Which US Marine Corps Commandant had the most lasting impact on the service?

Letter in November 2021 US Naval Institute Vol 147/11/1,425

General Alexander Vandegrift (1944–47). Without his leadership and close working relationship with Secretary of the Navy Forrestal and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Ernest King and his staff, it is doubtful the Marine Corps would have survived the unification battles in the 1940s. His legacy as Commandant is clear: the continued existence of the Marine Corps that bolstered the wider survival of the U.S. Navy and American maritime power.

Read the orginal full engagement here.