question of whether he would want the evaluated officer to serve under his command again by writing of Marshall "Should the exigencies of active service place him in exalted command I would be glad to serve under him." (Emphasis added.) In 1916, Lieutenant Colonel Johnson Hagood completed a written evaluation of Marshall's performance in which he called Marshall a military genius. Responding to the question of whether he would want his subordinate Marshall to serve under him again, Hagood wrote "Yes, but I would prefer to serve under his command." (Emphasis added.) Hagood went on to recommend Marshall's immediate promotion to brigadier general, despite the fact that there were more than 1,800 officers, including Hagood, who were senior to him. After the surrender of the Nazi German government in May 1945, Henry L. Stimson, the Secretary of War, paid tribute to Marshall in front of a gathering of members of the Army staff, concluding with: "I have seen a great many soldiers in my lifetime and you, Sir, are the finest soldier I have ever known." Historians credit the high regard others had for Marshall's personal integrity as another reason for his positive legacy. In addition to his willingness to confront Pershing over Pershing's berating of the 1st Division chief of staff during World War I, Marshall cited other instances where he provided persistent advice that kept Pershing from creating needless controversy. In one, Marshall recalled a time when Pershing and James Harbord intended to change a War Department policy implemented by Peyton March, the chief of staff of the Army and Pershing's nominal superior, with whom Pershing had a long-running feud. Marshall counseled against it several times, and Pershing angrily indicated that his chief of staff Harbord and he intended to submit their proposal despite Marshall's advice. Rather than concede, Marshall replied that Pershing was letting his personal feud with March cloud his judgment and that Harbord, who also disliked March, was doing the same. Instead of continuing to "pull rank," Pershing yielded to Marshall's judgment and said "Well, have it your own way." In another incident that highlighted Marshall's reputation for integrity, when President Franklin Roosevelt, a former Assistant Secretary of the Navy, favored the Navy during World War II planning, Marshall suggested that Roosevelt stop referring to the Navy as "us" and the Army as "them." Roosevelt laughed, but Marshall's humorous protest had made its point. In