By the Act of 21 March 1945, Congress permitted the President to appoint the Commandant of the Marine Corps to the grade of General. Alexander A. Vandegrift, then Commandant, was promoted from lieutenant general to general on 4 April 1945, to rank from
21 March of that year. He thus became the first Marine to serve in the grade of general.

The Office of the Commandant was permanently fixed at the grade of four-star general under authority of the Act of 7 August 1947.

All Commandants since that date have been entitled by law to serve in the grade of general and, in accordance with the provisions of 10 USC 5201, to retire in that grade.

The names and dates in office of the 18th through 32nd Commandants follows:

18th General Alexander A.Vandegrift (1 Jan 1944 - 31 Dec 1947)
19th General Clifton B. Cates (1 Jan 1948 - 31 Dec 1951)
20th General Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr. (1 Jan 1952 - 31 Dec 1955)
21st General Randolph McC. Pate (1 Jan 1956 - 31 Dec 1959)
22nd General David M. Shoup (1 Jan 1960 - 31 Dec 1963)
23rd General Wallace M. Greene, Jr. (1 Jan 1964 - 31 Dec 1967)
24th General Leonard F. Chapman, Jr. (1 Jan 1968 - 31 Dec 1971)
25th General Robert E. Cushman, Jr. (1 Jan 1972 - 30 Jun 1975)
26th General Louis H. Wilson (1 Jul 1975 - 30 Jun 1979)
27th General Robert H. Barrow (1 Jul 1979 - 30 Jun 1983)
28th General Paul X. Kelley (1 Jul 1983 - 30 Jun 1987)
29th General Alfred M. Gray, Jr. (1 Jul 1987 - 30 Jun 1991)
30th General Carl E. Mundy, Jr. (1 Jul 1991 - 30 Jun 1995)
31st General Charles C. Krulak (1 Jul 1995 - 30 Jun 1999)
32nd General James L. Jones (1 Jul 1999 -

The first Marine to hold the grade of four-star general was Thomas Holcomb, the 17th Commandant. General Holcomb was promoted from lieutenant general to general upon retirement, 1 January 1944, by reason of combat citation, as provided by the Act of 23 February 1942.

This provision was repealed, however, on 11 August 1959, effective 1 November 1959.

The repeal meant that the grade of four-star general would be limited to the Commandant, incumbent of retired, but it would not effect those Marines who already had received the honor.

Between 1948 and the date of its repeal, 16 Marines serving in the grade of lieutenant general were promoted to general upon retirement, under the provision of the Act of 23 February 1942. They were:

William O. Brice Alfred H. Noble Holland M. Smith
Graves B. Erskine Edwin A. Pollock Oliver P. Smith
Franklin A. Hart Ray A. Robinson Gerald C. Thomas
Robert E. Hogaboom Christian F. Schilt Allen H. Turnage
Leroy P. Hunt Harry Schmidt Merrill B. Twining
Vernon E. Megee

NOTE: General Roy S. Geiger was posthumously promoted from lieutenant general to general, by a special Act of Congress, effective from the date of his death, 23 January 1947.

In April 1969, the Senate passed and sent to the White House a bill to make the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps a four-star general when the active duty strength of the Marine Corps exceeds 200,000. On 5 May 1969, President Nixon signed the bill, and Lieutenant General Lewis W. Walt was promoted to that rank, 2 June 1969, thus becoming the first Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps to attain four-star rank. Legislation allowing the Assistant Commandant to wear the four-star insignia regardless of the strength of the Marine Corps was approved by President Ford on 4 March 1976. The legislation is contained in Public Law 94-225. Subsequent to General Walt, the following Assistant Commandants of the Marine Corps have served with the rank of four-star general.

*General Keith B. McCutcheon (30 Jan 1971 - 11 Mar 1971)
General Raymond G. Davis (12 Mar 1971 - 30 Mar 1972)
General Earl E. Anderson (31 Mar 1972 - 30 Jun 1975)
Lieutenant General Samuel Jaskilka ( 1 Jul 1975 - 3 Mar 1976)
General Samuel Jaskilka ( 4 Mar 1976 - 30 Jun 1978)
General Robert H. Barrow ( 1 Jul 1978 - 30 Jun 1979)
**General Kenneth McLennan ( 1 Jul 1979 - 30 Jun 1981)
** General Paul X. Kelley ( 1 Jul 1981 - 30 Jun 1983)
General John K. Davis ( 1 Jul 1983 - 31 May 1986)
General Thomas R. Morgan ( 1 Jun 1986 - 30 Jun 1988)
**General Joseph J. Went ( 1 Jul 1988 - 31 Jul 1990)
**General Jospeh R. Dailey ( 1 Aug 1990 - 31 Aug 1992)
General Walter E. Boomer ( 1 Sep 1992 - 14 Jul 1994)
General Richard D. Hearney (15 Jul 1994 - 26 Sep 1996)
General Richard I. Neal (27 Sep 1996 - 4 Sep 1998)
General Terrence R. Dake ( 5 Sep 1998 - 7 Sep 2000)
General Michael J. Williams ( 8 Sep 2000 - 9 Sep 2002)
General William L. Nyland (10 Sep 2002 -

On 22 November 1985, General George B. Crist was promoted to four-star rank and on 27 November assumed the position of Commander in Chief of U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. His appointment marked the first time a Marine headed a unified command and the first time the Corps had three four-star generals on active duty at the same time. Since 1985, a number of Marines have headed unified commands holding four-star rank, and it is no longer uncommon for the Corps to have three or four star-star generals on active duty at the same time.

*Assigned but did not assume duties due to ill health.
**Served as Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps and Chief of staff.