According to "Operation Valkyrie," in 1944 Heusinger was considered as a replacement for Gen. Kurt Zeitzler, who had been chief of the German army's High Command (OKH) since 1942.

Hitler had him court-martialed, and he was only saved from prison due to the pleading of his allies within the officer corps including Wilhelm Keitel — chief of OKW, the military high command ...