a special case. None of the other presidents will serve more than two terms.
In 1799, Washington died. Before Washington, the highest military rank was a three-star lieutenant general. Since then, the United States has awarded many generals, three-star, four-star, and five-star military ranks, but the merits of these generals are not as good as Washington's. For this, the Americans feel that Washington's military rank is low. In 1976, the U.S. Congress passed a bill posthumously conferencing Washington a six-star general, the highest military rank in the United States.
2. Pershing
In addition to Washington, the "Father of the United States", there is another general in the United States who has been awarded a six-star general, and he is Pershing, the father of the modern American Army.
Pershing, a graduate of West Point, nicknamed "General Hammer" and "Jack of Spades", spent his life either at war or on the way to war.
After graduating, Pershing was sent to the southwestern United States and South Dakota to participate in the extermination of the Indians. In 1897~1898, during the Spanish-American War, Pershing participated in the invasion of Cuba and helped the United States seize Cuba and other places. In 1906~1913, Pershing served in the Philippines. In March 1916~1917, Pershing led 10,000 troops to Mexico, responsible for suppressing the Mexican peasant uprising.
In 1917, during World War I, Pershing served as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Expeditionary Force, going to Europe to fight the German army. At first, the standing military strength of the United States was only more than 30,000 people, but in order to meet the needs of the war, Pershing continued to recruit and transfer, so that its total strength reached more than 2 million. Pershing commanded the American army and defeated the German army in successive battles such as the Battle of Saint-Mielle and the Battle of Meuse-Argonne, helping the Entente defeat Germany, but in the process, the number of American troops increased rapidly, and Pershing also encountered many difficulties.
In order to enhance the combat effectiveness of the army, Pershing optimized the training system of the US military and trained many outstanding generals for the US army, including Marshall, Patton, MacArthur and others who were highly decorated during World War II. Pershing also attached importance to the use of modern weapons such as machine guns and mortars, and established a logistics and intelligence system for the U.S. military to create a powerful army, so Pershing is known as the "father of the U.S. Army".
In September 1919, the U.S. Congress conferred on Pershing the rank of Distinguished General, a rank that was not conferred on anyone else Pershing thought it would be.
3. George Dewey
George Dewey, U.S. Navy Admiral.
During the American Civil War, George Dewey served on six warships and fought in the Battle of New Orleans, Port Hudson, and Fort Donalson.
In 1898, after the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, George Dewey was appointed Commodore Commander of the Asian Fleet, leading the American fleet and the Spanish fleet in battle. In the Battle of Manila Bay, George Dewey led his troops to annihilate the Spanish fleet, but he did not lose a single soldier, which is extremely rare in the military history of the United States and the world, and this battle made George Dewey famous and became a star general of the United States.
In 1899, in recognition of George Dewey's great contributions to the United States, the United States awarded him the rank of Admiral, the highest rank in the U.S. Navy.