John Joseph `` Black Jack '' Pershing ( September 13 , 1860 - July 15 , 1948 ) , was a general officer in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. Pershing is the only person to be promoted in his own lifetime to the highest rank ever held in the United States Army-General of the Armies ( a retroactive Congressional edict passed in 1976 promoted George Washington to the same rank but with higher seniority ) .
He led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. Pershing is the only person to be promoted in his own lifetime to the highest rank ever held in the United States Army .