John J. Pershing

Biography

John Joseph Pershing was born near Laclede, Missouri, on 13 September 1860. He taught school and graduated from the State Normal School at Kirksville in 1880 before entering the United States Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1886. He served with the cavalry in the West and from 1891 taught military science at the University of Nebraska, where he also earned a law degree.

During the Spanish–American War he fought at Kettle and San Juan Hills in Cuba, and he then served in the Philippines. After studying at the Army War College he was sent to Tokyo as military attaché in 1905, and in 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt promoted him directly from captain to brigadier general. From 1909 to 1913 he governed the Moro Province in the Philippines.

In 1916 he led the expedition into Mexico against Pancho Villa, and in 1917 he was chosen to command the American Expeditionary Forces in France. He insisted that American troops fight as a separate army under his command, and they took part in the Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives of 1918. His reliance on frontal assaults and his conduct on Armistice Day were later criticised.

Pershing was made General of the Armies and served as Chief of Staff of the Army from 1921 until he retired on his 64th birthday in 1924. He mentored many of the generals who led the army in the Second World War. He died on 15 July 1948 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.