23 Facts About James Harbord

Lieutenant General James Guthrie Harbord was a senior officer of the United States Army and president and chairman of the board of RCA.

James Harbord played a key role in developing the staff structure and organization used throughout the US military to this day, as well as by most NATO countries.

James Harbord was one of the most influential US Army officers of the early 20th century.

James Harbord's family moved when he was four, and Harbord was raised in Pettis County, Missouri and Lyon County, Kansas.

James Harbord graduated from Kansas State Agricultural College, later renamed Kansas State University, with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1886.

In January 1889, James Harbord enlisted in the United States Army, joining the 4th Infantry Regiment as a private.

James Harbord served in the enlisted ranks at Fort Spokane, Washington and Fort Sherman, Idaho until July 31,1891, and advanced to corporal, sergeant, and regimental quartermaster sergeant.

James Harbord received a Master of Science degree from Kansas State Agricultural College in 1895.

James Harbord then served as Assistant Chief of the Philippine Constabulary from 1903 to 1909 and again from 1910 through 1913.

James Harbord was selected by Pershing, now a major general appointed to command the American Expeditionary Forces, to be his chief of staff.

James Harbord thought the idea would not go over well with the American public, and it risked preventing an American army from ever being formed.

When he was told that he must have misunderstood his conversation with James Harbord, it looked like a conspiracy was in the works by the American generals.

The first to go was James Harbord, who was sent forward to the trenches to command troops in battle.

Pershing's trust in James Harbord went so far that Jim Lacey wrote in his Pershing biography "if a problem were outside James Harbord's ability to solve, it was not solvable by mortal man".

General James Harbord commanded the Marine Brigade of the 2d Division, Belleau Wood, and later ably commanded the 2d Division during the attack on Soissons, France, on 18 July 1918.

James Harbord was awarded numerous foreign decorations, which included: Legion of Honor ; Croix de Guerre with two palms ; Order of the Crown ; Order of St Michael and St George ; Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus ; Order of Prince Danilo I ; Order of Polonia Restituta ; and La Medalla de Solidaridad.

James Harbord's report stated that "the temptation to reprisals for past wrongs" would make it extremely difficult to maintain peace in the region.

James Harbord was sent to investigate the feasibility of the Balfour Declaration, which supported the creation of a Jewish state in the former Ottoman Empire's Palestine.

James Harbord's stay was short-lived, as it had been back then, as in 1921, when Pershing succeeded General Peyton C March as Chief of Staff of the United States Army, he requested Harbord to join him in Washington, DC to serve as his Assistant Chief of Staff.

In 1922, James Harbord retired from the Army to become President of the Radio Corporation of America.

In 1928, James Harbord took a leave of absence to campaign for Herbert Hoover for president.

James Harbord officially retired as RCA president in 1930 and was succeeded by David Sarnoff.

In 1932, James Harbord was a candidate for vice president at the Republican National Convention.