George Lincoln

George Arthur Lincoln (July 20, 1907 – May 24, 1975) was an American military leader who served as a top general staff strategist in the United States Army during World War II. He was the principal planner of the military campaigns of George C. Marshall in Europe and Asia, including the planned invasion of Japan.

Early life and education Lincoln was born on July 20, 1907, on a farm outside of Harbor Beach, Michigan. In 1924, he attended the University of Kansas for one year. In 1925, he transferred to the United States Military Academy, graduating fourth in his class of 1929. He received a Rhodes scholarship to the University of Oxford to study philosophy, politics, and economics at Magdalen College. There, he became a close adviser and the principal strategic planner for General George C. Marshall and, at the end of the war, assisted in the drafting of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, which was signed on September 2, 1945. Marshall would go on to award him the Distinguished Service Medal for "planning and negotiating worldwide military operations and for reconciling the logistical and strategic factors of the war."

In 1969, President Nixon appointed Lincoln as director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness, the agency responsible for emergency preparation, the mobilization of federal resources, and the coordination of state and local emergency operations. His appointment broke the tradition of choosing a political or public figure. In August 1969, Lincoln led the federal government's response to damage caused by Hurricane Camille on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi.

In August 1971, Lincoln oversaw a 90‐day wage‐price freeze announced by President Nixon.

COIN Lincoln developed the Army's thinking around counterinsurgency conflict, known as COIN. He believed that military leaders post World War II needed to be "very broad-gauged individuals”. His students who embraced his philosophy were mockingly called the "Lincoln Brigade", referencing the leftist-leaning American volunteers who fought in the Spanish Civil War. David Petraeus would follow a COIN approach in his efforts in Iraq, where it found some success, and in Afghanistan, where it did not.

Personal life Lincoln was married to Frederica Bellamy. Together, they had four children. The family had a ranch outside of Denver, Colorado, where Lincoln liked to spend time "mending fences, attending cattle, and riding."

Lincoln died while on a horseback riding vacation at Colorado Springs on May 24, 1975, aged 67.