bigpigeon.us webpage WWII US > WWII Commanders, © 2023 by Robert A. Christiansen, links checked by RAC 15 Aug 2022, updated by RAC 10 Jan 2023.
This Big Pigeon webpage summarizes the high level of the United States Chain of Command during World War II.
This Big Pigeon webpage summarizes the high level of the United States Chain of Command during World War II.
The Commander in Chief of the US Armed Forces during World War II was President Franklin Roosevelt, succeeded by Vice President Harry Truman upon Roosevelt's sudden death on 12 April 1945.
In WWII, civilian oversight and management of the US military was through the War Department and the Navy Department, separate cabinet agencies. (In 1947 these two departments were merged into the new Department of Defense and the Army Air Forces became an entity independent of the Army.)
The War Department was responsible for the United States Army, which in WWII consisted of three components, with a combined peak strength around 11.2 million:
The Navy Department was responsible for the following:
The US merchant marine was not part of the military, and was overseen by the War Shipping Administration during most of WWII.
The Joints Chiefs of Staff
In 1942, a four-person ad-hoc organization called the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) assumed responsibility for high-level military planning, including coordination with the analogous group in the government of our closest ally, Great Britain.
In WWII, civilian oversight and management of the US military was through the War Department and the Navy Department, separate cabinet agencies. (In 1947 these two departments were merged into the new Department of Defense and the Army Air Forces became an entity independent of the Army.)
The War Department was responsible for the United States Army, which in WWII consisted of three components, with a combined peak strength around 11.2 million:
- Army Ground Forces.
- Army Air Forces, peak strength 2.4 million.
- Army Service Forces.
The Navy Department was responsible for the following:
- United States Navy, peak strength 4.2 million.
- United States Marine Corps, peak strength 660,000.
- United States Coast Guard (temporarily transferred from the Treasury Department during WW II).
The US merchant marine was not part of the military, and was overseen by the War Shipping Administration during most of WWII.
The Joints Chiefs of Staff
In 1942, a four-person ad-hoc organization called the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) assumed responsibility for high-level military planning, including coordination with the analogous group in the government of our closest ally, Great Britain.
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The Joint Chiefs of Staff consisted of:
Although Admiral Leahy was the official conduit between the Joint Chiefs and President Roosevelt, Roosevelt often consulted with General Marshall. |
The Joint Chiefs at Lunch - Clockwise from bottom left Admiral Leahy, General Arnold, Admiral King, General Marshall
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The Theaters of War
The seven major areas of WWII combat, known as theaters, areas, or fronts, are listed below.
War with Japan:
War with Germany
Three of these theaters were commanded by well-known American military figures:
The seven major areas of WWII combat, known as theaters, areas, or fronts, are listed below.
- Within the War with Japan and the War with Germany, I have ordered the theaters by the total number of deaths, Allied and Axis, civilian and military.
- Within each theater, I have ordered the major Allied combatants.
- The British Empire included Great Britain, the British colonies, and the British dominions.
War with Japan:
- China-Burma-India Theater (Republic of China, British Empire, United States)
- SouthWest Pacific Area (United States, Australia)
- Pacific Theater (United States)
War with Germany
- Eastern Front (Soviet Union) (the US provided equipment and supplies through the Lend-Lease program.)
- European Theater of Operations, the ETO, sometimes called the Western Front (United States, Great Britain)
- Mediterranean Theater of Operations, the MTO (United States, Great Britain)
- North Atlantic Theater (Great Britain, United States)
Three of these theaters were commanded by well-known American military figures:
General Douglas MacArthur, based successively in Australia, New Guinea, and the Philippines, commanded the Southwest Pacific Theater from 1942 to 1945.
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Admiral Chester Nimitz, based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, commanded the Pacific Theater from 1942 to 1945.
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General Dwight Eisenhower, based successively in London, England, and Versailles and Reims, France, commanded the European Theater from 1943 to 1945.
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Sources for the WWII US > WWII Commanders webpage:
- The 1944 Election page header photo - c/o worthpoint.com.
- The Joint Chiefs at Lunch photo, https://media.defense.gov/2019/Jul/22/2002160240/-1/-1/0/430101-D-D0400-000.JPG, c/o the National Archives.
- The General Douglas MacArthur photo, https://www.biography.com/political-figure/douglas-macarthur.
- The Admiral Chester Nimitz photo, https://www.biography.com/political-figure/chester-w-nimitz.
- The General Dwight Eisenhower photo, https://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=30.
- biography.com - a service of A&E Television Networks.
- ww2db.com - founded and managed by C. Peter Chen of Lava Development, LLC.