Why did Marshall promote Eisenhower?

All, I am not trying to demolish Eisenhower, and not a troll.

Eisenhower, to me, was a rather fantastic president and his ability to get things planned, organised and done as president are achievements. So, no problem there.

I think he was an excellent politician, but maybe not a military professional. Let that be as it may.

However, his early career was not particular and stellar.

What did Marshall see? Did he disappoint Marshall after all (Marshall had to tell him to lead in Africa). MacArthur and Eisenhower did fall out. He had a run-in with King (later, based on landing craft availability), so he must have stood up for his convictions.

Did he squeeze James E. Chaney out to get his job? was he a scheeming character?

What were the alternatives to Chaney? and in North Africa?

Ivan
 
IIRC, Eisenhower had in his favor

1) The ability to get along with other high ranking officers regardless of their ranks, background, or temperments.

"I Like Ike!" was more than just a campaign slogan, it was a large part of his success in life.

2) Eisenhower performed well in the pre WWII war games in Louisiana.

Make a note, originally Eisenhower didn't think he would ever be Supreme Allied Commander. He was shooting for something lower along the lines of the position Omar Bradley obtained.

But, the Americans did not want to "rub it in" to the British that the Brits were at that point in the war largely dependent on the U.S. and given the massive numbers of American soldiers now committed to battle, it was obvious the Supreme Commander had to be American.

But the U.S. wanted the man in charge to be someone the British found "acceptable".
 
Did he squeeze James E. Chaney out to get his job? was he a scheeming character?

What were the alternatives to Chaney? and in North Africa?

The only Chaney I am aware of was a Army Air Forces general. Where did you get his name from?

A number of other Generals were considered by Marshal & Roosevelt for senior command positions in Op Gymnast/Torch. Stillwell held the senior US position for Op Gymnast in the late summer of 1942, but was sent to China instead due to his experince & knowledge of that region.

I suggest you read a couple of biographys of Ike. ther eare more than enough of them, pro and con, to obtain a balanced view.

Actually Ikes career interwar was far above average. On his performance evaluations he was usually rated above his peers. This was fairly cosistent in the several company, battalion, regiment commands he held. He accquired a reputation as a staff officer who got things organized on time and correct in detail. this was extremely important during the interwar years. One of the lessons the US Army took away from the Great War was the absolute necessity for competent staffs. No one got promoted to Major or above during the 1920s & 1930s without proving they had above average organizational ability. If you read the biographies of the WWII generals you come to the conclusion they had been put through 'Staff Hell' as young Lts, Captains, and Majors. Like a few others Ike made his tasks look easier than they actually were.

Marshall was only one of many senior officers who noted Ikes abilities. Fox Connor went out of his way in the 1920s to mentor and tutor him in operational stratigic thinking. Ike did a large amount of study under Connors guidance. Krueger, one of the most brilliant generals of the 1930s requested Ike specifically from a list of candidates for his 1940 Army staff.

Ike got vaulted from a mid level position on Marshalls staff largely because Churchill nominated him for a senior position in the Torch Operation, after meeting him several times at planning confrences in London in mid 1942.

None of this is particulary obscure & has been discussed at length in the several biographys of Eisenhower.
 
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I picked it up from Wiki:

"At the end of May 1942, Eisenhower accompanied Lt. Gen. Henry H. Arnold, commanding general of the Army Air Forces, to London to assess the effectiveness of the theater commander in England, Maj. Gen. James E. Chaney. He returned to Washington on June 3 with a pessimistic assessment, stating he had an "uneasy feeling" about Chaney and his staff. On June 23, 1942, he returned to London as Commanding General, European Theater of Operations (ETOUSA), based in London,[58] and replaced Chaney.[59"

It sounds as though he wanted the man's job. and got it!

Ike is a difficut character to get to grips with. I am trying to find references and not only bio's.

Ivan
 
It's very simple. Not only did Eisenhower have the personality of a leader and emotional balance, he also was smart as hell, just about the smartest U.S. Army officer of his generation. Fox Connor spotted it and made him study Clausewitz, and then Marshall spotted him. When Marshall brought him to Washington after his high performance in the Louisiana maneuvers, he set him to writing memos about how to fight the war, and found that he came up with the right answers very quickly. Not byzantine scheming, Ike was the right man for the right job. He never had served as a battlefield commander but he did come to understand strategy and grand strategy very well. He backed the Brits all the way on Operation Torch. He understood Alan Brook's strategy to draw the Germans south away from the east-west line of German defense, but knew when to go beyond that. He was right about the broad front. He knew that adequate shipping and other logistical issues were the foundation of victory. Read his book Crusade in Europe, which he wrote in only a few weeks. He had it all in his head like a series of equations. Of course a lot of this is that he had a good staff and lots of other smart people feeding him ideas (including, sometimes, Monty) but he ultimately made the right decisions when it counted most.
 
If I remember correctly, Chaney had been sent over as a temporary placeholder and the tour by Arnold and Eisenhower clinched the fact. Arnold and Eisenhower saw that Chaney's command was still going by a lethargic pre-war work schedule, had developed insufficient contingency plans and was viewed with contempt by the British. Marshall then prepared to fire Chaney and had Eisenhower write a directive to re-organize the American structure in the UK. Eisenhower wrote it with McNarney or Clark in mind as the commander, but Marshall selected him instead.

At first, Eisenhower was certainly viewed as a placeholder to Marshall, though a vastly more significant one compared to Chaney. Marshall would have superseded him if Roundup had been agreed upon, and I think Eisenhower would have been given the job of either Bedell Smith, Tedder or Marshall back in Washington.

However, Roundup was never agreed upon and instead there was Torch. Churchill wanted an American in command due to their unhappiness with the operation, and since the JCS viewed it as a secondary operation Marshall was out of the running. Thus, the best available choice was the American who had proven he could work well in the coalition setting (and with Marshall), Eisenhower.
 
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So, that is where Chaney fits in. He is a bit elusive.

Makes a lot of sense.

I do not see Eisenhower as a fantastic guru in terms of strategy, etc. I base it on nearly every person writing about him (now) that his strategic outlook was poor. His own biography: Wasn't it heavy edited to show him in a good light? Statements attributed to Brooke were not 100% true, where they? and there goes the credibility.

Sorry, the notion that Eisenhower had all the right answers and so on, is a bit overdone.

Ivan
 
A number of other Generals were considered by Marshal & Roosevelt for senior command positions in Op Gymnast/Torch. Stillwell held the senior US position for Op Gymnast in the late summer of 1942, but was sent to China instead due to his experince & knowledge of that region.

I hate to be off topic, but this is something I've been interested for a while. Was Stilwell meant to have Ike's role in what became Torch, or was it more like Fredendall? I always thought it was like a Fredendall role. I assume it was possible for Stilwell to be kicked up for supreme commander if the British agreed, but given his lack of diplomatic skills, I doubt it.

Stilwell had been in China for many months by late summer of 1942. He was no longer involved in Gymnast/Torch that late. He had been involved in planning for Gymnast in January 1942 when he got tapped for the China job.
 
I hate to be off topic, but this is something I've been interested for a while. Was Stilwell meant to have Ike's role in what became Torch, or was it more like Fredendall? I always thought it was like a Fredendall role. I assume it was possible for Stilwell to be kicked up for supreme commander if the British agreed, but given his lack of diplomatic skills, I doubt it.

Stilwell had been in China for many months by late summer of 1942. He was no longer involved in Gymnast/Torch that late. He had been involved in planning for Gymnast in January 1942 when he got tapped for the China job.

I think China was supposed originally to be the consolation prize for Hugh Drum.

Drum, who was the loser when Marshall was appointed Chief of Staff, expected to be given the #1 position in Europe. Marshall didn't like that idea at all, and decided to offer Drum the position alongside Chiang instead. Drum threw a huge hissy fit and tried to call in favors to avoid the job, but eventually it hit him that this was the best offer he would get so he flip-flopped completely, basically begging for China. By then, it was too late and Marshall came up with Stilwell as a second choice.
 
Drum looks like a very nasty inter-sevice fighter. Drum instead of Marshall would have been a disaster. Could he work with the British of was he just as anti-British as King?

Ivan
 
I hate to be off topic, but this is something I've been interested for a while. Was Stilwell meant to have Ike's role in what became Torch, or was it more like Fredendall? I always thought it was like a Fredendall role. I assume it was possible for Stilwell to be kicked up for supreme commander if the British agreed, but given his lack of diplomatic skills, I doubt it.

Not Torch - Gymnast, same objective but different forces composition, scheme of manuver, I Cant recall exactly what Stillwell was to command & dont have the book at hand - Tuchmans bio of him

Who else could get along with Monty? :p

Dealing with the French was the most critical requirement for Torch. Despite direct discussions between them & US representatives (France & the US were not at war) right up to November the position of the senior French leaders, or any of the leaders, was 'difficult'. Obtaining cooperation from the French leaders in invading and occupying their Africa territory was beyond the diplomatic skill of just about every other US General officer. Krueger is the only other I can think of & his diplomatic skills were probablly not visible at the time. Lear & DeWitt were no better cadidates than Drum.
 
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