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Post-1945 American generals

59 articles

Alexander Haig

Alexander Meigs Haig Jr. (1924–2010), American Army general and statesman; Nixon and Ford White House chief of staff, NATO's SACEUR 1974–79, and Reagan's 59th secretary of state 1981–82, known for the 'I'm in control' remark.

Alexander Vindman

Alexander Vindman (born 1975), retired US Army lieutenant colonel and NSC director for Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Russia; key 2019 impeachment witness, Purple Heart recipient, author of Here, Right Matters and The Folly of Realism.

Anthony Aguilar

Anthony Aguilar, a retired US Army Special Forces officer, alleged witnessing war crimes at Gaza aid sites in 2025. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation rejected his account.

Austin S. Miller

Austin S. "Scott" Miller (born 1961) is a retired U.S. Army four-star general, Delta Force commander, Joint Special Operations Command leader, and final commander of NATO Resolute Support and U.S. Forces–Afghanistan (2018–2021), who relinquished command in Kabul on July 12, 2021.

Barry McCaffrey

Barry Richard McCaffrey, retired four-star U.S. Army general, commanded the 24th Infantry Division's left hook in Desert Storm, led U.S. Southern Command, and was Bill Clinton's drug czar (ONDCP director, 1996-2001), later an NBC News military analyst and consultant.

Bo Gritz

Bo Gritz (James Gordon Gritz, 1939-2026), decorated US Army Special Forces lieutenant colonel of the Vietnam War, led private 1980s POW rescue missions into Laos, ran for president in 1992, and negotiated at Ruby Ridge.

Charles Alvin Beckwith

Charles Alvin "Chargin' Charlie" Beckwith (1929-1994), US Army Special Forces colonel, University of Georgia football player who turned down the Green Bay Packers, founded Delta Force on 19 November 1977 with Col. Thomas Henry and led Operation Eagle Claw.

Christopher C. Miller

Christopher C. Miller is a retired Army Special Forces colonel and former NCTC director who served as Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense from November 9, 2020 to January 20, 2021, overseeing the Afghanistan drawdown, the Pentagon transition halt, and the January 6 National Guard response.

Christopher G. Cavoli

Christopher G. Cavoli, also known as Chris Cavoli, is a retired US Army four-star general who served as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe from 2022 to 2025.

Christopher LaNeve

General Christopher C. LaNeve, 40th Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army (since February 2026) and acting Chief of Staff (since April 2026), University of Arizona ROTC 1990, former commander of Eighth Army and the 82nd Airborne Division.

Clint Lorance

Clint Allen Lorance, former U.S. Army first lieutenant, 82nd Airborne, convicted at a 2013 court-martial of murder for a July 2012 Afghanistan motorcycle shooting, pardoned by Trump November 15, 2019; Tenth Circuit ruled pardon acceptance is not a guilt confession.

Creighton Abrams

Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. (1914–1974), U.S. Army general; World War II 37th Tank Battalion commander who relieved Bastogne, MACV commander in Vietnam 1968–1972, 27th Army chief of staff 1972–1974, namesake of the M1 Abrams tank.

Curtis Scaparrotti

Curtis M. Scaparrotti (born 1956), retired U.S. Army four-star general; NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe and EUCOM commander 2016–2019; previously led U.S. Forces Korea 2013–2016; West Point 1978.

Daniel P. Driscoll

Daniel P. Driscoll, American former Army officer and venture capitalist from Boone, North Carolina; 26th Secretary of the Army (confirmed February 25, 2025), Yale Law graduate, Iraq War armor officer, launched the Army Transformation Initiative, resigned August 31, 2026.

David Hackworth

David Haskell Hackworth (1930-2005), U.S. Army colonel and one of America's most decorated soldiers of Korea and Vietnam, who denounced the war on TV in 1971, wrote About Face, and became a military journalist.

David Petraeus

David Petraeus, full name David Howell Petraeus, is a retired United States Army general who commanded the 2007 Iraq surge and led the CIA from 2011 to 2012.

Douglas Macgregor

Douglas Macgregor, retired U.S. Army colonel, led 2nd ACR's Cougar Squadron at the 1991 Battle of 73 Easting and wrote the Army reform book Breaking the Phalanx (1997); later a Pentagon adviser under Trump and Ukraine war commentator.

Eric Shinseki

Eric K. Shinseki (born 1942, Kauai, Hawaii): retired four-star general, 34th U.S. Army Chief of Staff (1999-2003) and Army Transformation leader, later 7th Secretary of Veterans Affairs (2009-2014), famous for his 2003 Iraq troop estimate and 2014 VA resignation.

Ernest Medina

Ernest Medina, US Army captain, commanded Charlie Company, 1/20th Infantry, at the 1968 My Lai massacre, Son My village, Quang Ngai. Charged with murder March 1970; acquitted of all charges, including command responsibility, at Fort McPherson on 22 September 1971.

George Patton IV

George Smith Patton IV (1923-2004), also George S. Patton IV, U.S. Army major general, son of WWII general George S. Patton Jr.; West Point 1946, Korea and Vietnam veteran, two Distinguished Service Crosses, commanded the 11th Armored Cavalry and 2nd Armored Division.

Gregory D. Gadson

Gregory D. Gadson, born 1966, retired U.S. Army colonel and West Point football player who lost both legs to a 2007 Iraq IED, stayed on duty, commanded Fort Belvoir, inspired the 2007 Giants' Super Bowl win, and starred in Battleship.

H. R. McMaster

H.R. McMaster (Herbert Raymond McMaster), retired US Army lieutenant general and military historian; Gulf War Battle of 73 Easting Silver Star recipient, Tal Afar counterinsurgency commander, author of Dereliction of Duty, and Trump's national security adviser 2017–2018.

Hal Moore

Hal Moore (1922–2017), U.S. Army lieutenant general, commanded the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry at the Battle of Ia Drang (1965), earned the Distinguished Service Cross, and co-authored We Were Soldiers Once...and Young.

Jack Keane

Jack Keane (John F. Keane) is a retired U.S. Army four-star general and former vice chief of staff who, with Frederick Kagan, devised and promoted the 2007 Iraq troop surge of 30,000 troops, later chairing the Institute for the Study of War and serving as a Fox News analyst.

James C. McConville

James C. McConville (born 1959), retired U.S. Army general, 40th Chief of Staff of the Army 2019-2023, former 101st Airborne commander and first aviator chief, known for the BCAP command assessment programs.

James P. Isenhower III

James P. Isenhower III, U.S. Army lieutenant general, Combined Arms Command and Fort Leavenworth commanding general since 2025; former 1st Armored Division commander and 1st Multi-Domain Task Force leader; West Point 1992, Duke history PhD.

Jasper Jeffers

Jasper Jeffers III (born 1970) is a US Army major general, Virginia Tech-commissioned infantry and Ranger officer, former SOCCENT commander, Lebanon ceasefire overseer, and since January 2026 commander of the International Stabilization Force in Gaza.

John C. Raaen Jr.

John C. Raaen Jr., born John Carpenter Raaen Jr., is a retired Army major general who landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day and commanded US Army Armament Command.

John Eisenhower

John S. D. Eisenhower (1922-2013), son of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, was a U.S. Army officer, Ambassador to Belgium 1969-1971, and military historian, author of The Bitter Woods and ten books.

John F. Campbell (general)

John F. Campbell, also known as John Francis Campbell, is a retired United States Army four-star general who commanded U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan from 2014 to 2016.