Roosevelt and Marshall: Partners in Politics and War

In 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt picked Brigadier General George C. Marshall as army chief of staff over some 30 other competitors. During their six-year partnership, they set a high standard of civilian-military cooperation. Parrish ( The Ultra Americans ) describes the evolution of Roosevelt and Marshall's relationship with new insight into FDR's dominance of wartime strategy and Marshall's skill in working with Congress. The chief of staff yearned to lead the Allied Forces in Europe, but Roosevelt claimed Marshall was indispensable to him at home, and appointed Dwight Eisenhower to the European theater. Marshall swallowed his disappointment and continued to serve the president; When FDR died shortly before the German surrender, he took charge of arrangements for the president's journey to Hyde Park for burial. In his excellent ``tandem'' biography, Parrish conveys the enormous accomplishments of two very different men and their invaluable service as a team throughout most of WW II. Photos. (Oct.)