Of all the Americans he knew, Dwight Eisenhower wrote in 1954, “George Marshall possessed more of the qualities of greatness than has any other.”

Unlike Ike, Marshall never commanded in battle. But he was a skilled administrator and strategist whose strengths as the U.S. Army’s chief of staff included an ability to identify and promote officers—including Eisenhower—with talent. Marshall went on to win a Nobel Peace Prize for his postwar work as a diplomat and secretary of state. Eisenhower, of course, ascended to the White House.

Military historian David W. Mills of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College examines their long and fruitful association.