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To Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.

December 22, 1941 [Washington, D.C.]

Dear Roosevelt:

I have just this moment read your letter and appreciate the thanks you give me. As a matter of fact, I proposed your promotion on the recommendation of your commanders, particularly General McNair. Frankly, I have been absolutely cold-blooded in this business, but when your name was brought up in high commendation for the leadership you displayed, it was a great pleasure to me to confirm my opinion of the old days in France.

Mrs. Marshall told me of a telephone conversation she had with you today. I am very sorry that we cannot come around for dinner with Mrs. Longworth tonight, but my time is completely occupied this evening.¹

Faithfully yours,

Document Copy Text Source: George C. Marshall Papers, Pentagon Office Collection, Selected Materials, George C. Marshall Research Library, Lexington, Virginia.

Document Format: Typed letter.

1. A member of the Officers’ Reserve Corps, Roosevelt returned to active duty in April 1941 as the colonel commanding the Twenty-sixth Infantry Regiment of the First Division. His nomination for promotion had been submitted by the president to the Senate for approval on December 15. Roosevelt had written: “I want you to know how greatly I appreciate the confidence you have shown in me in nominating me for Brigadier General. I think you know, without me telling you, that I will use every effort to justify your confidence.” (Roosevelt to Marshall, n.d., GCMRL/G. C. Marshall Papers [Pentagon Office, Selected].) Roosevelt was in Washington visiting his half-sister Alice Roosevelt Longworth.

Recommended Citation: ThePapers of George Catlett Marshall, ed.Larry I. Bland and Sharon Ritenour Stevens(Lexington, Va.: The George C. Marshall Foundation, 1981- ). Electronic version based on The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, vol. 3, “The Right Man for the Job,” December 7, 1941-May 31, 1943 (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991), pp. 28-29.