General of the Armies

General of the Armies of the United States
Flag of General of the Armies, presented to Pershing in 1922
General of the Armies John J. Pershing, the only person to hold the rank during his own lifetime
Country	United States
Service branch	United States Army
Formation	September 3, 1919 (1919-09-03)
Next higher rank	None
Next lower rank	General of the Army
Equivalent ranks	None

General of the Armies of the United States, more commonly referred to as General of the Armies, is the highest military rank in the United States. The rank has been conferred three times: to John J. Pershing in 1919, as a personal accolade for his command of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I; to George Washington in 1976, as a posthumous honor during the United States Bicentennial celebrations; and to Ulysses S. Grant in December 2022, when Congress authorized the president to posthumously appoint him to the rank.^[1][2][3]

The grade is sometimes described as a six-star general, as being senior to the five-star grade of General of the Army, but no six-star insignia was ever officially created and Pershing, the only person to be General of the Armies during his own lifetime, never wore more than four stars.^[4] Whether Pershing's grade should rank as four, five, or six stars has been a subject of debate ever since the five-star grades were created in 1944.^[5] To make Washington unambiguously the highest ranking Army officer in 1976, Congress specified that his new grade of General of the Armies ranked above all other grades of the Army, past or present.^[6]

The General of the Armies enjoyed several privileges not afforded to other generals, including a much higher salary and the right to retire at full pay and allowances. Even in retirement, Pershing—the only-ever living person with the rank—was the second-highest-paid official in the federal government, after only the president of the United States.^[7]