Marshall & the President, 1943

Several times in 1943 command of the invasion of northern France was promised to General George Marshall, its architect and chief advocate. FDR gave the coveted command to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, assuring Ike, not Marshall, would win the highest battle honors of the war. Why?
Dr. Nigel Hamilton, who has been studying Franklin Roosevelt as U.S. Commander in Chief in WWII, offers a fresh perspective on one of the most debated promotions in history.

[@davidmurphy8364]

Ike got the well deserved credit but anyone who knows their history knows Marshall was the architect of victory. The greatest man their ever was in my worthless opinion.

[@daneershen4138]

Brilliant. And timely, given the Oscar winning “Darkest Hour”

[@leechristy7003]

Churchill outlived FDR; wrote a TON, and painted himself as the great hero. Nonsense. But this view persists in "pop" history even though it's absurd on so many levels from the British Army NOT winning the war, to Churchill doing everything he could to NOT engage the Wehrmacht on the mainland, and then being timid in tactics compared to American leadership. As a tactician, Churchill was hamstrung by his disastrous fiascos in WW1 and was wary of taking the fight to the Nazis in the way the Americans were willing to. Britain won because it was saved by water (and the Navy and the Spitfire were great) but without the Red Army and also American help, they would have been doomed with or without Churchill's good speeches.