Maxwell Davenport Taylor was born in Keytesville, Missouri, on 26 August 1901; graduated from the United States Military Academy, 1922; was commissioned a second lieutenant of engineering, June 1922, and attended his branch course; served in Hawaii with the 3d Engineers, 1923?1926; married Lydia Gardner Hopper, 1925; transferred to field artillery and served with the 10th Field Artillery, 1926?1927; was promoted to first lieutenant, February 1927; studied French in Paris and was instructor in French and later Spanish at West Point, 1927?1932; graduated from the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, 1933, and the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, 1935; was promoted to captain, August 1935; was a student of Japanese at the American embassy in Tokyo, 1935?1939, with detached military attache duty at Peking, China, 1937; graduated from the Army War College, 1940; was promoted to permanent major, July 1940; served in the War Plans Division and on a Hemisphere defense mission to Latin American countries, 1940; commanded the 12th Field Artillery Battalion, 1940?1941; served in the Office of the Secretary of the General Staff, 1941?1942; received temporary promotions to lieutenant colonel, December 1941, colonel, February 1942, and brigadier general, December 1942; was chief of staff of the 82d Airborne Division, 1942, then its artillery commander in operations in Sicily and Italy, 1942?1944; received temporary promotion to major general, May 1944; commanded the 101st Airborne Division in the Normandy invasion and the Western European campaigns, 1944?1945; was promoted to permanent lieutenant colonel, June 1945, and brigadier general, January 1948; was chief of staff of the European Command, 1949, and commander of the United States forces in Berlin, 1949?1951; was promoted to temporary lieutenant general and permanent major general, August 1951; was assistant chief of staff for operations, G?3, and deputy chief of staff for operations and administration, 1951?1953; was promoted to temporary general, June 1953; was commander of the Eighth Army in the final operations of the Korean War, 1953; initiated the Korean armed forces assistance program, 1953?1954; commanded United States Forces, Far East, and the Eighth Army 1954?1955, and was commander in chief, United Nations Command, 1955; was chief of staff of the United States Army, 30 June 1955?30 June 1959; opposed dependence upon a massive retaliation doctrine, pushed for an increase in conventional forces to ensure a capability of flexible response, guided the transition to a "pentomic" concept, and directed Army participation in sensitive operations at Little Rock, Lebanon, Taiwan, and Berlin; retired from active service, July 1959; was recalled as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1962?1964; again retired; became ambassador to South Vietnam, 1964?1965; was special consultant to the president and chairman of the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, 1965?1969; was president of the Institute of Defense Analysis, 1966?1969; died in Washington, D.C., on 19 April 1987.