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The Story Behind Ike's Fifth Star

Symbols matter.  Every nation has a flag.  Police officers normally wear uniforms and badges.  So too with military officers who wear the symbol of their rank on their uniforms.  With Dwight David Eisenhower the most significant symbol of his rank was a fifth star.

People often wonder where the five star rank came from and how it was awarded to Ike.  Unlike all of his previous military promotions, his fifth star had little to do with superior performance. It had everything to do with an irascible British General, Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, and the agenda of some high ranking Admirals of the United States Navy.

Throughout World War II  America’s President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill did their best to maintain the strongest possible military alliance between the United States and Great Britain. They encouraged close relationships between the British Chiefs of Staff and their American counterparts.  In 1942 the British Chiefs of Staff consisted of General Sir Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial Staff, Fleet Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, and Air Marshal Sir Charles Portal.  On the American side sat General George C. Marshall, Admiral Ernest King, and Lieutenant General Henry H. Arnold of the U.S. Army Air Forces.  The highest rank attainable in any U. S. military service was four stars (General and Admiral).  The British, however, had a five star rank (Field Marshal, Fleet Admiral, and Air Marshal).

Retired Admiral William D. Leahy was recalled to active duty to serve as Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief, U. S. Army and Navy and presided as Chairman of the Combined Chiefs of Staff even though the office was never officially created.  The British recalled retired Field Marshal Sir John Dill to serve as a Washington-based member of their Chiefs of Staff.  Thus, each side of the Combined Chiefs of Staff had four members.

At the first meeting of the Combined Chiefs of Staff in February, 1942, all the British Chiefs, except one, had five star ranks thereby “out ranking” the four stars on the shoulders of their American counterparts.  By January, 1944 when General Brooke was promoted to Field Marshal all of the British Chiefs outranked all of the American Chiefs.

In early January 1944 President Roosevelt startled Admiral Leahy by telling him he was going to be promoted to five stars with the title Admiral of the Fleet.  Stunned, Leahy replied that if such a promotion was under consideration the rank ought to be given to each member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  A few days later a Navy Captain informed the Army Chief of Personnel that the chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee would be introducing a bill in Congress, prepared by the Navy Department, to provide two new ranks; Admiral of the Navy (six-star rank) and Admiral of the Fleet (five stars).  According to the Navy messenger, President Roosevelt had approved the plan and expected similar action to provide higher ranks for the Army with a six star General of the Armies and a five star General of the Army.

General Marshall—a man who could be firm—opposed the idea.  A Washington columnist suggested (with tongue in cheek) that Marshall disliked the plan because five stars was the rank of Field Marshal and the Chief of Staff could then be addressed as “Marshal Marshall.”  Actually General Marshall was embarrassed by the possibility of higher ranks being handed out at this stage in the war. He believed that such promotions should take place after the conflict had ended as had been the case with General Pershing after World War I and Generals Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan after the Civil War.  He also felt that he didn’t need a higher rank to deal with the British on an equal basis and he worried that General Pershing, now aged and ailing in Walter Reed Army Hospital, might think he was trying to elevate himself above the old soldier.

Secretary of War Henry Stimson agreed with General Marshall and was not happy that the President had already approved the ranks for the Navy without even discussing the possible new Army ranks with him. Stimson met with the President and forcefully denounced the idea of a six star rank for anyone.  He emphasized that it would make America look silly because everyone would know the only reason would be to elevate our generals and admirals above their British counterparts and not because of their earned service to the country.  Roosevelt agreed. But the President continued to believe the American Chiefs should be promoted to the same ranks as the British Chiefs.  Never the less, the congressional committees tabled the matter. 

General Marshall believed that ended the proposal, but on September 1, 1944, the British government elevated General Sir Bernard Law Montgomery to the rank of Field Marshal.  As one of two Army Group Commanders, Montgomery was subordinate to General Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe.  It was now the case that a British subordinate outranked his American commanding officer. 

President Roosevelt immediately notified Congress that he wanted the five star bill passed.  Secretary Stimson knew he couldn’t stop it this time.  But what about General Pershing?  The solution was to leave Pershing alone the title “General of the Armies” and the new five star ranks would carry the title, “General of the Army.”  The Navy agreed to drop the six star rank and settle for the five star rank of Admiral of the Fleet.  Congress went back to work on the revised bill and passed it on the 12th of December. 

Since the British promotion of Montgomery to outrank Eisenhower was the trigger to resurrecting the five star plan, Congress had to expand the five star rank beyond the Chiefs of Staff to include the three major theater commanders, MacArthur, Nimitz, and Eisenhower.  The promotion list and dates of elevation, as passed by congress, read as follows:

Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy: December 15, 1944
General of the Army George C. Marshall: December 16, 1944
Fleet Admiral Earnest J. King: December 17, 1944
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur: December 18, 1944
Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz: December 19, 1944
General of the Army: Dwight D. Eisenhower: December 20, 1944
General of the Army Henry H. Arnold: December 21, 1944

So it was that Ike received the fifth star.  It placed him among the nation’s most distinguished military officers, along with George Washington, the highest ranking officer in American history, whose title is forever General of the Armies.