Fox Conner Fox Conner ( November 2 , 1874 – October 13 , 1951 ) was a major general of the United States Army . He served as operations officer for the American Expeditionary Force during World War I , but is best remembered as " the man who made Eisenhower " . Early career . Conner was born at Slate Springs , in Calhoun County , Mississippi . He was appointed to the United States Military Academy on June 15 , 1894 , and graduated as a 2nd lieutenant in the 1st Artillery Regiment on April 26 , 1898 . His first assignment was to Fort Adams in Newport , RI until October . After brief assignments in Huntsville , Alabama and Savannah , Georgia he was sent to Cuba in January 1899 to serve with the Cuban occupation force . In August 1900 he was reassigned to Washington Barracks ( today named Fort McNair ) in Washington , D . C . He was promoted to captain on September 3 , 1901 and was transferred to Fort Hamilton , NY in November 1901 to command the 123d Coast Artillery Company . He held this assignment until August 1905 when he attended the Army Staff College at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . He then served as adjutant of the Artillery sub - post of Fort Riley , Kansas from July 4 , 1906 to May 1907 . In September 1907 Conner was assigned to 3rd Division , General Staff and also as a student at the Army War College from which he graduated in July 1911 . Conner was then attached to the French 22nd Field Artillery Regiment in Versailles , France from October 1911 to October 1912 . He developed a reputation as a rising star in the Army , serving in the Army General Staff , as an instructor in the War College , and in several other positions in which he influenced the future direction of the Army . On July 1 , 1916 Conner was promoted to major and assigned to the Inspector General ' s office in Washington . He was in this position when the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917 . World War I . In June , 1917 Conner was selected by General John J . Pershing to be a member of the operations section ( G3 ) for the American Expeditionary Force in France . He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on May 15 , 1917 and to temporary colonel on August 5 . In November Conner was selected as Pershing ' s Assistant Chief of Staff from Operations ( G - 3 ) with Colonel John McAuley Palmer under his immediate supervision . Another one of his subordinates was then - Lieutenant Colonel George C . Marshall , for whom Conner developed an immense respect , later recommending Marshall as the ideal soldier and a military genius . Conner was promoted to temporary brigadier general on August 8 , 1918 . After the armistice was signed in November , Conner was assigned to the Army General Staff in Washington and was promoted to permanent colonel on August 22 , 1919 . For his service as the " brain " of the AEF , Conner was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and the Croix de Guerre . After the war , Conner wrote the after - action report that influenced the 1920 National Defense Act that set the course of the interwar Army . His temporary appointment to brigadier general expired on June 30 , 1920 and he reverted to his permanent rank of colonel . Conner and Eisenhower . Conner ' s most lasting contribution was his mentorship of a young Army officer named Dwight Eisenhower . Conner first met Eisenhower in 1919 at the Infantry Tank School at Camp Meade and the two men immediately developed a great mutual respect . Following his promotion to brigadier general in the Regular Army April 27 , 1921 , Conner took command of the 20th Infantry Brigade in Panama . He invited Eisenhower to join his staff and for three years Conner conducted a systematic course of study for Eisenhower that ranged from extensive readings in military history to daily practical experience writing field orders for every aspect of the command . Conner had three principles or rules of war for a democracy that he imparted to both Eisenhower and Marshall . They were : Of particular importance to Eisenhower ' s later career , Conner emphasized the importance of coalition command in preparation for the inevitable war . Said Eisenhower , One of the subjects on which [ Conner ] talked to me most was allied command , its difficulties and its problems . Another was George C . Marshall . Again and again General Conner said to me , ' We cannot escape another great war . When we go into that war it will be in company with allies . . . We must insist on individual and single responsibility — leaders will have to learn how to overcome nationalistic considerations in the conduct of campaigns . One man who can do it is Marshall — he is close to being a genius . ' Conner pulled strings to get his protégé admitted to the Command and Staff School at Fort Leavenworth , where Eisenhower graduated first in his class thanks in no small part to his comprehensive Panamanian tutelage . Later service . Conner left Panama in late 1924 to assume his duties as Acting Chief of Staff , G - 4 in Washington , starting on December 1 , 1924 . Conner was promoted to major general on October 20 , 1925 and assigned as Deputy Chief of Staff on March 9 , 1926 . He commanded the 1st Division at Fort Hamilton , NY from May 1 to September 1 , 1927 and the Hawaiian Department in Honolulu from January 25 , 1928 to August 5 , 1930 . He was assigned as commander of the 1st Corps Area in Boston on October 7 , 1930 . Conner was Pershing ' s preference for Chief of Staff in 1930 , but was passed over in favor of Douglas MacArthur . He was assigned to command the First United States Army in 1936 and retired on November 4 , 1938 after forty - four years of service . Conner ' s greatest disappointment was that he never had the opportunity to lead troops in wartime . Like Marshall , Conner was considered too valuable a staff officer to be released into the field . Nevertheless , he served as role model and inspiration to future World War II high commanders like Marshall , Eisenhower , and George S . Patton . Eisenhower considered Conner to be the greatest soldier he ever knew , saying : " In sheer ability and character , he was the outstanding soldier of my time . " Military Awards . American awards Foreign awards