John Archer Lejeune was born on January 10, 1867, in Raccourci, Louisiana, and died on November 20, 1942, in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended LSU beginning in 1881, was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy, and graduated in 1888. He graduated from the U.S. Army War College in 1910. His military promotions included second lieutenant at sea in 1890, captain during the Spanish American War in 1898, major during the Panama Uprising in 1903, lieutenant colonel during the Cuba Uprising in 1912, brigadier general at Marine Barracks Quantico, Virginia, in 1917, major general as commander of the 2nd Division of the U.S. Army in 1918, major general as Commandant of the Marine Corps in 1920, and major general, retired, in 1929. In 1929 he became superintendent of Virginia Military Institute, retired from Virginia Military Institute in 1937, and in 1942 received a lieutenant general appointment from Franklin Roosevelt, becoming the first Marine to hold that rank.