General of the Armies Congress authorized the appointment of three-star lieutenant generals and four-star generals to be granted temporarily for service in the National Army. Tasker H. Bliss and John J. Pershing were promoted to general in October 1917, and Peyton C. March was promoted to that rank in May 1918. Hunter Liggett and Robert Lee Bullard were both promoted to lieutenant general on October 16, 1918. In 1919, by Congressional directive, the rank of General of the Armies was formally established and John J. Pershing became the first person to hold the rank. After the close of the First World War, the highest
General of the Armies Washington was posthumously promoted to the full grade of "General of the Armies of the United States", with effective date from July 4, 1976. The promotion was authorized by a congressional joint resolution on January 19, 1976 which recommended Washington's promotion and further declared that no officer of the United States armed forces should ever outrank George Washington. The signed by Secretary of the Army Clifford Alexander, Jr., simply formalised the promotion. It did not mention six-star status, nor did it include, as the legislation did, the phrasing "such grade to have rank and precedence over all other grades of