This country is at war with Germany. We shall go on to the end. I remember the

sheets of plane that came up and almost blinded us for my guns.

Hello, welcome to another episode of the World War II podcast. I'm Angus Wallace.

On September 1, 1939, the day at World War II broke out in Europe,

General George Marshall was sworn in as Chief of Staff of the US Army.

Ten months later, Roosevelt appointed Henry Stimson, Secretary of War. For the next

five years, from adjoining offices in the Pentagon, Marshall and Stimson headed the Army

machine that ground down the axis. In this episode, we're going to be discussing the

relationship between the two men as they negotiated the war. Joining me is Edward Farley Oldrich.

Edward is the author of the partnership, George Marshall, Henry Stimson and the extraordinary

collaboration at World War II. Ted, thanks for joining me. We should probably start by

fleshing out who these two men were. Where did they come from? Should we start with Stimson?

What was his background? Yes, so he was, by the way, 13 years older than Marshall.

Came from a wealthy New York family. He went to what's considered the Eaton of America,

which is Phillips-Avandover in Massachusetts. Then he went to Yale, or he's a member of the

highest social club there, and then Harvard Law School, whereas number two in his class.

And then he became a Wall Street lawyer, working for a guy who was later Secretary of

War and Secretary of State himself under Teddy Roosevelt, a guy named Ella, who root another

unknown American who's considered one of the greatest administrators in US history.

And then Stimson became a top lawyer in the country. In 1906, his friend, Teddy Roosevelt,

our 26th president, asked him to be US Attorney to the Southern District of New York.

And that's basically the top enforcer of laws in the country, practically, because most of the

...