George Catlett Marshall served in the U.S. Army in France during World War I, emerging as aide-de-camp to General John Joseph Pershing. Marshall rose through the administrative ranks and served as the army's Chief of Staff during World War II, then as a U.S. ambassador to China. He returned to the U.S. to serve in President Harry Truman's cabinet, as Secretary of State and then Secretary of Defense. Beginning in 1948, General Marshall oversaw the implementation of the European Recovery Program, since called The Marshall Plan, an economic policy to help Western Europe recover from the devastation of World War II. For his efforts toward world peace, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.