 During Marshall 's second term , the United States entered World War I. Marshall was a reluctant supporter of the war , believing the country to be unprepared and feared it would be necessary to enact conscription . He was pleased with Wilson 's strategy to begin a military buildup before the declaration of war , and fully supported the war effort once it had begun . Shortly after the first troops began to assemble for transport to Europe , Marshall and Wilson hosted a delegation from the United Kingdom in which Marshall became privy to the primary war strategy . However , he was largely excluded from war planning and rarely received official updates on the progress of military campaigns . In most instances he received news of the war through the newspapers . 
