Biography

• Born on 31st December 1880 in Uniontown (Pennsylvania, USA).
• Graduate of military institute followed by a military career. During World War II he was Chief of Staff from 1939 to 1945 and thus Head of organisation and modernization of the American Army as well as the strategic planning of the operations of the Allied Forces.
• He was American Secretary of State from 1947 to 1949; as part of the policy to contain Soviet striving for world power he proposed a European recovery plan which became known as the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan played a decisive role in the economic and political reconstruction of post-war Europe. He was involved in the creation of the North Atlantic Pact (1949). In 1950 he was appointed Secretary of Defence (Korean War); In 1951 he withdrew to private life.
• He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.
• Died on 16th October 1959.