Editing Omar Bradley

{{short description|United States Army general (1893–1981)}}
{{for|the American politician|Omar Bradley (politician)}}
{{redirect|General Bradley}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}{{Use American English|date=November 2019}}

{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Omar Bradley
| image               = General of the Army Omar Bradley.jpg
| office              = 1st [[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]]
| president           = [[Harry S. Truman]]<br />[[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]
| term_start          = 19 August 1949
| term_end            = 15 August 1953
| predecessor         = [[William D. Leahy]]<br />(as [[Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief]])
| successor           = [[Arthur W. Radford]]
| office1             = [[Chief of Staff of the United States Army|Chief of Staff of the Army]]
| president1          = [[Harry S. Truman]]
| term_start1         = 7 February 1948
| term_end1           = 15 August 1949
| predecessor1        = [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]
| successor1          = [[J. Lawton Collins]]
| office2             = [[Chair of the NATO Military Committee]]
| term_start2         = 5 October 1949
| term_end2           = 2 April 1951
| predecessor2        = Office established
| successor2          = [[Etienne Baele]]
| office3             = [[Administrator of Veterans Affairs]]
| president3          = [[Harry S. Truman]]
| term_start3         = 15 August 1945
| term_end3           = 30 November 1947
| predecessor3        = [[Frank T. Hines]]
| successor3          = [[Carl R. Gray Jr.]]
| birth_name          = Omar Nelson Bradley
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1893|2|12|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Clark, Missouri]], U.S.
| spouse              = {{unbulleted list
| {{marriage|Mary Quayle|December 28, 1916|December 1, 1965|end=died}}
| {{marriage|Esther Dora Buhler|September 12, 1966}}
}}
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1981|4|8|1893|2|12|df=y}}
| death_place         = {{nowrap|[[New York City]], U.S.}}
| resting_place       = [[Arlington National Cemetery]]
| education           = [[United States Military Academy]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])
| signature           = Omar N Bradley Signature.svg
| signature_alt       = Signature, "Omar N Bradley"
| nickname            = Brad<br />The G.I.'s General
| allegiance          = United States
| branch              = [[United States Army]]
| military_blank1     = [[Service number (United States Army)|ASN]]
| military_data1      = 0-3807
| serviceyears        = 1915–1981<ref name=MilRank1685>U.S. officers holding five-star rank never officially retire, even after no longer serving actively; they draw full active duty pay for life. {{cite book|author=Spencer C. Tucker |title=The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History |chapter=Appendix B: Military Ranks |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qh5lffww-KsC |year=2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-85109-961-0 |pages= 1685}}</ref>
| rank                = [[General of the Army (United States)|General of the Army]]
| unit                = [[Infantry Branch (United States)|Infantry Branch]]
| commands            = [[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]]<br />[[Chief of Staff of the United States Army|Chief of Staff of the Army]]<br />[[Twelfth United States Army Group|12th Army Group]]<br />[[First United States Army|First Army]]<br />[[II Corps (United States)|II Corps]]<br />[[28th Infantry Division (United States)|28th Infantry Division]]<br />[[82nd Airborne Division|82nd Infantry Division]]<br />[[United States Army Infantry School]]<br />2nd Battalion, [[14th Infantry Regiment (United States)|14th Infantry Regiment]]
| battles             = {{hidden
|''See battles''
|{{tree list}}
* '''[[Border War (1910&ndash;1919)|Border War]]'''
* '''[[World War I]]'''
* '''[[World War II]]'''
** [[North African campaign]]
*** [[Operation Torch]]
*** [[Tunisian campaign]]
**** [[Battle of Hill 609]]
**** [[Operations Vulcan and Strike]]
** [[Italian campaign (World War II)|Italian campaign]]
*** [[Operation Husky]]
**** [[Battle of Troina]]
** [[Operation Overlord]]
*** [[Normandy landings]]
**** [[Omaha Beach]]
**** [[Operation Cobra]]
**** [[Operation Lüttich]]
**** [[Falaise pocket]]
*** [[Operation Chastity]]
** [[Siegfried Line campaign]]
*** [[Battle of Aachen]]
*** [[Battle of Hürtgen Forest]]
**** [[Operation Queen]]
** [[Battle of the Bulge]]
*** [[Battle of Heartbreak Crossroads]]
*** [[Battle of Elsenborn Ridge]]
*** [[Battle of Losheim Gap]]
** [[Western Allied invasion of Germany]]
*** [[Operation Undertone]]
*** [[Operation Grenade]]
*** [[Ruhr pocket]]
* '''[[Korean War]]'''
{{tree list/end}}
|-
|headerstyle=background:#dbdbdb
|style=text-align:center;
}}
| mawards             = [[Defense Distinguished Service Medal]]<br />[[Army Distinguished Service Medal]] (4)<br />[[Distinguished Service Medal (United States Navy)|Navy Distinguished Service Medal]]<br />[[Silver Star]]<br />[[Legion of Merit]] (2)<br />[[Bronze Star Medal]]<br />[[Presidential Medal of Freedom]]<br />''[[Omar Bradley#Orders, decorations and medals|Complete list]]''
| caption             = Bradley, {{circa}} 1950
}}
'''Omar Nelson Bradley''' (12 February 1893 – 8 April 1981) was a senior [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]] of the [[United States Army]] during and after [[World War II]], rising to the rank of [[General of the Army (United States)|General of the Army]]. He was the first [[chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]] and oversaw the U.S. military's policy-making in the [[Korean War]].

Born in [[Randolph County, Missouri]], he worked as a [[boilermaker]] before entering the [[United States Military Academy]] at [[West Point, New York|West Point]]. He graduated from the academy in 1915 alongside [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] as part of "[[the class the stars fell on]]." During [[World War I]], he guarded copper mines in [[Montana]]. After the war, he taught at West Point and served in other roles before taking a position at the [[United States Department of War|War Department]] under General [[George Marshall]]. In 1941, he became commander of the [[United States Army Infantry School]].

After the U.S. entry into [[World War II]], he oversaw the transformation of the 82nd Infantry Division into [[82nd Airborne Division|the first American airborne]] division. He received his first front-line command in [[Operation Torch]], serving under General [[George S. Patton]] in [[North Africa]]. After Patton was reassigned, Bradley commanded [[II Corps (United States)|II Corps]] in the [[Tunisia Campaign]] and the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]]. He commanded the [[First United States Army]] during the [[Invasion of Normandy]]. After the breakout from Normandy, he took command of the [[Twelfth United States Army Group]], which ultimately comprised forty-three divisions and 1.3&nbsp;million men, the largest body of American soldiers ever to serve under a single field commander.

After the war, Bradley headed the [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|Veterans Administration]]. He was appointed as [[Chief of Staff of the United States Army]] in 1948 and [[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]] in 1949. In 1950, he was promoted to the rank of [[General of the Army (United States)|General of the Army]], becoming the last of the nine individuals promoted to [[five-star rank]] in the [[United States Armed Forces]]. He was the senior military commander at the start of the [[Korean War]], and supported President [[Harry S. Truman]]'s wartime policy of [[containment]]. He was instrumental in persuading Truman to dismiss General [[Douglas MacArthur]] in 1951 after MacArthur resisted administration attempts to scale back the war's strategic objectives. Bradley left active duty in 1953 (although remaining on "active retirement" for the next 27 years). He continued to serve in public and business roles until his death in 1981 at age 88.<ref name=MilRank1685/>

==Early life and education==
{{more citations needed|section|date=February 2019}}
[[File:Omarbradleywestpoint.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Bradley, photographed at West Point]]

Omar Nelson Bradley, the son of [[teacher|schoolteacher]] John Smith Bradley (1868–1908) and his wife Mary Elizabeth (née Hubbard) (1875–1931), was born into poverty in rural [[Randolph County, Missouri]], near [[Moberly, Missouri|Moberly]]. Bradley was named after Omar D. Gray, a local newspaper editor admired by his father, and a local physician, James Nelson.<ref name=Axelrod01a>Axelrod, [https://books.google.com/books?id=UrhMIm9NYr0C&pg=PA7 p.7]</ref> He was of [[British American|British ancestry]], his ancestors having emigrated from [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] to [[Kentucky]] in the mid-1700s.<ref>''Five Stars: Missouri's Most Famous Generals,'' by James Muench, page 104</ref> He attended at least eight country schools where his father taught. The elder Bradley never earned more than $40 a month in his lifetime, while he was a schoolteacher and sharecropper, the latter with the aid of all the family. They never owned a wagon, a horse, or a mule. When Omar was 15, his father died; he credited his father with passing on to him his love of books, baseball and shooting.

His mother moved with him to Moberly, where she remarried. Bradley graduated from [[Moberly High School]] in 1910. He was an outstanding student and athlete who was chosen captain of both the baseball and track teams.

Bradley was working as a 17-cents-an-hour (equal 
to ${{Inflation|US|0.17|1910|r=2}} today) [[boilermaker]] at the [[Wabash Railroad]] when he was encouraged by his Sunday school teacher at Central Christian Church in Moberly to take the entrance examination for the [[United States Military Academy]] (USMA) at [[West Point, New York]]. Bradley had been saving his money to enter the [[University of Missouri]] in [[Columbia, Missouri|Columbia]], where he intended to study [[law]]. He finished second in the West Point placement exams, held at [[Jefferson Barracks Military Post]] in [[St. Louis, Missouri]]. The first-place winner was unable to accept the Congressional appointment, however, and the nomination was passed to Bradley in August 1911.<ref name="Cullum 1920">{{cite book|url=https://digital-library.usma.edu/digital/collection/p16919coll3/id/17466|title=Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York since its establishment in 1802: Supplement, 1910–1920|date=September 1920|volume=VI-B|pages=1745|publisher=Seemann & Peters, Printers|access-date=2024-11-02}}</ref>

While Bradley was attending the academy, his devotion to sports prevented him from excelling academically; but he still ranked 44th in a class of 164. He was a baseball star and often played on semi-pro teams for no remuneration (to ensure his eligibility as an amateur to represent the academy). He was considered one of the most outstanding college players in the nation during his junior and senior seasons at West Point, noted as both a power hitter and an outfielder, with one of the best arms in his day. He rejected multiple offers to play professional baseball, choosing to pursue his Army career.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Melhorn |first=David |date=2023-03-10 |title=Veteran of the Day U.S. Army Veteran Omar Bradley |url=https://www.aerotechnews.com/blog/2023/03/10/veteran-of-the-day-u-s-army-veteran-omar-bradley/ |access-date=2024-12-15 |website=Aerotech News & Review |language=en-US}}</ref>

While stationed at West Point as an instructor, in 1923 Bradley became a [[Freemason]]. He became a member of the West Point Lodge #877, [[Highland Falls, New York]] and continued with them until his death.<ref>{{cite news|title= Famous Masons|publisher= MWGLNY|url= http://www.nymasons.org/about-freemasonry/famous-masons-i.html|date= January 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131110010123/http://www.nymasons.org/about-freemasonry/famous-masons-i.html|archive-date= November 10, 2013}}</ref>

Bradley married Mary Quayle (1892–1965), who had grown up across the street from him in Moberly. Her father, the town's popular police chief, had died when she was young. The pair attended Central Christian Church and Moberly High School together. On the cover of the 1910 Moberly High School yearbook, ''The Salutar,'' they were shown across from each other, although they did not date during those years. His picture bore the description "calculative" and hers "linguistic." She earned a college degree in education.

==West Point and early military career==
[[File:Group photo of the 1915 West Point lettermen.png|thumb|right|Group photo of the 1915 West Point letterman. Bradley is standing in the back row, third from the right.]]

At West Point, Bradley played three years of varsity baseball including the 1914 team. Every player on that team who remained in the army ultimately became a general. Bradley graduated from West Point in 1915 as part of a class that produced many future generals, and which military historians have called "[[the class the stars fell on]]". Bradley's [[cullum number]] is 5356.<ref name="Cullum 1920"/> There were ultimately 59 future [[general officer]]s in that graduating class, among whom Bradley and [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] attained the rank of [[General of the Army (United States)|General of the Army]]. Eisenhower was elected in 1952 in a landslide victory as [[President of the United States|34th President of the United States]]. Among the numerous others who became generals were [[Joseph T. McNarney]], [[Henry Aurand]], [[James Van Fleet]], [[Stafford LeRoy Irwin]], [[John W. Leonard]], [[Joseph May Swing]], [[Paul J. Mueller]], [[Charles W. Ryder]], [[Leland Hobbs]], [[Vernon Prichard]], [[John B. Wogan]], [[Roscoe B. Woodruff]], [[John French Conklin]], [[Walter W. Hess]], and [[Edwin A. Zundel]].{{sfn|Taaffe|2013|p=75}}

Bradley was [[Officer (armed forces)|commissioned]] as a [[second lieutenant]] into the [[Infantry Branch (United States)|Infantry Branch]] of the [[United States Army]] and was first assigned to the [[14th Infantry Regiment (United States)|14th Infantry Regiment]]. 
<ref name="Cullum 1920"/> He served on the [[Mexico–United States border]] in 1915, defending it from incursions due to the Mexican civil war. On 1 July 1916 he was promoted to [[first lieutenant]].<ref name="Cullum 1920"/>

When the United States entered [[World War I]] in April 1917 (see the [[American entry into World War I]]), he was promoted to [[Captain (United States O-3)|captain]] on 15 May<ref name="Cullum 1920"/> and sent to guard the [[Butte, Montana]] [[copper]] mines, considered of strategic importance. Bradley was promoted to the temporary rank of major in June 1918<ref name="Cullum 1920"/> and assigned to command the second battalion of the 14th Infantry,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VT6S93OOTFgC&dq=o+n+bradley+14th+infantry+regiment&pg=PP8|title = Omar Nelson Bradley: The Centennial|last1 = Kirkpatrick|first1 = Charles Edward|year = 1992}}</ref> joined the [[19th Division (United States)|19th Division]] in August 1918, which was scheduled for European deployment, but the [[Spanish flu|influenza pandemic]] and the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|armistice with Germany]] on 11 November 1918, that fall intervened.

[[File:Eisenhower Football.jpg|thumb|right|450px|The 1912 West Point football team. [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] is third from left. [[Louis Merillat]] is eighth from the left, in the A sweater. Omar Bradley is on the far right, to the left of [[Leland Hobbs]].]]

From September 1919 until September 1920, Bradley served as assistant professor of military science at South Dakota State College (now University) in [[Brookings, South Dakota]].

During the difficult period [[Interwar period|between the wars]], he taught and studied. From 1920 to 1924, Bradley taught mathematics at West Point.{{sfn|Taaffe|2013|p=75}} He was promoted to [[Major (United States)|major]] in 1924 and took the advanced infantry course at [[Fort Benning, Georgia]]. After brief duty in Hawaii, Bradley was selected to study at the [[United States Army Command and General Staff College|U.S. Army Command and General Staff School]] at [[Fort Leavenworth]], [[Kansas]] in 1928–29. Upon graduating, he served as an instructor in tactics at the U.S. Army Infantry School. While Bradley was serving in this assignment, the school's assistant commandant, [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] [[George C. Marshall]], described Bradley as "quiet, unassuming, capable, with sound common sense. Absolute dependability. Give him a job and forget it."<ref name="Credo Reference">{{cite book|title=The Reader's Companion to Military History}}</ref>

From 1929, Bradley taught again at West Point, studying at the [[United States Army War College|U.S. Army War College]] in 1934. Bradley was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 26 June 1936<ref name="Generals of World War II">{{cite web|url=https://generals.dk/general/Bradley/Omar_Nelson/USA.html|title=Biography of General of the Army Omar Nelson Bradley (1893−1981), USA|website=generals.dk}}</ref> and worked at the [[United States Department of War|War Department]]; after 1938 he was directly reporting to [[Chief of Staff of the United States Army|U.S. Army Chief of Staff]] Marshall.

On 20 February 1941, Bradley was promoted to the (wartime) temporary rank of [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] (bypassing the rank of [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]].)<ref>Hollister, Jay. "[http://history.sandiego.edu/GEN/WW2Timeline/bradley3.html General Omar Nelson Bradley] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509150518/http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/bradley3.html |date=2008-05-09 }}". [[University of San Diego]] History Department. May 3, 2001. Retrieved on May 14, 2007.</ref><ref name="Generals of World War II"/> (This rank was made permanent by the army in September 1943). The temporary rank was conferred to allow him to command the [[United States Army Infantry School|U.S. Army Infantry School]] at [[Fort Benning]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] (he was among the first from his class to reach even a temporary rank of general officer; first was his West Point classmate [[Luis R. Esteves|Luis Esteves]], who was promoted Brigadier general in October 1940<ref>Ammentorp, Steen. "[http://www.generals.dk/general/Esteves/Luis_Raul/USA.html Biography of Major-General Luis Raul Esteves] ".  Retrieved on July 5, 2020.</ref>). While serving in this position he played a key part in developing the officer candidate school model.{{sfn|Taaffe|2013|p=76}}

Almost a year later, on 15 February 1942, over two months after the American entry into [[World War II]], Bradley was made a temporary [[Major general (United States)|major general]] (a rank made permanent in September 1944) and soon took command of the [[82nd Airborne Division|82nd Infantry Division]] (soon to be redesignated as the 82nd Airborne Division) before succeeding Major General [[James Garesche Ord]] as commander of the [[28th Infantry Division (United States)|28th Infantry Division]] in June.

==Louisiana Maneuvers==
The [[Louisiana Maneuvers]] were a series of U.S. Army exercises held around [[North Louisiana|Northern]] and Western-Central Louisiana, including [[Fort Polk]], [[Camp Claiborne]] and [[Camp Livingston]], in 1940 and 1941. The exercises, which involved some 400,000 troops, were designed to evaluate U.S. training, [[logistics]], [[military doctrine|doctrine]], and commanders. Overall, headquarters were in the Bentley Hotel in Alexandria.

[[File:General Bradley and General McNair.jpg|alt=McNair with General Omar Bradley during Louisiana maneuvers |thumb|left|[[Lesley J. McNair]] listens as Omar Bradley, [[82nd Airborne Division|82nd Infantry Division]] commander, explains a scenario to McNair at the Louisiana Maneuvers]]

Many Army officers present at the maneuvers later rose to very senior roles in World War II, including Bradley, [[Mark W. Clark|Mark Clark]], [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Dwight Eisenhower]], [[Walter Krueger]], [[Lesley J. McNair]] and [[George S. Patton|George Patton]].

Lieutenant Colonel Bradley was assigned to General Headquarters during the Louisiana Maneuvers but as a courier and observer in the field, he gained invaluable experience for the future. Colonel Bradley assisted in the planning of the maneuvers, and kept the General Staff in Washington, D.C. abreast of the training that was occurring during the Louisiana Maneuvers.{{Citation needed|date=December 2014}}

Bradley later said that Louisianans welcomed the soldiers with open arms. Some soldiers even slept in some of the residents' houses. Bradley said it was so crowded in those houses sometimes when the soldiers were sleeping, there would hardly be any walking room. Bradley also said a few of the troops were disrespectful towards the residents' land and crops, and would tear down crops for extra food. However, for the most part, residents and soldiers established good relations.<ref>Bradley, Omar N.:''Omar N. Bradley: A Soldier's Story'', 1951</ref>

==World War II==
Bradley's personal experiences in the war are documented in his award-winning book ''A Soldier's Story,'' published by Henry Holt & Co. in 1951. It was re-released by The Modern Library in 1999. The book is based on an extensive diary maintained by his aide-de-camp, Chester B. Hansen, who ghost-wrote the book using the diary; Hansen's original diary is maintained by the U. S. Army Heritage and Education Center, at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.<ref>A Soldier's Story, xxv.</ref>

On 25 March 1942, Bradley, recently promoted to major general, assumed command of the newly activated 82nd Infantry Division.{{sfn|Taaffe|2013|p=76}} Bradley oversaw the division's transformation into the first American airborne division and took parachute training. In August the division was re-designated as the [[82nd Airborne Division]] and Bradley relinquished command to Major General [[Matthew Ridgway]], who had been his assistant division commander (ADC).

Bradley then took command of the [[28th Infantry Division (United States)|28th Infantry Division]], which was a National Guard division with soldiers mostly from the state of Pennsylvania.{{sfn|Taaffe|2013|p=76}}

[[File:Churchill Shooting M1 Carbine.jpg|thumb|right|Major General [[Edward H. Brooks]] observing General [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] and Lieutenant General Omar Bradley fire [[M1 carbine]]s shortly before the [[Normandy landings]], 15 May 1944. Stood to the far left, wearing a [[peaked cap]], is Major General [[Charles H. Corlett]].]]

===North Africa and Sicily===
Bradley did not receive a front-line command until early 1943, after [[Operation Torch]], the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] invasion of [[French North Africa]]. He had been given [[VIII Corps (United States)|VIII Corps]] after being succeeded by [[Lloyd D. Brown]] as commander of the 28th Division, but instead was sent to [[North Africa]] to be Eisenhower's front-line troubleshooter. At Bradley's suggestion, [[II Corps (United States)|II Corps]], which had just suffered a great defeat at the [[Kasserine Pass]], was overhauled from top to bottom, and Eisenhower, now the [[Supreme Allied Commander]] of the Allied forces in North Africa, installed Major General [[George S. Patton]] as corps commander in March 1943. Patton requested Bradley as his deputy, but Bradley retained the right to represent Eisenhower as well.<ref>Weigley, p.81</ref>

Bradley succeeded Patton as commander of II Corps in April and directed it in the final Tunisian battles of April and May, with [[Bizerte]] falling to elements of II Corps on 7 May 1943. The campaign as a whole ended six days later, and with it came the surrender of over 200,000 [[Axis powers|Axis]] Germans and Italians.{{sfn|Taaffe|2013|pp=78−79}}

As a result of his excellent performance in the campaign, Bradley was promoted to [[brevet (military)|Brevet]] [[Lieutenant general (United States)|lieutenant general]] on 2 June 1943<ref name="Generals of World War II"/>{{sfn|Taaffe|2013|p=81}} and continued to command II Corps in the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]] (codenamed Operation Husky). The campaign lasted only a few weeks and, as he had in Tunisia, Bradley continued to impress his superiors, Eisenhower most notably, who wrote to Marshall about Bradley:

{{Blockquote|There is very little I need to tell you about him [Bradley] because he is running absolutely true to form all the time. He has brains, a fine capacity for leadership and a thorough understanding of the requirements of modern battle. He has never caused me one moment of worry. He is perfectly capable of running an [[Field army|Army]]. He has the respect of all his associates, including all the British officers that have met him.{{sfn|Taaffe|2013|p=92}}}}

===Normandy 1944===
[[File:Watching operations from the bridge.jpg|thumb|left|Senior officers watching operations from the bridge of {{USS|Augusta|CA-31}}, off Normandy, 8 June 1944. They are (from left to right): Rear Admiral [[Alan Goodrich Kirk|Alan G. Kirk]], Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, Rear Admiral [[Arthur Dewey Struble|Arthur D. Struble]] (with binoculars), and Major General [[William B. Kean]].]]

On 10 September 1943, Bradley transferred to London as commander in chief of the American ground forces preparing to invade France in the spring of 1944. For D-Day, Bradley was chosen to command the [[First United States Army|US First Army]], which, alongside the [[Second Army (United Kingdom)|British Second Army]], commanded by Lieutenant-General [[Miles Dempsey]], made up the [[21st Army Group]], commanded by General [[Bernard Montgomery|Sir Bernard Montgomery]].

[[File:Collinsbradley.jpg|right|thumb|Lieutenant General Omar Bradley (left), Commanding General, U.S. First Army, listens as Major General [[J. Lawton Collins]], Commanding General, [[VII Corps (United States)|US VII Corps]], describes how the city of [[Cherbourg]] was taken. ({{circa|June 1944}})]]

On 10 June 1944, four days after the initial [[Normandy landings]], Bradley and his staff debarked to establish a headquarters ashore. During [[Operation Overlord]], he commanded three corps directed at the two American invasion targets, [[Utah Beach]] and [[Omaha Beach]]. During July he inspected the modifications made by [[Curtis G. Culin]] to Sherman tanks, that led to the [[Rhino tank]]. Later in July, he planned [[Operation Cobra]], the beginning of the breakout from the Normandy beachhead. Operation Cobra called for the use of strategic bombers using huge bomb loads to attack German defensive lines. After several postponements due to weather, the operation began on 25 July 1944, with a short, very intensive bombardment with lighter explosives, designed so as not to create more rubble and craters that would slow Allied progress. Bradley was horrified when 77 planes bombed short and dropped bombs on their own troops, including Lieutenant General [[Lesley J. McNair]]:<ref>James Jay Carafano, ''After D-Day: Operation Cobra and the Normandy Breakout'' (2000); Cole C. Kingseed, "Operation Cobra: Prelude to breakout". ''Military Review''; July 1994, Vol. 74, Issue 7, pp. 64–67, online at EBSCO.</ref>

{{blockquote|The ground belched, shook and spewed dirt to the sky. Scores of our troops were hit, their bodies flung from slit trenches. Doughboys were dazed and frightened....A bomb landed squarely on McNair in a slit trench and threw his body sixty feet and mangled it beyond recognition except for the three stars on his collar.<ref>Omar Bradley, ''A general's life: an autobiography'' (1983) p. 280</ref>}}

However, the bombing was successful in knocking out the enemy communication system, rendering German troops confused and ineffective, and opened the way for the ground offensive by attacking infantry. Bradley sent in three infantry divisions—the [[9th Infantry Division (United States)|9th]], [[4th Infantry Division (United States)|4th]] and [[30th Infantry Division (United States)|30th]]—to move in close behind the bombing. The infantry succeeded in cracking the German defenses, opening the way for advances by armored forces commanded by Patton to sweep around the German lines.

As the build-up continued in Normandy, the [[United States Army Central|Third Army]] was formed under Patton, Bradley's former commander, while Lieutenant General [[Courtney Hodges]], whom Bradley had succeeded as Commandant of the Infantry School, succeeded Bradley in command of the First Army; together, they made up Bradley's new command, the [[Twelfth United States Army Group|12th Army Group]]. By August, the 12th Army Group had swollen to over 900,000 men and ultimately consisted of four field armies. It was the largest group of American soldiers to ever serve under one field commander.

===Falaise pocket===
[[File:General Montgomery with Generals Patton (left) and Bradley (centre) at 21st Army Group HQ, Normandy, 7 July 1944. B6551.jpg|left|thumb|Bradley (center) with Patton (left) and Montgomery (right) at Montgomery's [[21st Army Group]] HQ, Normandy, 7 July 1944]]

[[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]]'s refusal to allow his army to flee the rapidly advancing Allied pincer movement created an opportunity to trap an entire German Army Group in northern France.<ref>Blumenson, Martin, ''General Bradley's decision at Argentan (August 13, 1944)'', University of Michigan Press (1990), pp. 407–413</ref> After the German attempt to split the US armies at [[Mortain]] ([[Operation Lüttich]]), Bradley's Army Group and XV Corps became the southern pincer in forming the ''[[Falaise pocket]]'', trapping the [[7th Army (Wehrmacht)|German Seventh Army]] and [[5th Panzer Army|Fifth Panzer Army]] in Normandy. The northern pincer was formed of Canadian forces, part of British [[General (United Kingdom)|General]] [[Bernard Montgomery|Sir Bernard Montgomery]]'s 21st Army Group. On 13 August 1944, concerned that American troops would clash with Canadian forces advancing from the north-west, Bradley overrode Patton's orders for a further push north towards Falaise, while ordering Major General [[Wade H. Haislip]]'s XV Corps to "concentrate for operations in another direction".<ref>Essame, Herbert, ''Patton: As Military Commander'', Combined Publishing, Da Capo Press, {{ISBN|0-938289-99-3}} (1998), p. 168</ref> Any American troops in the vicinity of [[Argentan]] were ordered to withdraw.<ref>Essame, Herbert, ''Patton: As Military Commander'', p. 168: Bradley was supported in his decision by General Eisenhower.</ref> This order halted the southern pincer movement of Haislip's XV Corps.<ref name="Essame, Herbert p. 182">Essame, Herbert, ''Patton: As Military Commander'', p. 182</ref> Though Patton protested the order, he obeyed it, leaving an exit—a "trap with a gap"—for the remaining German forces.<ref name="Essame, Herbert p. 182"/> Around 20,000–50,000 German troops (leaving almost all of their heavy material)<ref>Blumenson, Martin, ''General Bradley's decision at Argentan (August 13, 1944)'', University of Michigan Press (1990), pp. 416–417: Blumenson concluded that while the failure to quickly complete the encirclement was mainly due to Bradley's actions in halting XV Corps, the result was still a victory, since the German armies that escaped had almost no equipment, tanks, or other weapons.</ref> escaped through the gap, avoiding encirclement and almost certain destruction.<ref name="Essame, Herbert p. 182"/> They would be reorganized and rearmed in time to slow the Allied advance into the Netherlands and Germany.<ref name="Essame, Herbert p. 182"/> Most of the blame for this outcome has been placed on Bradley.<ref>Wilmot, Chester, and McDevitt, Christopher, ''The Struggle For Europe'', London: Wordsworth Editions Ltd., {{ISBN|1-85326-677-9}} (1952), p. 417</ref><ref>Essame, Herbert, ''Patton: As Military Commander'', Combined Publishing, Da Capo Press, {{ISBN|0-938289-99-3}} (1998), p. 182: German General [[Hans Speidel]], Chief of Staff of Army Group B, stated that all of Army Group B would have been completely eliminated if the [[5th Armored Division (United States)|5th Armored Division]] of Patton's Third Army had been allowed to advance, sealing off German exit avenues.</ref> Bradley had incorrectly assumed, based on [[Ultra (cryptography)|Ultra]] decoding transcripts, that most of the Germans had already escaped encirclement, and he feared a German counterattack as well as possible friendly fire casualties.<ref>Blumenson, Martin, ''General Bradley's decision at Argentan (August 13, 1944)'', University of Michigan Press (1990), pp. 410–411</ref> Though admitting that a mistake had been made, Bradley placed the blame on General Montgomery for moving the British and Commonwealth troops too slowly, though the latter were in direct contact with a large number of SS Panzer, [[3rd Parachute Division (Germany)|paratroopers]], and other elite German forces.<ref>Blumenson, Martin, ''General Bradley's decision at Argentan (August 13, 1944)'', University of Michigan Press (1990), p. 412</ref><ref>Jarymowycz, Roman, ''Tank Tactics; from Normandy to Lorraine'', Lynne Rienner, {{ISBN|1-55587-950-0}} (2001), p. 196</ref>

===Germany===
The American forces reached the "[[Siegfried Line]]" or "Westwall" in late September. The success of the advance had taken the Allied high command by surprise. They had expected the German ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' to make stands on the natural defensive lines provided by the French rivers, and had not prepared the [[American logistics in the Western Allied invasion of Germany|logistics]] for the much deeper advance of the Allied armies, so fuel ran short.
 
[[File:Marshall arnold and bradley.jpg|right|thumb|[[Chief of Staff of the United States Army|Army Chief of Staff]] General [[George Marshall]] (center) and [[United States Army Air Forces|Army Air Forces]] Commander General [[Henry H. Arnold]] confer with Bradley on the beach at Normandy in 1944]]

Eisenhower faced a decision on strategy. Bradley favored an advance into the [[Saarland]], or possibly a two-thrust assault on both the Saarland and the [[Ruhr Area]]. Montgomery argued for a narrow thrust across the Lower Rhine, preferably with all Allied ground forces under his personal command as they had been in the early months of the Normandy campaign, into the open country beyond and then to the northern flank into the Ruhr, thus avoiding the [[Siegfried Line]]. Although Montgomery was not permitted to launch an offensive on the scale he had wanted, George Marshall and [[Hap Arnold]] were eager to use the [[First Allied Airborne Army]] to cross the Rhine, so Eisenhower agreed to [[Operation Market Garden]]. Bradley opposed the operation, and bitterly protested to Eisenhower the priority of supplies given to Montgomery, but Eisenhower, mindful of British public opinion regarding damage from V-1 missile launches in the north, refused to make any changes.

[[File:LtGen Omar Bradley, LtGen George Patton, and MGen Manton Eddy.jpg|thumb|left|From left to right: Major General [[Leven Cooper Allen|Leven C. Allen]], Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, Major General [[John Shirley Wood|John S. Wood]], Lieutenant General [[George S. Patton]] and Major General [[Manton S. Eddy]] being shown a map by one of Patton's armored battalion commanders during a tour near Metz, France, November 1944]]

Bradley's Army Group now covered a very wide front in hilly country, from the [[Netherlands]] to [[Lorraine (région)|Lorraine]]. Despite having the largest concentration of Allied army forces, Bradley faced difficulties in prosecuting a successful broad-front offensive in difficult country with a skilled enemy. General Bradley and his First Army commander, General [[Courtney Hodges]], eventually decided to attack through a corridor known as the Aachen Gap towards the German township of Schmidt. The only nearby military objectives were the Roer River flood control dams, but these were not mentioned in contemporary plans and documents.<ref>Whiting, Charles, ''The Battle of Hurtgen Forest'', p. 69.</ref> Bradley and Hodges' original objective may have been to outflank German forces and prevent them from reinforcing their units further north in the [[Battle of Aachen]]. After the war, Bradley would cite the Roer dams as the objective.<ref>Whiting, Charles, ''The Battle of Hurtgen Forest'', p. 44.</ref> Since the Germans held the dams, they could also unleash millions of gallons of water into the path of advance. The campaign's confused objectives, combined with poor intelligence,<ref>Whiting, Charles, ''The Battle of Hurtgen Forest'', p. 44: None of the senior commanders appear to have considered the potential danger to U.S. forces if the Germans released large amounts of water from the Roer dams, flooding the area and channeling U.S. forces into zones heavily defended by the German army.</ref> resulted in the costly series of battles known as the [[Battle of Hurtgen Forest]], which cost some 33,000 American casualties.<ref name="D'Este, Carlo p. 627">D'Este, Carlo, ''Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life'', p. 627.</ref> At the end of the fighting in the Hurtgen, German forces remained in control of the Roer dams in what has been described as "the most ineptly fought series of battles of the war in the west."<ref name="D'Este, Carlo p. 627"/> Further south, Patton's Third Army, which had been advancing with great speed, was faced with last priority (behind the U.S. First and Ninth Armies) for supplies, gasoline and ammunition. As a result, the Third Army lost momentum as German resistance stiffened around the extensive defenses surrounding the city of [[Metz]]. While Bradley focused on these two campaigns, the Germans were in the process of assembling troops and materiel for a surprise winter offensive.

===Battle of the Bulge===
Bradley's command took the initial brunt of what would become the [[Battle of the Bulge]]. For logistical and command reasons, General Eisenhower decided to place Bradley's First and Ninth Armies under the temporary command of Field Marshal Montgomery's 21st Army Group on the northern flank of the Bulge. Bradley was incensed, and began shouting at Eisenhower: "By God, Ike, I cannot be responsible to the American people if you do this. I resign."<ref>Ambrose, Stephen, ''Eisenhower, soldier and president'', New York: Simon & Schuster, {{ISBN|978-0-671-70107-9}} (1990), p. 174.</ref> Eisenhower turned red, took a breath and replied evenly, "Brad, I—not you—am responsible to the American people. Your resignation therefore means absolutely nothing."<ref name="Ambrose, Stephen p. 174">Ambrose, Stephen, ''Eisenhower, soldier and president'', p. 174.</ref> Bradley paused, made one more protest, then fell silent as Eisenhower concluded, "Well, Brad, those are my orders."<ref name="Ambrose, Stephen p. 174"/>

At least one historian has attributed Eisenhower's support for Bradley's subsequent promotion to (temporary) four-star general (March 1945, not made permanent until January 1949) to, in part, a desire to compensate him for the way in which he had been sidelined during the Battle of the Bulge.<ref>D'Este, Carlo, ''Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life'', p. 668</ref> Others point out that both Secretary of War Stimson and General Eisenhower had desired to reward General Patton with a fourth star for his string of accomplishments in 1944, but that Eisenhower could not promote Patton over Bradley, [[Jacob L. Devers|Devers]], and other senior commanders without upsetting the chain of command (as Bradley commanded these people in the theater). A more likely explanation is that as Bradley commanded an Army Group and was the immediate subordinate of Eisenhower, who was promoted to five star rank on 20 December 1944, it was only appropriate that he should hold the next lower rank.<ref>Jordan, Jonathan W., ''Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, and the Partnership that drove the Allied Conquest in Europe '', New York: Penguin Group, {{ISBN|978-1101475249}} (2011)</ref><ref>Patton, G.S. and Blumenson, M., ''The Patton Papers, 1940–1945'', Cambridge MA: Da Capo Press, {{ISBN|0-306-80717-3}} (1974) p. 655</ref>

===Victory===
[[File:The British Army in North-west Europe 1944-45 BU3380.jpg|thumb|right|Allied commanders conference, 11 April 1945. Lieutenant-General [[Miles Dempsey|Sir Miles Dempsey]] (commanding the [[Second Army (United Kingdom)|British Second Army]]); General Omar Bradley (C-in-C 12th Army Group); Field Marshal [[Bernard Montgomery|Sir Bernard Montgomery]] (C-in-C [[21st Army Group]]); Lieutenant General [[William Hood Simpson|William H. Simpson]] (commanding the [[Ninth United States Army|U.S. Ninth Army]])]]

Bradley used the advantage gained in March 1945—after Eisenhower authorized a difficult but successful Allied offensive (on a broad front with British [[Operation Veritable]] to the north and American [[Operation Grenade]] to the south) in February 1945—to break the German defenses and cross the Rhine into the industrial heartland of the Ruhr. Aggressive pursuit of the disintegrating German troops by the [[9th Armored Division (United States)|9th Armored Division]] resulted in the capture of a bridge across the [[Rhine|Rhine River]] at [[Remagen]]. Bradley quickly exploited the crossing, forming the southern arm of an enormous [[pincer movement]] encircling the German forces in the Ruhr from the north and south. Over 300,000 prisoners were taken. American forces then met up with the Soviet forces near the [[Elbe]] River in mid-April. By [[V-E Day]], the 12th Army Group was a force of four armies (First, Third, Ninth, and Fifteenth) that numbered over 1.3&nbsp;million men.

===Command style===
[[File:American World War II senior military officials, 1945.JPEG|thumb|left|Senior American commanders of the European theater of World War II, 1945. Seated, from left to right, are [[William Hood Simpson|William H. Simpson]], [[George S. Patton]], [[Carl Spaatz]], [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], Omar Bradley, [[Courtney Hodges]], and [[Leonard T. Gerow]];
standing are (from left to right) [[Ralph Francis Stearley|Ralph F. Stearley]], [[Hoyt Vandenberg]], [[Walter Bedell Smith]], [[Otto P. Weyland]], and [[Richard E. Nugent]]]]

Unlike some of the more colorful generals of World War II, Bradley was polite and courteous in his public appearances. A reticent man, Bradley was first favorably brought to public attention by [[war correspondent]] [[Ernie Pyle]], who was urged by General Eisenhower to "go and discover Bradley".<ref>{{cite book |last=D'Este |first=Carlo |title=Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life |url=https://archive.org/details/eisenhowersoldie00dest |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Henry Holt & Co. |year=2002 |isbn=0-8050-5687-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/eisenhowersoldie00dest/page/404 404] }}</ref> Pyle subsequently wrote several dispatches in which he referred to Bradley as the '''GI's general''', a title that would stay with Bradley throughout his remaining career.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nichols |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fJbtAAAAMAAJ |title=Ernie's War: The Best of Ernie Pyle's World War II Dispatches |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1986 |isbn=0-394-54923-6 |page=358 }}</ref> [[Will Lang Jr.]] of ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine said "The thing I most admire about Omar Bradley is his gentleness. He was never known to issue an order to anybody of any rank without saying 'Please' first."

While the public at large never forgot the image created by newspaper correspondents, a different view of Bradley was offered by combat historian [[S. L. A. Marshall]], who knew both Bradley and George Patton, and had interviewed officers and men under their commands. Marshall, who was also a critic of George S. Patton,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Marshall |first=S. L. A. |title=Great Georgie Redone |journal=The Charleston Gazette |volume=4 |date=March 21, 1970 |page=4 |quote=My own view of him [Patton] was that he was touched by the sun, as were [[Orde Wingate]] and [[Stonewall Jackson]]. }}</ref> noted that Bradley's "common man" image "was played up by Ernie Pyle...The GIs were not impressed with him. They scarcely knew him. He's not a flamboyant figure and he didn't get out much to troops. And the idea that he was idolized by the average soldier is just rot."<ref name=genius>{{cite book |last=D'Este |first=Carlo |title=Patton: A Genius For War |location=New York |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=0-06-016455-7 |year=1995 |page=[https://archive.org/details/patton00carl/page/467 467] |url=https://archive.org/details/patton00carl |url-access=registration }}</ref>

While Bradley retained his reputation as the ''GI's general'', he was criticized by some of his contemporaries for other aspects of his leadership style, sometimes described as "managerial" in nature.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=Adrian R. |title=Omaha Beach: A Flawed Victory |url=https://archive.org/details/omahabeachflawed00lewi |url-access=limited |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn=0-8078-5469-7 |year=2001 |page=[https://archive.org/details/omahabeachflawed00lewi/page/n277 263] }}</ref> British General [[Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein|Bernard Montgomery's]] assessment of Bradley was that he was "dull, conscientious, dependable, and loyal".<ref>{{cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Nigel |title=Master of the Battlefield: Monty's Wary Years, 1942–1944 |location=New York |publisher=McGraw-Hill |year=1983 |page=[https://archive.org/details/masterofbattlefi00hami/page/658 658] |isbn=0-07-025806-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/masterofbattlefi00hami/page/658 }}</ref> He had a habit of peremptorily relieving senior commanders who he felt were too independent, or whose command style did not agree with his own, such as the colorful and aggressive General [[Terry de la Mesa Allen, Sr.|Terry Allen]], commander of the [[1st Infantry Division (United States)|U.S. 1st Infantry Division]] (who was relocated to a different command because Bradley felt that his continued command of the division was making it unmanageably elitist, a decision with which Eisenhower concurred).<ref>D'Este, Carlo, ''Patton'', pp. 467–468: Patton recorded that Bradley was "too prone to cut off heads. This will make division commanders lose their confidence."</ref> While Patton is often viewed today as the archetype of the intolerant, impulsive commander, Bradley actually sacked far more generals and senior commanders during World War II, whereas Patton relieved only one general from his command—[[Orlando Ward]]—for cause during the entire war (and only after giving General Ward two warnings).<ref name=genius/> When required, Bradley could be a hard disciplinarian; he recommended the death sentence for several soldiers while he served as the commander of the First Army.<ref>{{cite book |first=French L. |last=Maclean |title=The Fifth Field: The Story of the 96 American Soldiers Sentenced to Death and Executed in Europe and North Africa in World War II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=42qrmwEACAAJ |location=Atglen, PA |publisher=Schiffer Publishing |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-7643-4577-7 }}</ref>

One controversy of Bradley's leadership involved the lack of use of specialized tanks ([[Hobart's Funnies]]) in the Normandy invasion.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Anderson | first1=Richard Jr. |chapter=Appendix B, A Footnote to History: The "Offer" of A.V.R.E's to the U.S. Army |title=Cracking Hitler's Atlantic Wall: The 1st Assault Brigade Royal Engineers on D-Day |location=Mechanicsburg, PA |publisher=Stakpole Books |year = 2009 |isbn=978-0811705899 }}</ref> After the war [[Chester Wilmot]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilmot |first1=Chester |year=1997 |orig-date=1952 |title=The Struggle for Europe |location=Old Saybrook, CT |publisher=Konecky and Konecky |isbn=1-56852-525-7 }}</ref> quoted correspondence with the developer of the tanks, Major General [[Percy Hobart]], to the effect that the failure to use such tanks was a major contributing factor to the losses at Omaha Beach, and that Bradley had deferred the decision whether to use the tanks to his staff who had not taken up the offer, other than in respect of the [[DD tank|DD (swimming) tanks]]. However a later memo from the 21st Army Group is on record<ref>Brig. Sir Edwin Ottway Herbert, ''US Requirements for British Devices- OVERLORD'', February 16, 1944</ref> as relaying two separate requests from the First Army, one dealing with the DD tanks and "Porpoises" (towed waterproof trailers), the other with a variety of other Funnies. The second list gives not only items of specific interest with requested numbers, but items known to be available that were not of interest. The requested items were modified Shermans, and tank attachments compatible with Shermans. Noted as not of interest were Funnies that required [[Churchill tank|Churchill]] or [[Valentine tank|Valentine]] tanks, or for which alternatives were available from the US. Of the six requested types of Funnies, the Sherman flamethrower version of the [[Churchill Crocodile]] is known to have been difficult to produce, and the Centipede never seems to have been used in combat. Richard Anderson considers that the press of time prevented the production of the other four items in numbers beyond the Commonwealth's requirements. Given the heavier surf and the topography of Omaha Beach, it is unlikely that the funnies would have been as useful there as they were on the Commonwealth beaches.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Anderson | first1=Richard Jr. |chapter=Appendix C, The Funnies and Omaha Beach |title=Cracking Hitler's Atlantic Wall: The 1st Assault Brigade Royal Engineers on D-Day |location=Mechanicsburg, PA |publisher=Stakpole Books |year= 2009 |isbn=978-0811705899 }}</ref> The British had agreed to provide British-crewed Funnies to operate with the American forces but were unable to train the crews and deliver the vehicles in time.<ref>{{cite book |last=Caddick-Adams |first=Peter |title=Sand and Steel: A New History of D-Day |publisher=Random House |date=2019 |page=221 |isbn=978-0-19060-189-8}}</ref>

==Post-war==
[[File:Omar Bradley, official military photo, 1949.JPEG|thumb|right|upright|Official portrait of Bradley as the [[Administrator of Veterans Affairs]], {{circa|1945}}|alt=refer to caption]]

===Veterans Administration===
President Truman appointed Bradley to head the [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|Veterans Administration]] for two years after the war. He served from 15 August 1945 to 30 November 1947,<ref>{{cite web|title=Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., from its establishment, in 1802: [Supplement, volume IX 1940–1950]|url=http://digital-library.usma.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16919coll3/id/22314/show/20585/rec/2|website=USMA Library-Digital Collections|access-date=June 1, 2016|page=210}}</ref> being credited with doing much to improve its health care system and with helping veterans receive their educational benefits under the [[G. I. Bill of Rights]]. Bradley's influence on the VA is credited with helping shape it into the agency it is today. He was a regular visitor to Capitol Hill and lobbied on behalf of veterans' benefits in testimony before various congressional veteran affairs committees. Due to his numerous contributions to the Veterans Administration, the [[Secretary of Veterans Affairs]]' primary conference room at the headquarters of the Department of Veterans Affairs is named in Bradley's honor.

===Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff===
[[File:Louis Johnson swears in Omar Bradley as the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.jpg|thumb|left|Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson swears in Bradley as the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., 16 August 1949]]
Bradley became the [[Chief of Staff of the United States Army|Army Chief of Staff]] in 1948. After assuming command, Bradley found a U.S. military establishment badly in need of reorganization, equipment, and training. As Bradley himself put it, "the Army of 1948 could not fight its way out of a paper bag."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GoZgHQAACAAJ |page=6 |last=Dunford |first=J.F. (Lt. Col.) |title=The Strategic Implications of Defensive Operations at the Pusan Perimeter July–September 1950 |location=Carlisle, PA: U.S. Army War College |date=April 7, 1999 }}</ref><ref>Bradley, Omar, and Blair, Clay, ''A General's Life: An AutoBiography by General of the Army Omar N. Bradley'', p. 474</ref><ref name="Blair, Clay 1953, p. 290">Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War: America in Korea, 1950–1953, Naval Institute Press (2003), p. 290</ref><ref name="Hofmann, George F. 2000 pp. 7-12">{{cite journal |url=https://www.benning.army.mil/Armor/eARMOR/content/issues/2000/SEP_OCT/ArmorSeptemberOctober%202000web.pdf |last=Hofmann |first=George F. |title=Tanks and the Korean War: A case study of unpreparedness |journal=[[Armor (magazine)|Armor]] |volume=109 |number=5 |date=September–October 2000 |pages=7–12 }}</ref>

On 11 August 1949, president [[Harry S. Truman]] appointed Bradley the first [[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]]. After his initial 1948 plan to expand the Army and modernize its equipment was rejected by the Truman Administration, Bradley reacted to the increasingly severe postwar defense department budget cutbacks imposed by Secretary of Defense [[Louis A. Johnson]] by publicly supporting Johnson's decisions, going so far as to tell Congress that he would be doing a "disservice to the nation" if he asked for a larger military force.<ref name="Blair, Clay 1953, p. 290"/><ref name="Hofmann, George F. 2000 pp. 7-12"/><ref>Bradley, Omar, and Blair, Clay, ''A General's Life: An AutoBiography by General of the Army Omar N. Bradley'', pp. 486–487</ref><ref>Davis, Vincent, ''The Post-imperial Presidency'', New Brunswick: Transaction Press {{ISBN|0-87855-747-4}} (1980), p. 102</ref> Bradley also suggested that [[Revolt of the Admirals|official Navy protests]] of Secretary Johnson's canceling the supercarrier {{USS|United States|CVA-58|2}} were due to improper personal or political, even [[Mutiny|mutinous]] motives, calling Navy admirals "fancy dans who won't hit the line with all they have on every play unless they can call the signals", and who were in "open rebellion against the civilian control."<ref>Axlerod, Alan, ''Bradley'', New York: Palgrave MacMillan, {{ISBN|978-0-230-60018-8}} (2008), p. 174</ref><ref>Blechman, Barry M., ''The American military in the twenty-first century'', Henry L. Stimson Center, New York: St. Martin's Press, {{ISBN|978-0-312-10369-9}} (1993), p. 14</ref>

In his second memoir, Bradley would later state that not arguing more forcefully in 1948 and 1949 for a sufficient defense budget "was a mistake... perhaps the greatest mistake I made in my postwar years in Washington."<ref>Bradley, Omar, and Blair, Clay, ''A General's Life: An AutoBiography by General of the Army Omar N. Bradley'', p. 487</ref><ref>''Testimony by Army Chief of Staff Omar N. Bradley before the Senate Armed Services Committee'', March 25, 1948, Army Digest 3, No. 5 (May 1948), pp. 61–63</ref>

On 22 September 1950,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/armyorank/blgoa.htm | title = General of the Armies of the United States and General of the Army of the United States | access-date = September 28, 2009 | quote = General of the Army Omar N. Bradley, appointed Sep 22, 50. Deceased Apr 81. (General Bradley appointed pursuant to PL 957, on Sep 18, 1950.) | archive-date = March 3, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200620/http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/armyorank/blgoa.htm }}</ref> he was promoted to the rank of [[General of the Army (United States)|General of the Army]], the fifth—and last—person to achieve that rank. That same year, Bradley was made the first [[Chairman of the NATO Military Committee]]. He remained on the committee until August 1953, when he left active duty. During his service, Bradley visited the White House over 300 times and was frequently featured on the cover of [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]].

Bradley was also an outspoken supporter of providing aid and improving relations with [[Yugoslavia]], stating in an address to Congress on 30 November 1950, that "In the first place, if we could even take them out of the hostile camp and make them neutral, that is one step. If you can get them to act as a threat, that's a second step. if you can get them to actively participate on your side, that is an even further step and then, of course, if you had a commitment, where their efforts were integrated with those of ours on the defence, that would still be a further step." This marked the beginning of US military aid to a communist nation in order to counter [[Soviet]] ambitions in the region, leading to greater strives in [[United States–Yugoslavia relations]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brands |first1=Henry |title=Redefining the Cold War: American Policy toward Yugoslavia, 1948–60 |journal=Diplomatic History |date=1987 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=41–53 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-7709.1987.tb00003.x |jstor=24911740 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24911740}}</ref>

In 1950 Bradley was elected as an honorary member of the New York [[Society of the Cincinnati]] in recognition of his outstanding service to his country.

===Korean War===
As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Bradley was the senior military officer at the outset of the [[Korean War]]. When North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950, Bradley was faced with re-organizing and deploying an American military force that was a shadow of its World War II counterpart.<ref>Blair, Clay, ''The Forgotten War: America in Korea, 1950–1953'', Naval Institute Press (2003), p. 290</ref><ref>Hofmann, George F., ''Tanks and the Korean War: A case study of unpreparedness'', Armor, Vol. 109 Issue 5 (Sep/Oct 2000), pp. 7–12: In 1948, the U.S. Army had to impose an 80 percent reduction in equipment requirements, deferring any equipment modernization. When the Joint Chiefs of Staff submitted a $30 billion total defense budget for FY 1948, the administration capped the DOD budget at the $14.4 billion set in 1947 and progressively reduced in succeeding fiscal years until January 1950, when it was reduced again to $13.5 billion.</ref> The impact of the Truman administration's defense budget cutbacks were now keenly felt, as poorly equipped American troops, lacking sufficient tanks, anti-tank weapons, or artillery were driven down the Korean peninsula to [[Busan|Pusan]] in a series of costly rearguard actions.<ref>Dunford, J.F. (Lt. Col.) ''The Strategic Implications of Defensive Operations at the Pusan Perimeter July–September 1950'', Carlisle, PA: U.S. Army War College (April 7, 1999) pp. 6–8, 12</ref><ref>Zabecki, David T., ''Stand or Die – 1950 Defense of Korea's Pusan Perimeter'', Military History (May 2009): The inability of U.S. forces to stop the 1950 North Korean summer offensive cost the Eighth Army 4,280 killed in action, 12,377 wounded, 2,107 missing and 401 confirmed captured between July 5 and September 16, 1950, in addition to the lives of tens of thousands of South Korean soldiers and civilians.</ref> In a postwar analysis of the unpreparedness of U.S. Army forces deployed to Korea during the summer and fall of 1950, Army Major General [[Floyd L. Parks]] stated that "Many who never lived to tell the tale had to fight the full range of ground warfare from offensive to delaying action, unit by unit, man by man...[T]hat we were able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat...does not relieve us from the blame of having placed our own flesh and blood in such a predicament."<ref>Lewis, Adrian R., ''The American culture of war'', New York: Taylor & Francis Group, {{ISBN|978-0-415-97975-7}} (2007), p. 82</ref>

Bradley was the chief military policy maker during the Korean War, and supported Truman's original plan of 'rolling back' Communist aggression by conquering all of North Korea. When Chinese Communists entered North Korea in late 1950 and again drove back American forces, Bradley agreed that rollback had to be dropped in favor of a strategy of ''containment'' of North Korea. The containment strategy was subsequently adopted by the Truman administration for North Korea, and applied to communist expansion worldwide. Never an admirer of General [[Douglas MacArthur]], Bradley was instrumental in convincing Truman to dismiss MacArthur as the overall commander in the Korean theatre<ref>MacArthur actually held several titles: he was the Allied Commander of United Nations Forces in the Far East, [[Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers]] (SCAP) in Japan, and Commander, [[U.S. Army Forces Far East]] (USAFFE)</ref> after MacArthur resisted administration attempts to scale back strategic objectives in the Korean War.

In his testimony to the U.S. Congress, Bradley strongly rebuked MacArthur for his support of victory at all costs in the Korean War. Soon after Truman relieved MacArthur of command in April 1951, Bradley said in Congressional testimony, "Red China is not the powerful nation seeking to dominate the world. Frankly, in the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, this strategy would involve us in [[the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy]]."

==Retirement==
[[File:Omar Bradley Portrait.jpg|thumb|alt=Portrait of General Omar Nelson Bradley|Portrait of Bradley]]

Bradley left active military service in August 1953, but remained on active duty by virtue of his rank of General of the Army. He chaired the [[Commission on Veterans' Pensions]], commonly known as the "Bradley Commission", in 1955–1956. In January 1956, Bradley became one of the founding members of the President's Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities, later the [[President's Intelligence Advisory Board]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Supplementary Detailed Staff Reports on Foreign and Military Intelligence |date=April 23, 1976 |url=http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/pdfs94th/94755_IV.pdf |page=62 |archive-date=May 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505050732/http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/pdfs94th/94755_IV.pdf }}</ref>

In retirement, Bradley held a number of positions in commercial life, including [[Chair (official)|Chairman of the Board]] of the [[Bulova|Bulova Watch Company]] from 1958 to 1973.<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://www.bulova.com/about/history.aspx | title = The History of Bulova | publisher = [[Bulova]] | access-date = May 14, 2007 | archive-date = November 20, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101120090813/http://bulova.com/about/history.aspx | url-status = dead }}</ref> He frequently visited Moberly, Missouri, which he described as his hometown and his favorite city in the world. He was a member of the Moberly [[Rotary Club]], regularly played near-handicap golf at the Moberly Country Club course, and had a "Bradley [[pew]]" at Central Christian Church.

His memoirs, ''A Soldier's Story'' (ghostwritten by aide-de-camp Chester B. Hansen who kept a daily diary for him during the war<ref>''A Soldier's Story'', pg v.</ref>), was published in 1951. Bradley started work on his autobiography ''A General's Life: An Autobiography'' (1983) before his death; it was coauthored with [[Clay Blair]], who completed it posthumously. In this work, Bradley criticized British Field Marshal Montgomery's 1945 claims to have won the [[Battle of the Bulge]].

On 1 December 1965, Bradley's wife, Mary, died of [[leukemia]]. He met Esther Dora "Kitty" Buhler (1922–2004) and married her on 12 September 1966; they were married until his death.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1983-02-06 |title=A GENERAL'S WIFE |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1983/02/06/a-generals-wife/cde1fe74-a9c0-408d-bc1a-b6225ef60456/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623061738/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1983/02/06/a-generals-wife/cde1fe74-a9c0-408d-bc1a-b6225ef60456/ |archive-date=2018-06-23 |access-date=2024-01-05 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>

As a horse racing fan, Bradley spent much of his leisure time at racetracks in California. He was often invited to present the trophies to the winners. He was a lifetime sports fan, especially of college football. He was the 1948 [[Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses]] and attended several subsequent Rose Bowl games. (He was driven in his black limousine through Pasadena; it had a personalized California license plate "ONB" and a red plate with 5 gold stars. He frequently was given a police motorcycle escort to the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.) He also was prominent at the [[Sun Bowl]] in [[El Paso, Texas]], and the [[Independence Bowl]] in [[Shreveport, Louisiana]] in later years.

In 1967–1968 Bradley served as a member of President [[Lyndon Johnson]]'s [[The Wise Men (book)|Wise Men]], a high-level advisory group considering policy for the [[Vietnam War]]. Bradley was a hawk and recommended against withdrawal.<ref>{{cite book | first = Frank Everson |last = Vandiver | title = Shadows of Vietnam: Lyndon Johnson's wars | publisher = Texas A&M University Press | year=1997 | url = https://archive.org/details/shadowsofvietnam00vand | url-access = registration | quote = vietnam Bradley hawks. | page=[https://archive.org/details/shadowsofvietnam00vand/page/327 327] online|isbn = 978-0890967478 }}</ref>

Following the death of [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in March 1969, Bradley was the only surviving 5-star officer in the US Armed Forces.

In 1970, Bradley served as a consultant for the film ''[[Patton (film)|Patton]].'' Screenwriters [[Francis Ford Coppola]] and [[Edmund H. North]] wrote most of the film based on Bradley's memoir, ''A Soldier's Story,'' and the biography, ''Patton: Ordeal and Triumph,'' by [[Ladislas Farago]]. The screenwriters did not have access to General Patton's diaries nor did Patton's family grant interviews. They relied upon observations by Bradley and other military contemporaries when attempting to reconstruct Patton's thoughts and motives.<ref name="Marshall, S.L.A. 1970, p. 4">{{cite news | last=Marshall | first=S.L.A. | title = Great Georgie Redone | newspaper=The Charleston Gazette | volume=4 | date= March 21, 1970 | page=4}}</ref>

In a review of the film ''Patton'', [[S.L.A. Marshall]], who knew both Patton and Bradley, stated that "The Bradley name gets heavy billing on a picture of [a] comrade that, while not caricature, is the likeness of a victorious, glory-seeking buffoon...Patton in the flesh was an enigma. He so stays in the film...Napoleon once said that the art of the general is not strategy but knowing how to mold human nature...Maybe that is all producer Frank McCarthy and Gen. Bradley, his chief advisor, are trying to say."<ref name="Marshall, S.L.A. 1970, p. 4"/> Though each recognized that he owed part of his success to the other, it was known that Bradley disliked Patton both personally and professionally, but in the film they are portrayed as friendly.<ref>{{Cite book | last =Bradley | first=Omar N. | title=A Soldier's Story | page=109}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last =D'Este |first= Carlo | title=Patton: A Genius For War | url =https://archive.org/details/patton00carl | url-access =registration | location=New York |publisher=HarperCollins | isbn=0-06-016455-7 |year=1995 |pages=466-467 [https://archive.org/details/patton00carl/page/466 466–467]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last =D'Este | first=Carlo | title= Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life | url =https://archive.org/details/eisenhowersoldie00dest | url-access =registration | location=New York |publisher=Henry Holt & Co. |year=2002 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/eisenhowersoldie00dest/page/403 403–404]| isbn=9780805056860 }}</ref>

In 1971 Bradley was the subject of an episode of the TV show ''[[This Is Your Life (American franchise)|This Is Your Life]]''.

Bradley attended the 30th anniversary of D-Day at Normandy, France on 6 June 1974, participating in various parades.

On 10 January 1977, Bradley was presented with the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] by President [[Gerald Ford]].

In 1978, Bradley received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] presented by Awards Council member General [[Jimmy Doolittle]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#public-service}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title= They love Cauthen, 'No great student' is among greats honored at Golden Plate awards. Photo: Gen. Omar Bradley signs autographs.|publisher= The Kentucky Press|url= https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/The-Kentucky-Press-June-24-1978.pdf}}</ref>

Bradley was the keynote speaker at [[Pointe du Hoc]], Normandy, France on 6 June 1979, for the 35th anniversary of D-Day. While seated in a wheelchair, he performed an open ranks inspection of the U.S. representative army unit, the 84th Army Band from VII Corps HQ, Stuttgart, West Germany.

Bradley lived during his last years in [[Texas]] at a special residence on the grounds of the [[William Beaumont Army Medical Center]], part of the complex which supports [[Fort Bliss]].

One of Bradley's last public appearances was as the guest of honor at the [[First inauguration of Ronald Reagan|inauguration]] of President [[Ronald Reagan]] on 20 January 1981.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=43669 |title = Statement of Ronald Reagan in memory of Omar Bradley | date = April 9, 1981}}</ref>

== Death ==
[[File:OmarBradleyTombstone.jpg|thumb|General Bradley's headstone in Arlington National Cemetery]]
Omar Bradley died on 8 April 1981, in New York City of a [[cardiac arrhythmia]], a few minutes after receiving an award from the [[National Institute of Social Sciences]]. He is buried at [[Arlington National Cemetery]], next to his two wives.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CgdicmFkbGV5EgRvbWFy/| title = Burial Detail: Bradley, Omar Nelson Bradley (Section 30, Grave 428-1-2|publisher=ANC Explorer}}</ref>

==Recognition and legacy==
Bradley's posthumous autobiography, ''A General's Life'', was published in 1983. Bradley began the book but found writing difficult, and hired writer [[Clay Blair]] to help shape the work. After Bradley's death, Blair continued the writing, using Bradley's first-person voice. The resulting book is also based on Blair's interviews of people in Bradley's circles, and on Bradley's personal papers.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bradley|first=Omar|author2=Clay Blair|title=A General's Life|date=May 1984|publisher=Touchstone |isbn=978-0-671-41024-7}}</ref>

Bradley is known for saying, "Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than about peace, more about killing than we know about living."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bartleby.com/66/26/8126.html|title = Quotation 8126|access-date=June 25, 2008|author=Omar Bradley|work=The Columbia World of Quotations.|year=1996|publisher=Columbia University Press|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011015115017/http://www.bartleby.com/66/26/8126.html|archive-date=October 15, 2001|quote=The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996. NUMBER: 8126 QUOTATION: We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount.... The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. ATTRIBUTION: Omar Bradley (1893–1981), U.S. general. speech, November 11, 1948, Armistice Day. Collected Writings, vol. 1 (1967).}}</ref>

The U.S. Army's [[Bradley Fighting Vehicle]] was named after General Bradley.

Bradley's hometown, Moberly, Missouri, classifies him as a "favorite son" and is planning a library and museum in his honor.{{update|date=February 2019}} Bradley Leadership Symposia have been held in Moberly, honoring him as a teacher of young officers.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} On 12 February 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives, the Missouri Senate, the Missouri House, the County of Randolph and the City of Moberly recognized Bradley's birthday as General Omar Nelson Bradley Day.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}

On 5 May 2000, the [[United States Postal Service]] issued a series of ''Distinguished Soldiers'' stamps in which Bradley was honored.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&productId=16810&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=13370|title=Distinguished Soldiers|work=United States Postal Service|accessdate=May 16, 2007}}</ref>

There is also an elementary school named after him in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bradley.usd207.org/|title=Bradley Elementary School|accessdate=April 27, 2025}}</ref>

==Summary of service==
===Assignment history===
[[File:Omar Bradley.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Omar Bradley, General of the Army]]
* 1 August 1911: Cadet, [[United States Military Academy]], [[West Point]]
* 12 June 1915: [[14th Infantry Regiment (United States)|14th Infantry Regiment]]
* 10 September 1919: ROTC professor, [[South Dakota State University|South Dakota State College]]
* 13 September 1920: Instructor, [[United States Military Academy]]
* 15 September 1924: Infantry School Student, [[Fort Benning]], Georgia
* 1 October 1925: Battalion Commander, [[27th Infantry Regiment (United States)|27th Infantry Regiment]]
* 10 June 1927: Office of National Guard and Reserve Affairs, [[Hawaiian Department]]
* 31 August 1928: Student, [[Command and General Staff School]]
* 1 August 1929: Instructor, [[United States Army Infantry School]], [[Fort Benning]], Georgia
* 18 August 1933: Student, [[United States Army War College]]
* 30 June 1934: Plans and Training Officer, [[United States Military Academy]]
* 1 June 1938: War Department General Staff, G-1 Chief of Operations Branch and Assistant Secretary of the General Staff
* 5 March 1941: Commandant, U.S. Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia
* 19 February 1942: Commanding General, [[82nd Airborne Division|82nd Infantry Division]]
* 27 June 1942: Commanding General, [[28th Infantry Division (United States)|28th Infantry Division]]
* 24 February 1943: Personal representative in the field for Commanding General, North Africa Theater of Operations (NATO)
* 6 March 1943: Deputy Commander, II Corps
* 16 April 1943: Commanding General, [[II Corps (United States)|II Corps]], North Africa and Sicily
* 9 September 1943: Commanding General, Field Forces European Theater
* 6 March 1944: Commanding General, [[First United States Army|First Army]]
* 1 August 1944: Commanding General, [[12th Army Group]]
* 12 July 1945: 12th Army Group disestablished, returned to United States
* 15 August 1945: [[Administrator of Veterans Affairs]], [[Veterans Administration]]
* 1 December 1947: Furlough
* 7 February 1948: [[United States Army Chief of Staff]]
* 15 August 1949: [[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]]
* 19 August 1953: Remained on active duty without an assignment<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/5356*.html|title=Omar N. Bradley • Cullum's Register • 5356}}</ref>

===Orders, decorations and medals===
====United States====
{|
|-
|[[File:Defense Distinguished Service ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[Defense Distinguished Service Medal]]
|-
|{{ribbon devices|number=3|type=oak|ribbon=Distinguished Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=60}}
|[[Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army)|Army Distinguished Service Medal]] with three [[oak leaf cluster]]s
|-
|[[File:Navy Distinguished Service ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[Navy Distinguished Service Medal]]
|-
|[[File:Silver Star BAR.svg|60px]]
|[[Silver Star]]
|-
|{{ribbon devices|number=1|type=oak|ribbon=Legion of Merit ribbon.svg|width=60}}
|[[Legion of Merit]] with oak leaf cluster
|-
|[[File:Bronze Star ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[Bronze Star Medal]]
|-
|[[File:Presidential Medal of Freedom (ribbon).svg|60px]]
|[[Presidential Medal of Freedom]]
|-
|[[File:Mexican Border Service Medal ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[Mexican Border Service Medal]]
|-
|[[File:World War I Victory Medal ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[World War I Victory Medal (United States)|World War I Victory Medal]]
|-
|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=Army of Occupation of Germany ribbon.svg|width=60px}} 
|[[Army of Occupation of Germany Medal]]
|-
|[[File:American Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[American Defense Service Medal]]
|-
|[[File:American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[American Campaign Medal]]
|-
|{{ribbon devices|number=7|type=service-star|other_device=arrowhead|ribbon=European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign ribbon.svg|width=60}}
|[[European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal]] with [[Arrowhead device]], one silver and two bronze campaign stars
|-
|[[File:World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[World War II Victory Medal]]
|-
|[[File:Army of Occupation ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[Army of Occupation Medal]] with "Germany" clasp
|-
|{{ribbon devices|number=1|type=oak|ribbon=National Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=60}}
|[[National Defense Service Medal]] with oak leaf cluster

|}
* [[File:Combat Infantry Badge.svg|125px]] [[Combat Infantryman Badge]] (honorary)
* [[File:United States Army Staff Identification Badge.png|90px]] [[Army Staff Identification Badge]]
* [[File:ArmyOSB.svg|60px]] Four [[Overseas Service Bar]]s

====Foreign orders====
* [[File:Legion Honneur GC ribbon.svg|60px]] Grand Cross, [[Legion of Honour]] (France)
* [[File:BEL Kroonorde Grootkruis BAR.svg|60px]] Grand Cross, [[Order of the Crown (Belgium)]]
* [[File:Ordre de la couronne de Chene GC ribbon.svg|60px]] Grand Cross, [[Order of the Oak Crown]] (Luxembourg)
* [[File:GRE Order of George I - Grand Cross BAR.png|60px]] Grand Cross, [[Order of George I]] (Greece)
* [[File:GRE Order of the Phoenix - Grand Cross BAR.png|60px]] Grand Cross, [[Order of the Phoenix (Greece)|Order of the Phoenix]] (Greece)
* [[File:Cavaliere di gran croce OMS BAR.svg|60px]] Grand Cross, [[Military Order of Savoy]] (Italy)
* [[File:Order of the Bath UK ribbon.svg|60px]] Honorary Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Bath]] (United Kingdom)
* [[File:ARG Order of the Liberator San Martin - Grand Officer BAR.png|60px]] Grand Officer, [[Order of the Liberator General San Martín|Order of the Liberator]] (Argentina)
* [[File:BRA Ordem do Merito Militar Grande Oficial.png|60px]] Grand Officer, [[Order of Military Merit (Brazil)]]
* [[File:Order of Orange-Nassau ribbon - Grand Officer.svg|60px]] Grand Officer, [[Order of Orange-Nassau]] (Netherlands)
* [[File:TCH Rad Bileho Lva 3 tridy (pre1990) BAR.svg|60px]] Commander, [[Order of the White Lion]] (Czechoslovakia)
* [[File:Ordre de l'Ouissam Alaouite Commandeur ribbon (Maroc).svg|60px]] Commander of the [[Order of Ouissam Alaouite]] (Morocco)
* [[File:POL Polonia Restituta Komandorski BAR.svg|60px]] Commander's Cross of the [[Order of Polonia Restituta]] (Poland)
* [[File:Order of Suvorov 106x30.png|60px]] [[Order of Suvorov|Order of Suvorov First Class]] (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)<ref name="Empric">{{citation |last=Empric |first=Bruce E. |title=Uncommon Allies: U.S. Army Recipients of Soviet Military Decorations in World War II |publisher=Teufelsberg Press |pages=46, 64 |year=2024 |isbn=979-8-3444-6807-5}}</ref>
* [[File:Order kutuzov1 ribbon.jpg|60px]] [[Order of Kutuzov|Order of Kutuzov First Class)]] (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)<ref name="Empric"/>

====Foreign decorations and medals====
* [[File:Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 ribbon.svg|60px]]<span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -52px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:UK Queen%27s Commendation for Valuable Service device.svg|43px]]</span> [[Croix de guerre 1939-1945 (France)|French ''Croix de guerre'' with silver-gilt palm]]
* {{ribbon devices|ribbon=BEL Croix de Guerre 1944 ribbon.svg|width=60}} [[Croix de guerre (Belgium)|War Cross WWII (Belgium)]] with palm
* {{ribbon devices|ribbon=Czechoslovak War Cross 1939-1945 Ribbon.png|width=60}} [[Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945]]
* [[File:LUX Croix de Guerre ribbon.svg|60px]] [[Luxembourg War Cross]]
* [[File:UK Queen EII Coronation Medal ribbon.svg|60px]] [[Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal]]

===Dates of rank===
Source:<ref>''[https://archive.org/stream/officialarmyregi1946unit#page/76/mode/2up Register of the Army of the United States for 1946]'', United States Government Printing Office Washington: U.S. Secretary of War. 1946. p.&nbsp;76</ref><ref name="af1949pfs">{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/afhra-k205.10-952/AFHRA%20K205.10-943%20bios/page/n31/mode/2up |title=Personal Fact Sheet, Omar Nelson Bradley |pages=29–33 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=August 16, 1949 |publisher=[[Air Force Historical Research Agency]]}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable" style="background:white"
|-
|align="center" |No insignia
|[[Cadet#United States|Cadet]], [[United States Military Academy]]: 1 August 1911
|-
|align="center" |''No pin insignia in 1915''
|[[Second lieutenant#United States|Second Lieutenant]], [[United States Army]]: 12 June 1915
|-
|align="center" |[[File:US-O2 insignia.svg|13px]]
|[[First lieutenant#United States|First Lieutenant]], United States Army: 1 July 1916
|-
|align="center" |[[File:US-O3 insignia.svg|33px]]
|[[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]], United States Army: 15 May 1917
|-
|align="center" |[[File:US-O4 insignia.svg|40px]]
|Temporary [[Major (United States)|Major]], [[National Army (USA)|National Army]]: 17 June 1918 to 22 January 1920
|-
|align="center" |[[File:US-O4 insignia.svg|40px]]
|Major, National Army: 1 July 1920
|-
|align="center" |[[File:US-O3 insignia.svg|33px]]
|Captain, [[Regular Army (United States)|Regular Army]] (reverted to permanent rank*): 4 November 1922
|-
|align="center" |[[File:US-O4 insignia.svg|40px]]
|Major, Regular Army: 25 June 1924
|-
|align="center" |[[File:US-O5 insignia.svg|40px]]
|Lieutenant Colonel, Regular Army: 26 July 1936
|-
|align="center" |[[File:US-O7 insignia.svg|33px]]
|[[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]], [[Army of the United States]]: 24 February 1941
|-
|align="center" |[[File:US-O8 insignia.svg|66px]]
|[[Major general (United States)|Major General]], Army of the United States: 15 February 1942
|-
|align="center" |[[File:US-O9 insignia.svg|100px]]
|[[Lieutenant general (United States)|Lieutenant General]], Army of the United States: 2 June 1943
|-
|align="center" |[[File:US-O6 insignia shaded.svg|60px]]
|Colonel, Regular Army: 1 October 1943**
|-
|align="center" |[[File:US-O7 insignia.svg|33px]]
|Brigadier General, Regular Army: 1 September 1943**
|-
|align="center" |[[File:US-O8 insignia.svg|66px]]
|Major General, Regular Army: 8 September 1944
|-
|align="center" |[[File:US-O10 insignia.svg|133px]]
|[[General (United States)|General]], Army of the United States: 12 March 1945
|-
|align="center" |[[File:US-O10 insignia.svg|133px]]
|General, Regular Army: 31 January 1949
|-
|align="center" |[[File:US-O11 insignia.svg|95px]]
|[[General of the Army (United States)|General of the Army]], Regular Army: 22 September 1950
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki> – Discharged as Major and appointed Captain on 4 November 1922; acts 30 June 1922, and 14 September 1922<ref name=register>{{cite book|title=Register of the Army of the United States for 1946|date=1946|publisher=U.S. Secretary of War|location=United States Government Printing Office Washington|page=VIX}}</ref>

<nowiki>**</nowiki> – Bradley's effective date for permanent brigadier general in the Regular Army is earlier than his effective date of promotion for permanent colonel. While serving as a temporary lieutenant general in early 1943, Bradley was notified that he would be promoted to permanent colonel with an effective date of 1 October 1943. At the time, promotions to permanent brigadier and major general had been withheld for more than two years, except for [[Delos C. Emmons]], [[Henry H. Arnold]], and [[Dwight Eisenhower]]. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] lifted the moratorium after Bradley was notified that he would be promoted to colonel, but before the 1 October effective date.

In determining whom to promote after the lifting of Roosevelt's moratorium, Marshall consulted with Eisenhower, and they agreed to promote Bradley and several others. Marshall and Eisenhower then arranged the effective dates of promotion to brigadier general based on where they wanted each of the individuals selected to rank in terms of seniority. Bradley's date of rank for permanent brigadier general was then set as 1 September 1943—even though this was before his 1 October 1943, effective date for promotion to colonel—based on where Eisenhower and Marshall wanted Bradley to fall in terms of seniority as a brigadier general.

Bradley's and the other promotions to brigadier general on which Marshall and Eisenhower had conferred were not acted on until mid-October 1943 because Congress had to approve a waiver for those generals, including Bradley, who did not yet have 28 years of service. As a result, his 1 October 1943, date for promotion to permanent colonel was allowed to remain in effect. When Congress acted in mid-October to approve Bradley's time in service waiver and promotion to permanent brigadier general, his effective date for brigadier general was backdated to 1 September 1943. The 1 September 1943, date for permanent brigadier general enabled Bradley to line up with his peers where Marshall and Eisenhower intended for purposes of seniority.

The effective postdated (and then backdated) date of rank for Bradley's promotion to permanent brigadier general—1 September 1943—thus came before the effective postdated date of rank for his promotion to colonel—1 October1943.<ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=October 1, 1943 |title=14 Generals to get Promotion |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/88370960/ |newspaper=Daily Review |location=Decatur, IL |page=4 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=October 18, 1943 |title=Promotion for Gen. Bradley |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/23119480/ |newspaper=Monitor-Index |location=Moberly, MO |page=1 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=DeFelice |first=Jim |date=2011 |title=Omar Bradley: General at War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SyMjBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA184 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Regnery History |pages=184–185 |isbn=978-1-59698-139-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://marshallfoundation.org/library/digital-archive/to-general-dwight-d-eisenhower-11/ |title=4-094 To General Dwight D. Eisenhower, September 1, 1943 |last1=Marshall |first1=George |date=September 1, 1943 |website=The George C. Marshall Foundation Research Library Online Catalog Search |publisher=George C. Marshall Foundation |access-date=October 19, 2015 |quote=Footnote 5: Eisenhower replied by letter on September 6 with praise for the men Marshall named, but he suggested that the order of promotion priority to Regular Army brigadier general be: McNarney, Bradley, Handy, Smith, Spaatz, Kenney, Eichelberger, Harmon, and Eaker.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |date=1944 |title=Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States |volume=86 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vjQNAQAAMAAJ&q=Omar+Nelson+Bradley+September+1+1943 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=US Government Printing Office |page=249}}</ref> <!-- For additional details, see the March and April 2015 discussion under the heading "Error?" in the talk page for this article. -->

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=UrhMIm9NYr0C |title= Bradley |publisher= [[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year= 2007 |isbn= 978-0230608566 |author= Axelrod, Alan |author-link= Alan Axelrod }}
* Blair, Clay (2003). ''The Forgotten War: America in Korea, 1950–1953''. Naval Institute Press. {{ISBN|978-1-59114-075-7}}.
* Blumenson, Martin (1990). ''General Bradley's Decision at Argentan (August 13, 1944)''. University of Michigan Library Press.
* Blumenson, Martin (1993). ''The Battle of the Generals: The Untold Story of the Falaise Pocket, The Campaign That Should Have Won World War II''. William Morrow & Co. {{ISBN|0688118372}}.
* Bradley, Omar N. and Blair, Clay (1983). ''A General's Life: An Autobiography''. p.&nbsp;752. New York: Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN|978-0-671-41023-0}}.
* Bradley, Omar N. (1951). ''A Soldier's Story''. New York: Holt Publishing Co. {{ISBN|0-375-75421-0}}.
* Cowley, Robert; Parker, Geoffrey (1996). ''The Reader's Companion to Military History''. Houghton Mifflin Company. {{ISBN|978-0395669693}}.
* D'Este, Carlo (1995). ''Patton: A Genius for War''. Harper Perennial. {{ISBN|978-0060927622}}.
* Jordan, Jonathan W. (2011). ''Brothers Rivals Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe''. NAL. {{ISBN|978-0451232120}}.
* Lavoie, Jeffrey D. Lavoie. ''The Private Life of General Omar N. Bradley.'' Jefferson McFarland, 2015. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-9839-0}}.
* MacLean, Colonel French L.  ''The Fifth Field: The Story of the 96 American Soldiers Sentenced to Death and Executed in Europe and North Africa in World War II'', Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2013, {{ISBN|9780764345777}}.
* Ossad, Steven L. ''Omar Nelson Bradley: America's GI General'' (U of Missouri Press, 2017)
*{{cite book|last=Taaffe|first=Stephen R.|title=Marshall and His Generals: U.S. Army Commanders in World War II|year=2013|location=Lawrence, Kansas|publisher=University Press of Kansas|isbn=978-0-7006-1942-9|oclc=840162019}}
* [[Russell F. Weigley|Weigley, Russell F.]] (1981). ''Eisenhower's Lieutenants: The Campaign of France and Germany 1944–1945''. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.  {{ISBN|0-253-20608-1}}.
* Whiting, Charles (2000). ''The Battle of Hurtgen Forest''. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. {{ISBN|1-58097-055-9}}.
* {{cite book|url = http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/bradley/bradley.htm|title = Omar Nelson Bradley, The Centennial|publisher = [[United States Army Center of Military History]]|access-date = August 2, 2010|archive-date = January 14, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210114014137/http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/bradley/bradley.htm|url-status = dead}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons|Omar N. Bradley}}
{{wikiquote}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131213071131/http://cdm16635.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16635coll16/id/3658 Chester B. Hansen Collection] – Hansen was the aide of GEN (and GOA) Bradley during and after World War II. US Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
* [http://historicalregistry.com/?page_id=222 Omar Nelson Bradley, Lt. General FUSAG 12TH AG] – Omar Bradley's D-Day June 6, 1944, Maps restored, preserved and displayed at Historical Registry
* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=5550 The American Presidency Project]
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.archives.arc.2569666|name=Big Picture: The Omar N. Bradley Story}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/002329}}
*[https://www.unithistories.com/officers/US_Army_officers_B01.html#Bradley_ON United States Army Officers 1939–1945]
*[https://generals.dk/general/Bradley/Omar_Nelson/USA.html Generals of World War II]

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