General of the Armies in chief of the Army of the [United States]". but only wore the three-star insignia of an Army lieutenant general. As of 1782, when Washington was listed as a lieutenant general on the rolls of the United States Army, his rank was informally called "three-star general". The United States at this point had no four-star general rank and would not until 1866. At that time, the European rank of captain general was shortened to simply "general"; there would also be no lieutenant generals in the American army until Winfield Scott was "brevetted" to the rank of lieutenant general in 1855.
General of the Armies recognized six-star general rank in the United States military hierarchy. John Pershing's status also remained in a very gray area, in particular because of the vague statements made by Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson, and the fact that Pershing was never on active duty at the same time as a five-star General of the Army. In the early 1950s, supporters of Douglas MacArthur began to petition the United States government to authorize a "promotion" to the rank of General of the Armies. MacArthur was at this time a retired five-star general and, with the movement to promote him, it