List of Active Duty United States Four-star Officers - Appointment

Appointment

Four-star grades go hand-in-hand with the positions of office they are linked to, so these ranks are temporary. Officers may only achieve four-star grade if they are appointed to positions of office that require and/or allow the officer to hold such a rank. Their rank expires with the expiration of their term of office, which is usually set by statute. Four-star officers are nominated for appointment by the President from any eligible officers holding a one-star grade or above, who also meets the requirements for the position, under the advice and/or suggestion of their respective executive department secretary, service secretary, and if applicable the joint chiefs. The nominee must be confirmed via majority by the Senate before the appointee can take office and thus assume the rank.

It is extremely unusual for a four-star nominee to draw even token opposition in a Senate vote, either in committee or on the floor, because the administration usually withdraws or declines to submit nominations that draw controversy before or during the confirmation process.

• For example, upon encountering opposition in the Senate, the administration declined to submit nominations for General Joseph W. Ralston to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1997, for Lieutenant General Ricardo S. Sanchez to be commander of U.S. Southern Command in 2004, or for General Peter Pace to be reappointed as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2007; and withdrew the nominations of Admiral Stanley R. Arthur to be commander in chief of U.S. Pacific Command in 1994, and of General Gregory S. Martin to be commander of U.S. Pacific Command in 2004.

When a doomed nomination is not withdrawn, the Senate typically does not hold a vote to reject the candidate, but instead allows the nomination to expire without action at the end of the legislative session.

• For example, the Senate declined to schedule votes for the nominations of Lieutenant General James A. Abrahamson to be elevated to four-star rank as director of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization in 1986; of Lieutenant General Charles W. Bagnal to be elevated to four-star rank as commanding general of U.S. Army Pacific in 1989; of Major General John D. Lavelle to be posthumously restored to four-star rank on the retired list in 2010; and of Rear Admiral Cristina V. Beato to be assistant secretary for health in 2003. Had Beato been confirmed and assumed office, she would have been the first woman in any uniformed service to achieve four-star grade; instead that honor went to General Ann E. Dunwoody.