Every Five-Star General in American History, Part 1

A five-star general. Throughout American history, there've only been five men with five silver stars in the Army. All of them served in World War Two, and since then, the rank hasn't been given to anyone else. Watch this video to learn more!
——————
Notes

• Note [1] — The first thing you might notice is that there aren't any people from the Navy on this list. That's because the Navy uses different ranks. In the navy, a five-star flag officer is called a Fleet Admiral.

• Note [2] — Another thing you may notice about this video is that it doesn't cover the rank General of the Armies, which is the single highest rank one can achieve in the US Army (the naval equivalent is the Admiral of the Navy). These ranks are superior to five-star generals, and so, some consider it to be a six-star rank. There've only ever been two people who reached this rank (George Washington and John J. Pershing, the former being awarded the rank posthumously), and the only man who reached the rank during his lifetime, Pershing, only ever wore four stars. As such, it's not covered in this video.

• Note [3] — When I say that enlisted soldiers do most of the fighting, I'm not belittling the fact that officers also do fight. It's just that enlisted soldiers outnumber officers by a ratio of over 4 to 1.

• Note [4] — There's also a rank General of the Air Force, which is a five-star general in the Air Force. There's only ever been one person to reach this rank, and he was a five-star general in the Army before — Henry "Hap" Arnold.
——————
Image credits

——————
Music

1) Polonaise in A flat major, Op. 53, by Frédéric Chopin. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
——————
Explaining the world, one video at a time. New videos every other Friday. Be sure to subscribe and share!

[Explains]

If you liked the video, then be sure to subscribe and like. If you have any topic suggestions, reply to this comment and I'll consider. Thanks for watching!


To all those wondering about the rank General of the Armies, that's covered in Part 3. These videos were also made before Grant was posthumously promoted last December, so they won't include him.

[sushibar]

Pershing was awarded 5 stars. George Washington was never awarded 5 stars, but Congress passed a law that said he will forever be the most senior general in the US Army, and outrank all others.

[loftygb]

Eisenhower was only made a 5 star General because Montgomery was promoted to Field Marshal in Sept 44. this equates to 5 stars so he was more senior than Eisenhower who commanded Montgomery so he was promoted to 5 stars

[landenherteux]

Specialist and Corporal are the same rank at E4. While the rank of Corporal has been largely retired and replaced with specialist it can be used to give more command authority in addition to the seniority

[ericphilbeck]

Macarthur knew how to look badass but the best generals in my opinion is George Patton and Ike Eisenhower...

[reyarchide]

those were the army 5 stars in ww2, Hap Arnold was 5 star for the air corp [usaf didn't exist in ww2], Admiral William D. Leahy, Admiral Ernest J. King, Admiral Chester Nimitz, Admiral William F. “Bull” Halsey for the navy, no Marine 5 stars, no Coast Guard 5stars ... these were 'gifts' to our military leaders in ww2 to line them up to European Field Marshal ranks who they commanded.

[EpicThe]

Nice and of these Eisenhower is the more familiar one because his rank is displayed on some Interstate Highway markers

[Patriota]

Amazing a short and tiny History is so covered

[VileTorture]

I feel left out.
What happened to the best rank in the military? The Warrant Officers?
Why the hate?

[rickrolled]

MacArthur as the most brilliant general is.. a tough buy. He was above all a man of the press, and that legacy lives on in home much military history enthusiasts fight over his part in WW2. You are right to say he is controversial!

[RonaldEdson-xc]

Well if George Washington was a 6 star general then Leonard Baumgardner 1755-1839 would have been a 5star general since he only took orders directly from George Washington?

[ronaldstaus]

There is not one of these dudes who could stack up to Patton! Patton should be a six star general, like Washington!👍🇺🇸👍

[deus.nos.benedicat]

It’s a shame that George Patton didn’t make 5 Star General.
In my opinion, he is more brilliant than any of these men.
For many reasons he wasn’t considered “stable” enough.

[pats]

Wouldve loved to talk to that first one

[wmonroe]

You don’t promote to corporal from an specialist four. You promote to either one. They are both E-4s.

[bobt]

Marshall was the only five star to graduate from VMI

[georgealderson]

Surety The Marshall Plan did NOT give money?!I understood that it loaned money eg to Great Britain which took decades to repay!

[unknownunknown]

There and four star generals are also nominated positions only. It's not a true rank that can be obtained. The highest is 2 star.

[klaus-peterbulowius]

You know that the USA earned more money than they gave to Europe. And the solved the Problem of unemployment of the returning soldiers. They forced the european countries to work together and started the indirectly the EU. We are still thankful about the Marshall plan, a masterpiece

[elizarducanes]

Naabutan ko p yn c General Douglas McArthur pumunta yn dito s pinaka Mamahal kong bansang Philippines dati. Yn ang GrandFather namin c General Douglas McArthur. At yung present n Five Star General ngayon tinutulingan Niya aq tugon Niya Presidente din aq Ng United Nations. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Love Sto Niño. ❤️🧡❤️🧡🧡🧡