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 still did not declare that General of the Armies was a six-star rank, and Congress did not actually pass, or even vote on, the proposed legislation. Because of the various complications, MacArthur advised Dwight Eisenhower that he wished to decline promotion and the bill to promote MacArthur was dropped. Supporters of MacArthur continued with further petitions, however, and the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, Virginia possesses numerous letters from 1962 through 1964 attempting to obtain MacArthur a "six-star promotion". In the letters, as well as a congressional record appendix from February 1962 (pages A864-A865), this promotion was referred to as both