Six-star rank
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A six-star rank was a proposed special grade immediately superior to a five-star rank.
On 21 January, 1955, the US Senate considered a joint resolution "To authorize the appointment of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur as "General of the Armies of the United States". The resolution stated that this was "in recognition of the great services to his country" he had rendered, and that "the President is hereby authorized to appoint General of the Army Douglas MacArthur to the office of General of the Armies of the United States (which office is hereby revived for this purpose), such appointment to take effect as of the seventy-fifth anniversary of his birth, January 26, 1955."[2] The proposal was shelved and never took effect. Recently, a few authors have described this proposed rank as a six star rank.[3][4][5]
George Washington was posthumously promoted to the rank of "General of the Armies of the United States" in 1976.[6] Although the law did not actually specify the number of stars,[7] some U.S. newspapers[8][9][10] and Congressional politicians[11] describe this as a six-star rank. His appointment had been to serve as "General and Commander in chief of the Army of the united Colonies".[12][13]
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General Douglas MacArthur showing five-star rank insignia. A proposal in Congress (1955) that MacArthur be promoted to General of the Armies lapsed
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Congressional resolution authorising promotion of Douglas MacArthur to General of the Armies. Copy taken from his service record on file at the National Personnel Records Center
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Painting of George Washington showing three star insignia. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of General of the Armies of the United States in 1976
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s:Order 31-3 for promoting George Washington to the rank of General of the Armies of the United States effective 4 July 1976
References
- ↑ Private correspondence from United States Army Institute of Heraldry, see Wikipedia talk page discussion
- ↑ US Senate Joint Resolution 26, 21 January 1955.
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- ↑ Department of the Army Order 31-3, (13 March 1978). Department of the Army order to enact Public Law 94-479.
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- ↑ Cont'l Cong., Commission for General Washington, in 2 Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789 96-7 (Library of Cong. eds., 1905).
- ↑ Cont'l Cong., Instructions for General Washington, in 2 Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789 100-1 (Library of Cong. eds., 1905).
