9 Five Star General Officers | The Countdown Ep. 7

The U.S. military has updated its rank structure multiple times to better accommodate changes on the battlefield. One such change came in 1944 with the creation of the five-star officer rank. Although never decommissioned, there have only been nine men to wear this rank.

00:00 Intro
32:56 Dwight D. Eisenhower
58:57 William D. Leahy
1:23:23 George Marshall
1:44:26 Earnest J. King
2:08:07 Douglas MacArthur
2:26:44 Chester W. Nimitz
2:50:47 Henry H. Arnold
3:09:23 William F. Halsey Jr.
3:30:46 Omar N. Bradley

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[donwild]

There is another 5 star general, although his promotion came 200 years later. On October 11, 1976 President Gerald Ford retroactively promoted General George Washington to the rank of General of the Armies, awarding him a fifth star. During his lifetime Washington held the official rank of Lieutenant General, a three star general. Two hundred years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, President Ford granted the promotion, explaining that Washington would always be the most senior US officer, outranking all other later generals. I think it appropriate to include him in this list, even though he never wore a 4th or 5th star during his illustrious lifetime.

[lomax]

I had the honor of meeting Omar Bradley before he died. Truly amazing. He was the GI's General. I drove for 3 of his granddaughters at his funeral.

[mofo]

In 1977, while in Germany as an Air Force brat at Ramstien AFB, I had no idea about the tremendous honor to hear Omar Bradley speak to christen something while he was wheelchair bound. I could not understand all the buildup until I was in the service myself and understood more of its history.

[keithdmaust]

Well-produced!!! Short and to the point, with only top need-to-know facts. Thanks!

[heartofoak]

In the armed forces of The United Kingdom the equivalent of a 'five-star rank' goes back to 1736. The three equivalent ranks in each branch are Field Marshal, Admiral of the Fleet, and Marshal of the R.A.F. These ranks are no longer granted but there are a few men still alive who hold them. The King or Queen Regnant and her Consort all hold the three ranks in a ceremonial capacity. The sovereign either King or Queen Regnant also holds the much older rank of Lord High Admiral. The late Queen who held this rank transferred it to the late Duke of Edinburgh several years ago in recognition of his distinguished naval career during and after world war 11. It was one of his ranks and positions that was read out at his funeral before the committal.

[randieandjodistrom]

An outstanding video, but allow me offer some additions. There are four other Americans that have been promoted to what is commonly referred to as "5-star rank, " but more accurately referred to as "General of the Armies" or "Fleet Admiral, " namely Fleet Admiral George Dewey who was promoted to Fleet Admiral in 1903, General of the Armies John J. Pershing who was promoted to that grade in 1919, General of the Armies George Washington posthumously promoted to that grade on the Bi-Centennial of the United States in 1976, and most recently, General of the Armies Ulysses S. Grant, posthumously promoted to that grade in 2022.

[天下事实景还原]

Raymond Spruance was also rewarded as five start admiral by Congress after he died

[unbreakable]

My father, a signalman in the Navy in WW2, was serving as a plotter in the CIC of a carrier serving as Halsey's flagship. He said he was a big butt. But he said Admiral Clark, a Cherokee Indian, was a truly nice guy.

[HamsaAhmed-hvph]

Swartzkopf, Colin Powell, and Lloyd Austin should be on this list .

[claiborneeastjr]

As you note, the rank of Five Star is only awarded during wartime. I read that Allied Field Marshals refused to consider our Four Stars their equal, so Congress created the Five Star. I don't know how accurate this is. However I think Montgomery was condescending in his attitude toward our Four Stars. Bradley was the last, and there may never be another. I've always thought Patton should have been promoted to Five Star, but we can all "guess" as to why he was not. He was a better field commander than either Eisenhower or Bradley. I've read somewhere that Washington and Pershing have been posthumously promoted to Six Star/General of the Armies - the only ones forevermore. Not sure about this. Great video.

[michaelcollum]

General Pershing was promoted to General of the Armies. Congress authorized him to design his own rank insignia. He chose to wear four stars. The Army Generals were promoted based upon date of entry onto active duty. Marshall was 1901 (VMI) and MacArthur was 1903 (USMA), General Arnold was 1907 (USMA) both General Eisenhower and Bradley were 1915 (USMA). When the Air Force was created in 1947 General of the Army Arnold was appointed General of the Air Force. The Admirals listed were promoted to Five Star rank but they were not Generals. Admirals are referred to as "Flag Officers".

[andrewpulda]

From the stories I've heard Marshall's objections were due to the rank at first consideration being called "Field Marshall" per the European tradition. This would have made him "Marshall Marshall" which would sound almost comical.

[rgjerde]

If I remember right, General John Pershing was given the equivalent rank of General of the Army during WWI and was told he could add the 5th star (or any insignia he wanted) but decided to stay with the 4 star insignia. If I'm wrong, let me know.

[truonggiangle]

The admirals and generals were promoted 5 stars in order.
This video clip doesn’t mention but very important.
George Marshal was promoted before Douglas MacArthur and Dwight Eisenhower to establish his seniority over MacArthur and Eisenhower.
The 1st is William Leahy
2 nd is George Marshall….

[mshahnazi]

Great list and I love it, however it is incomplete!
By act of the U.S. congress there are ONLY 2 generals in history of the country that had the honor to have the rank of ‘General of the Armies’ which is but not written down anywhere as a 6 star general.
These 2 distinguished generals were: General George Washington and General John ‘Black Jack’ Pershing who commanded all of the United States forces in France during World War I.
They often are forgotten when mentioning the list of the 5 star generals, maybe because they held a higher rank.

[albertoswald]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone else think that Norman Schwarzkopf should have gotten a 5th star, even as a retirement gift? Or even bring back a brevet rank where he could have worn a 5th star without actually holding the rank? I always thought Congress and the Bush Administration (older Bush!) dropped the ball on that one!

[anderson]

There are a couple of 4 stars that could have been promoted to 5, but they weren't political enough. Not saying the 5 stars were politicians, just they were a little more political than lets say Patton or Fletcher or Spruance.

[roberthudson]

It is a violation of long-standing military law for an officer to issue an order to an officer of higher rank. That is why GA Grant was offered promotion to lieutenant general when Lincoln wanted him to command the US Army. Promotion of an active-duty officer to five-star rank would disrupt the way that the USA wages war.

[edwinpayne]

Since the Shield of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff represents the Office, what better than to have the "Highest ranking" officer of US armed forces hold the higher rank of 5 star? Nore: Our country's last 5 star officer was also our first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
All other Chiefs of Staff are 4 stars,
So why not submit to the Senate a motion to re-enstate that distinction to reflect that which is so obvious?

[curtschmidt]

I think Norman H. Schwarzkopf should be promoted to 5 Star General Posthumously.