George Marshall and the Red Cross with Tom Bowers

 Tom Bowers joins us to discuss his new publication A Tonic to My Spirit: George Catlett Marshall and the American Red Cross. In 1949, shortly after concluding his term as Secretary of State, President Truman appointed five-star General George C. Marshall to be the president of the American Red Cross. The following year found Marshall striving to rehabilitate the image of the Red Cross in the eyes of the enlisted. In spite of his hectic schedule, Tom Bowers argues that this period of Marshall's life of service was perhaps the most personally fulfilling of his career.

Transcript

spk_1:   0:00
Hello, everyone. I'm Paul, 11 good president of the George C. Marshall Foundation. And I'm here for another marshal moment today with our speaker this evening. Tom Bowers. Tom, thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you, Paul. I'm honored to be here because you made the drive down a little bit of snow. Which way did your hardy soul and I appreciate that. Tell us a little bit about yourself as we get started and your background, and then we'll talk a little about how you came to your topic.

spk_0:   0:23
Okay. Uh, I spent 35 years on the faculty of the School of Journalism and mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. And I've always had an interest in history. My wife and I moved to the Leesburg area. Actually, Ashburn is where we live 10 years ago, and Charlie after we moved, we took a tour of George Marshall's home to Dona Manner in Leesburg, and I became interested in being a dose int, and I started as a dose, and I'm still a dosage. But I've become much more involved in doing a lot of research which has always been sort of a second patient of mine, his research. So that's how I ended up in Leesburg at the Marshall.

spk_1:   1:09
Okay. And, um, what attracted you about this particular facet of Marshall's life and career, his his time as president of the American Red Cross?

spk_0:   1:21
Well, I've read many of the biographer biographies of Marshall, including the four volumes of Pogue on many others and the American Red Cross. Part of Marshall's life doesn't get much attention in any of those biographies now. There's probably a good reason for it, and I'm not arguing that it should have gotten more attention, but it just didn't. So I was kind of curious what really happened here when Marshall was president of the Red Cross and it gave me a chance. This is a selfish reason to do historical research, to find original documents and do the research, which I really enjoy doing. So that's how it I started By looking at Volume seven of Marshall's published papers, which covers the period of the Red Cross and found some things in there, I went beyond that and went to the Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D. C. Got some materials, National archives in College Park, Maryland, for the Red Cross archives. And I looked at contemporary newspaper accounts from the period, and I spent two days right here in your magnificent library, doing research with your archives about Marshall's time with the Red Cross and, at the time, my only goal. Waas, toe learn Maur possibly share that knowledge with my fellow dose. It's and I certainly never anticipated this event tonight, and I didn't anticipate that booklet that was published with the help of the Red Cross.

spk_1:   2:57
The booklet is called a Tonic for My Soul Tonic. To my spirit, my spirit. I'm sorry I don't have it in front of me. That that's a

spk_0:   3:03
statement that George Marshall made as he was finishing his time at the American Red Cross. He was talking to some of the board, the Red Cross board, and that's what he said, and one of the things that I learned and concluded through all this research of the year or the 13 months he spent as president of the American Red Cross. Waas. I think George Marshall got Maur pleasure and personal satisfaction out of that job with the Red Cross than anything else he did interested. You can see it in the comments he made it. He made while he was doing it. The photographs you see of him while he's being Red Cross president and interacting with the public. He's got a smile on his face that you don't see in a lot of other pictures. I really think it waas a tonic to George Marshall spirit.

spk_1:   3:56
Well, certainly was, Ah, a change of pace in some ways for him from, you know, Army chief of staff and kind of guiding this global war and secretary of state trying very weighty issues, trying to rebuild war torn Europe. It must have been perhaps a bit of a ah, nice. Well, as

spk_0:   4:17
he said on more than one occasion, one of the attractions of that job, Waas he was dealing with helping people. Hey, was not dealing with war. Hey, wasn't deal even when he was secretary of State and dealing with all the empty you know, the impact, the conditions that led to the Marshall Plan. Those were all he was dealing with tough issues on destruction and despair among people. The Red Cross was was a totally different thing for him it was they were. He was helping people.

spk_1:   4:48
So let's set a little context. You know, I think most of us think of the Red Cross today. And we think of, you know, Hurricane hits The Red Cross is there to provide shelter and food and those sorts of things or blood drives. And that's really what we know. The Red Cross Tell me a little bit about the Red Cross of the 19 forties and fifties.

spk_0:   5:08
While I was there, the Red Cross was very much involved in World War Two on there were Red Cross. There were Red Cross employees they had paid employees, and I think there were also probably Red Cross volunteers, but especially overseas, where American soldiers were, there was likely to be a Red Cross facility, providing in some cases it was like a canteen where they could go in and get maybe cigarettes and Cokes and so forth. And so it was very important to them in that respect. Now, another thing that they did that the Red Cross did Waas. If if a sold someone in a soldier family died, let's say in the United States the family would go to the Red Cross and and say, Please contact so and so and tell him that his father died and the Red Cross would not go to that individual. It would. The word would filter down to that soldiers commanding officer, and in some cases, that soldier would be allowed. If circumstances permitted, that soldier would be permitted to come home for the funeral. And so far, because of the death in the family now, it didn't always happen. And in fact, that's one of the things. One of the things that Marshall had to deal with when he was president was there were some hold over negative attitudes toward the Red Cross. I mean, it's hard for us to believe. I think that people were critical of the Red Cross, but

spk_1:   6:41
for playing that for playing that role

spk_0:   6:43
for it for that soldier said, Look, the Red Cross wouldn't give me a leave when my father Okay, Okay. When? In fact, the Red Cross didn't have that power. Uh, the Red Cross also provided emergency loans for soldiers. Somebody needed a few $100. The Red Cross would provide an interest free loan. Now, some soldiers complained I tried to get alone and they wouldn't give it to me. And Marshall had to point out, you know, we gave, I think, $47 million in loans. We didn't have enough to go around, and in some cases somebody didn't get money. So there were those. That's what the Red Cross did. And in some cases, as I've just explained, it kind of got the Red Cross in trouble because it couldn't do everything that the soldiers wanted it to. Dio

spk_1:   7:37
sure was. Was that part of the attraction for the Red Cross of Marshall as a leader, as a maybe a helping build some of those bridges back to? Oh

spk_0:   7:47
yes, he recognized the value of the Red Cross through the morale of the soldiers. And he also the Red Cross had a lot to do with veterans after the war provided a lot of service is to veterans, and Marshall saw that thought that was really important, not only what they did in the war for morale, but they also helped the morale dealing with veterans after the war, and he saw the value in that So

spk_1:   8:14
the Red Cross was a different organization than it is today

spk_0:   8:17
was in more time. It was in more time, right? It still was doing that. The disaster relief kinds of things. And it did. A lot of medical service is in communities and in some towns of small towns, a Red Cross chapter might be the only place to get any kind of medical assistance. So

spk_1:   8:37
it was a bit of a surprise to me. Toe toe. Learn that it came to Harry Truman to select Marshall as the Red Cross president. Is that still, the case is the SUVs, the American president? United States still has that the

spk_0:   8:49
Red Cross Charter, which I think was created by Congress. Congress provides some monetary support, but the Red Cross charter says that the president of the Red Cross is appointed by the president, United States. And that's another one of the things that I learned in doing this, that I had not realized before. And that is before Marshall retired from the Army in November of 1945 Truman had talked to him about the Red Cross presidency and basically said, I want you to be president. American Red Cross and Marshall's Response. Waas. There were two parcels. Response one. I can't do this until I talk it over with my wife. And the second part of the response, Waas. I want a break. I can't do it right away. So Marshall had his retirement ceremony on November 26 1945 at the Pentagon. Now, technically, it wasn't a retirement because he was a five star officer and he never really retired. But they had a ceremony for him on November 26. The next day is when Truman called him. Marshall had gone to Leesburg. Truman called him the next day and said, I want you to go to China. Marshall, despite what he said about, I've got to talk it over with my wife and I want a break. He said, Yes, I'll go right away. And he did. He went to China for a year. Secretary of State for two years, came back and in Truman got back to him and said, What about the Red Cross? So that started in 1949.

spk_1:   10:28
It seemed like he couldn't say no to President Truman, Truman said, asking

spk_0:   10:31
four times. He finally said no in 1951 after he has served his year Secretary of defense which is what he said he would do. One year, one year, Truman said, Will you go back to the Red Cross? And Marshall said, No, he finally I guess he allowed Katherine to have a voice, and she apparently said, No, you can't do it, you've done it, You've done enough So four times, Truman asked Marshall. So

spk_1:   10:58
you've already spoken a little bit, too. Maybe the mending a bit of the reputation of the Red Cross. But what were the main issues Marshall confronted when he took the president? And we should situate this, I guess, the dates of his time at the Red Cross. We

spk_0:   11:11
became president on October 1st, 1949 and in September of 19 fifties, when he became secretary of defense. So for about two months he was serving in both, although his focus was really on secretary of different the Korean War. So it was from the Red Cross was September 1949 through the end of October 1950 Um, and well, one of the other problems he had was morale among the Red Cross workers. Because of the structure, the Red Cross is kind of a two layered organization There's a national headquarters in Washington which really directs everything. But then, in towns all over the country, you know, there are thousands of Red Cross chapters and thousands of Red Cross volunteers and the volunteers in those towns began to think thought that the national headquarters in Washington wasn't really paying much attention. Toe it was a structural thing with the Red Cross. The Red Cross had what was called the board of incorporate Er's. There were 65 individuals. I think they were mostly man wealthy supporters of the Red Cross from the East Coast. And there was the Central Committee that really the day to day sort of operations. 18 people, six were appointed by the president of the United States. They considered it to be kind of an honorary appointment, so they didn't really participate. There were six members from local chapters around the country. They couldn't always come to Washington, so the six incorporate Er's who were on the central committee pretty much dominated everything and the feeling out in the field. Waas thes people aren't listening to us. So he had that morale problem and one of the things he got this it's interesting because when Truman asked Marshall to take the job, he said, This is gonna be easy. You're not gonna have to work very hard. And within three weeks after Marshall took office, he took off on a six day trip. Visit 15 cities, and I can't even remember the names like was He started on in Washington but all the way to San Francisco and came back. Hey was in an airplane. It was a Pan am. It converted a B 20 something, a Martin airplane. And so Marshall took that long trip, and the reason he did that. Waas he knew from his war experiences that if you've got a morale problem, the best thing to do is to show those people in the field that you care for them and you go and you talk to them and you listen to him. And that's one of the things he emphasized. Waas, he said, I'm here to listen, so I'm not going to talk war. I've been talking war for 10 years. I'm tired of war. I want to talk Red Cross. So he listened what people had to say, and later on he took two other trips that were comparable to that. So he really despite what Truman had promised him, he really had an exhaustive schedule because George Marshall couldn't do anything half

spk_1:   14:34
right. So now and these trips, you know, in the booklet, you Is it a point to it? I mean, these He didn't just meet with local volunteers and leaders. I mean, he was addressing the public. He was, you know, and we don't always think of Marshall in that way. You know, he's the man kind of behind the scenes, and here he was playing very public,

spk_0:   14:56
and we don't think of him as enjoying that kind of activity. But it looks to me like what I read in the pictures. I said in the pictures I saw, I think he was really enjoying it. And I think he another reason probably forward the trip. Waas. He knew it would generate publicity because he did. Everywhere he went, the newspapers covered it. Sometimes there were parades and pictures. S o the Red Cross got a lot of publicity out of his presidency.

spk_1:   15:25
So would you say his presidency was successful for the Red Cross? It sounds like it was successful for him in that he enjoyed it and got something out of it. What about think

spk_0:   15:35
it wa ce Uh And, uh, there's a bust of Marshall at the Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D. C. Uh, the only other Red Cross leader who is honored with a bust, his Clara Barton founder.

spk_1:   15:51
So that shows you the Red Cross. Clearly,

spk_0:   15:53
they clearly did. Well, he I think he did enjoy it when he finished, Heat said, There's still some things I wasn't able to accomplish. You know, we said, we still have monetary problems. We still have money to raise. There are still these negative attitudes, but I still I think he's still enjoyed it very much.

spk_1:   16:12
How was he as a fundraiser? Did they raise much money in his, uh,

spk_0:   16:16
they raised about 67 close to $70 million in 1949 which is roughly $700 million. You know today's dollars, he went on national radio programs. He appeared on Arthur Godfrey's program. He was on one radio program with President Truman, so he did what everything he thought that would raise money and would raise the profile of the American Red Cross.

spk_1:   16:44
And do you think was there a lasting impression from that year on the at the Red Cross? Anything that you think, um, kind of lingers to this day from Marshall's.

spk_0:   16:54
I think the fact that they have honored him with a bust. And, you know, when I was there, they made people, made a point of showing me the conference room where George Marshall said, while he was sharing meetings and so forth. So he is very much respected and honored at the American Red Cross.

spk_1:   17:12
Well, I think it's wonderful that you've brought this in some ways hidden moment in Marshall's life, toe light. And I really appreciate you sharing it with us here at the Marshall Foundation. And I think I think we all learned something to thank you. I know I did. Thank you. Thanks, Tom. You're welcome.