When Pate was due to be relieved, the President nominated Major General Shoup for a two-year term as he had done with General Pate. The Senate in confirming the nomination, however, invoked the four year provision of the 1913 law and fixed Shoup's tenure as 1960-1964. (Hearing on H.R. 8189, 3 September 1959.)

The President in 1955 appointed Lieutenant General Pate to a two-year term as Commandant; in 1957, however, Pate's tenure was renewed for another two years.

The Act of 21 March 1945 (59 Stat. 29) permitted the President to appoint the Commandant to the rank of general. When Vandegrift was promoted on 4 April 1945, to rank from 21 March of that year, he became the first Marine to serve in the rank of general. The Act of 21 March 1945 was restricted in effect to "six months after the termination of the war in which the United States is now engaged. . . " Hostilities had not yet been officially terminated when, by the Act of 7 August 1947 (61 Stat. 880), the rank of Commandant was permanently fixed as general.

The Act of 20 January 1942 (56 Stat. 10) provided the rank of lieutenant general for the Commandant, and Holcomb was accordingly promoted to rank from that date. The same act provided that the office henceforth should be known as "Commandant of the Marine Corps." Holcomb was advanced to general on the retired list effective 1 January 1944--the first Marine ever to hold that rank.

Lejeune was the first Commandant reappointed after the expiration of a fixed term.

From the time of Major General Elliott's retirement until his own appointment, Biddle served as Acting Commandant in his personal rank of colonel, 1 December 1910 - 2 February 1911. During Biddle's tenure, the term of Commandant was fixed for the first time at four years, "unless sooner relieved," by the Act of 19 December 1913 (38 Stat.3).

The Act of 13 May 1908 (35 Stat. 166) provided for the post of "major-general commandant, in lieu of the present brigadier-general commandant." Accordingly, on May 1908, Elliott was promoted to major general.

By the Act of 3 March 1899 (30 Stat. 413) the post of Commandant was again raised to that of brigadier general; Heywood was promoted as of that date. The Act of 1 July 1902 (32 Stat. 1368) accorded the Commandant the rank, pay, and allowances of a major general in the army. This act, however, specifically provided that should a vacancy occur in the office "on the expiration of the service of the present incumbent, by retirement or otherwise, the commandant of the Marine Corps shall thereafter have the rank, pay, and allowances of a brigadier-general." Thus, Heywood's final rank must be considered to have been personal in character.

The Act of March 1867 (14 Stat. 174) provided that "the commandant of the Marine corps shall have the rank and pay of a brigadier general of the army." This law was repealed by the Act of 6 June 1874 (18 Stat. 216) when the office of Commandant was returned to the rank of colonel when and if a vacancy occurred. Thus, Zeilin retained his rank of brigadier general but his successor was slated to be a colonel.

Between the death of Harris and the appointment of Zeilin, Major Augustus S. Nicholson, the Adjutant and Inspector, served as Acting Commandant from 13 May - 9 June 1864.

By authority of the Act of 30 June 1834 (4 Stat. 32) the rank of Commandant was raised to colonel. On 4 March 1843, Henderson was commissioned brigadier general by brevet for his services during the Florida Indian Wars. Subsequently, he was commonly referred to as Brevet Brigadier General Henderson. This was a personal rank in the nature of a decoration for gallantry. It had nothing to do with the office of the Commandant - less, in fact, than the personal rank held by Heywood. In this connection, it should be noted that, in official correspondence, Henderson usually signed himself "Col. Commdt".

Between Wharton's death and Gale's appointment, Brevet Major Samuel Miller, the Adjutant and Inspector and Brevet Major Archibald Henderson served as Acting Commandant, 2-15 September 1818 and 16 September 1818 - 2 March 1819, respectively.

When Burrows was appointed under authority of the Act of 11 July 1798 (1 Stat. 72) he was not known technically as "Major Commandant." It was not until 1 May 1800, when Burrows was promoted to "Lieutenant Colonel Commandant" under the Act of 22 April 1800 (2 Stat. 29), that there was an alliance of rank and position for the head of the Marine Corps.

The resolution of the Continental Congress on 10 November 1775 provided for a colonel to command two battalions of Marines authorized, but the highest rank received by any Marine during the Revolution was that of major. Samuel Nicholas was appointed "Captain of Marines" on 28 November 1775, and promoted to major on 25 June 1776. Because of his senior status among other Marine officers of the Revolution, he is numbered as the first Commandant. The year 1781 saw Major Nicholas' return to private life. By the summer of 1781 there were only three Marine captains and three lieutenants on active duty, and overall organization had ceased to exist.