General of the Armies of the United States, or more commonly referred to as General of the Armies, is the highest possible officer rank of the United States Army, serving directly under the president and holding nearly complete control over armed forces and uniformed services branches.^[1]

Only two men have held the rank of General of the Armies;

• John J. Pershing in 1919 to honor his service in World War I
• George Washington in 1976, as part of the American bicentennial celebrations, to commemorate his leadership and involvement in the founding of the United States of America.^[1][2]

Douglas MacArthur was considered for the rank, both during and after World War II, but a formal promotion order was never issued.^[3]

The rank serves directly under the president, and is superior to General of the Army, General of the Air Force and Fleet Admiral.

Creation and early usage[link]

George Washington was the first person considered for the rank of "General of the Armies" in 1799. He was not actually promoted until 1976.

The rank of General of the Armies of the United States has a history spanning over two centuries and, during the course of the rank's existence, the rank has held different authority, seniority, and perceptions by both the American public and the military establishment. In all, there have been six versions of the rank General of the Armies, of which only three were ever formally bestowed:

1. A rank created in 1799 (but never bestowed) to replace the rank of lieutenant general.
2. A version revived for Ulysses S. Grant after the American Civil War, named "General of the Army of the United States."
3. A version revived in 1919 for John J. Pershing for services rendered during World War I.
4. A proposed rank during World War II (never approved), which would have been an actual six-star general rank.
5. A further proposal in 1955, also seen as a six-star rank and also never approved.
6. A final version in 1976, which ensures that no officer of the United States Armed Forces will ever outrank Lieutenant General George Washington.

The first mention of the rank "General of the Armies" was in an Act of the United States Congress on March 3, 1799. Congress provided:

That a Commander of the United States shall be appointed and commissioned by the style of General of the Armies of the United States and the present office and title of Lieutenant General shall thereafter be abolished.

The rank of General of the Armies was created to be bestowed upon George Washington, who had held the generic rank of general during the American Revolutionary War and, as of 1782, was listed as a lieutenant general on the rolls of the United States Army. Washington's rank was as the result of his having been regarded as a "three-star general" during the revolution, and the United States military using European style general ranks which incorporated a three-star rank of lieutenant general. The United States at this point had no four-star general rank (in Europe, the rank was known as captain general until the early 19th century and then simply as general). The rank of General of the Armies, however, was never bestowed on Washington, and, upon his death, the United States Army’s highest general rank was that of major general.

General of the Army of the United States[link]

The second version of General of the Armies was called "General of the Army of the United States" ^[4] and was held by Ulysses S. Grant,^[4] William T. Sherman,^[4] and Philip Sheridan^[4] after the American Civil War.^[4] This rank was revived as a third version of General of the Armies, which was held by John Pershing in 1919. Pershing's rank was the same as Grant's, though it used the full title "General of the Armies of the United States." ^[4]

World War I and John Pershing[link]

General John Pershing

John Pershing's promotion to General of the Armies is rooted in the former title "General of the Army" from the days of the American Civil War. The Civil War version of this rank was considered the same as a "four-star" general, unequal in status to the later version of General of the Army, which was used during World War II.

After the Civil War, the United States military lapsed into a period where the highest possible general officer rank was that of the two-star major general. During World War I, the United States Congress authorized the appointment of three-star lieutenant generals and four-star "full" generals. The four-star rank was considered the "successor rank" to the Civil War title "General of the Army" in that both were considered four-star positions.

Tasker H. Bliss and John J. Pershing were promoted to Army general in October 1917, and Peyton C. March was promoted in May 1918. Hunter Liggett and Robert Lee Bullard were both promoted to Army lieutenant general on 16 October 1918.

On 3 September 1919, President Woodrow Wilson, in accordance with Public Law 66-45, promoted Pershing to the rank of "General of the Armies of the United States"^[5][6] in recognition of Pershing's performance as commander of the American Expeditionary Forces. The peculiar wording of Pershing's new rank (i.e. "of the Armies") was to distinguish that this held authority over all armed services, as opposed to the Civil War title "General of the Army" (itself an Army rank).

General Pershing was authorized to create his own insignia. He chose to wear the four stars of a general, but in gold. However, Army regulations of the time did not recognize this insignia, and Pershing's gold stars were never authorized as an official insignia.^[7]

With Pershing's appointment to General of the Armies in 1919, the general officer rank structure of the United States Army appeared as follows:

	Brigadier general
	Major general
	Lieutenant general
	General
	General of the Armies of the United States

After the war, in 1920, lieutenant generals and generals reverted to their permanent rank of major general.^[8] Pershing, however, maintained his position as "General of the Armies" even though there were no longer any lieutenant generals or generals in active service. Pershing retired from the United States Army on 13 September 1924, and retained his rank on the U.S. Army retirement rolls until his death in 1948.^[9]

Four-star generals were reauthorized in 1929, starting with Charles Pelot Summerall. Pershing, by this point, was no longer on active duty and his rank was regarded as senior to a full general but a rank which was no longer in the regular promotion tier. In many ways, Pershing's rank was at this time synonymous with a five-star general; however, this would come to change during World War II when the Army appointed five-star Generals of the Army under Public Law 78-482.

World War II and six-star rank[link]

General Douglas MacArthur proposed for promotion to rank in 1945.

On 14 December 1944, the United States Army established a five-star general position and named this new rank "General of the Army" which was a title that had not been used since the 1880s after the Civil War. Unlike the Civil War version, however, the new rank was clearly a five-star position (whereas the old version was considered a four-star rank) and was appointed to several officers whereas the post-Civil War era rank had only been held by Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan.

General of the Armies Pershing was still living during World War II, albeit very elderly by this time. Nevertheless, the question was immediately raised by both the media and the public as to whether Pershing's rank "fit in" with the new five-star position. The situation was touchy from a diplomatic viewpoint, since the five-star General of the Army rank had been created largely to give American officers equal rank with British Army field marshals. The United States government was very hesitant to declare that Pershing held a senior rank to General of the Army, since this would elevate him to six-star status, the same as a marshal in Europe and possibly offend not only the British but also the French.

To solve the situation, it was decided that Pershing would outrank all five-star generals by order of seniority, meaning that even if he did not have a higher rank, he was considered senior by virtue of an earlier commissioning date. There was still rampant speculation, however, that Pershing was a six-star general, and the media put the matter directly to the War Department for a clear and concise answer.

In response to a direct question as to whether Pershing held six-star rank, the then Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson stated:

It appears the intent of the Army was to make the General of the Armies senior in grade to the General of the Army. I have advised Congress that the War Department concurs in such proposed action.^{[citation needed]}

Stimson's answer was very carefully worded and nowhere did he ever actually state that Pershing held six-star rank. The situation with Pershing was seemingly solved, but the matter of a six-star general in the United States military would reappear in only a few months during the summer of 1945.

As part of the preparation for Operation Downfall (the planned invasion of Japan), the United States War Department began drawing up invasion manpower requirements for a large force organized into several Navy fleets and Army groups. The Army also saw the need for a possible promotion of more officers to the rank of General of the Army, depending on the size of the invasion force, as well as the participation of American allies in the Pacific (such as the Royal Navy and the Chinese Army) all of which maintained their own equivalents to five-star rank.

It became obvious that the Supreme Commander for the attack of Japan would hold an enormous amount of power and would command an invasion force larger than any seen to date in the Second World War. It was also clear that whoever this commander was would have direct command authority of not one, but several five-star officers. To that end, a proposal was discussed in the War Department to appoint Douglas MacArthur to the rank of "General of the Armies" and have this position be considered a six-star general rank.

The Institute of Heraldry's proposed insignia for General of the Armies

The proposal for MacArthur's promotion to a new rank was begun on 23 July 1945.^[10] The Army draft for the promotion specified three key points regarding the renewed proposal for General of the Armies:

1. The position would clearly be a six-star general rank
2. The rank would be senior to General of the Army
3. The rank would require a new insignia which incorporated a sixth star into the five-star design of General of the Army.

The Institute of Heraldry produced a single sketch of how the insignia for six-star rank would appear, which was later filed into Douglas MacArthur's service record.^[11]

The proposal for MacArthur's promotion was dropped by the United States Army on 18 August 1945, four days after Japan's surrender announcement, rendered the planned invasion unnecessary. MacArthur's service record indicates the promotion package was closed due to "lack of necessity for such a rank".^[12]

As this proposal to promote MacArthur was simply "on the drawing board", the United States Army firmly states (to the present day) that there has never been an officially recognized six-star general rank in the United States military hierarchy. John Pershing's status remains in a very gray area, in particular due to the vague statements made by Secretary of War Stimson and the fact that Pershing was never on active duty at the same time as a five-star General of the Army. Pershing's rank has thus been interpreted as a senior version of a four-star general, an earlier version of a five-star general, or a six-star rank that has never been officially recognized.^{[citation needed]}

Douglas MacArthur and the renewed effort[link]

In the early 1950s, supporters of Douglas MacArthur began to petition the United States government to authorize a "promotion" to the rank of General of the Armies. MacArthur was at this time a retired five-star general and, with the movement to promote him, it was clear that (Army regulations notwithstanding) the general public felt that the rank of General of the Armies was a six-star position.

In 1955, the United States Congress considered a bill authorizing President Dwight D. Eisenhower to promote MacArthur to the rank of General of the Armies. The language used in the bill states that the rank was to be "re-activated" and that MacArthur was to be "promoted" to the position. With such terms, the Congressional legislation all but confirmed that General of the Armies was a senior rank to that of General of the Army; however, the Army itself still did not declare that General of the Armies was a six-star rank.

Had Douglas MacArthur actually been promoted, much of the confusion regarding the status of General of the Armies would in all likelihood have been resolved. This would have been the case due to the number of five-star generals still on the Army rolls, and to introduce a rank of General of the Armies would have required some type of formal regulation by the Army dealing with seniority and insignia. However, the Army Judge Advocate General warned that, should MacArthur accept promotion to rank of General of the Armies, he would lose a large amount of retirement pay and benefits associated with the much more firmly established rank of five-star General of the Army. The Army General Staff was also concerned because George C. Marshall was senior to MacArthur and that, should MacArthur be made a General of the Armies, a similar measure would have to be passed promoting Marshall as well.

Because of the various complications, MacArthur advised Dwight Eisenhower that he wished to decline promotion and the bill to promote MacArthur was dropped. Supporters of MacArthur continued with further petitions, however, and the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, Virginia possesses numerous letters from 1962 through 1964 attempting to obtain MacArthur a "six-star promotion". In the letters, as well as a congressional record appendix from February 1962 (pages A864-A865), this promotion was referred to as both "six-star general" and "general of the armies."

Proponents for MacArthur's promotion even obtained a vote of neutral support from Harry Truman (meaning he would neither support nor attempt to scuttle the promotion.) The promotion attempts were ultimately scuttled by the John F. Kennedy assassination and then MacArthur's death in 1964.^{[citation needed]}

George Washington[link]

Since his death, George Washington had been listed on the United States Army rolls as a retired lieutenant general. During the American Revolution, George Washington was not answerable to the Continental Congress (or its President) and actively commanded with complete authority all branches of military forces within the United States. In this respect, he had the same authority as a General of the Armies of the United States, although he never held that exact title in his lifetime.

Washington retired as a lieutenant general (three stars) and, as a result, was technically outranked by later four and five-star generals and admirals of the Civil War, World War I, and World War II.

In recognition of Washington's permanent place in United States history, on 11 October 1976, he was posthumously promoted to the full grade of General of the Armies of the United States by Executive Order of President Gerald R. Ford. The promotion was authorized by a congressional joint resolution on 19 January 1976, which recommended Washington's promotion and declared that no officer of the United States Army should outrank Lieutenant General George Washington on the Army list. The full text of the legislation was:

Whereas Lieutenant General George Washington of Virginia commanded our armies throughout and to the successful termination of our Revolutionary War; Whereas Lieutenant General George Washington presided over the convention that formulated our Constitution; Whereas Lieutenant General George Washington twice served as President of the United States of America; and Whereas it is considered fitting and proper that no officer of the United States Army should outrank Lieutenant General George Washington on the Army list; Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That

(a) for purposes of subsection (b) of this section only, the grade of General of the Armies of the United States is established, such grade to have rank and precedence over all other grades of the Army, past or present.

(b) The President is authorized and requested to appoint George Washington posthumously to the grade of General of the Armies of the United States, such appointment to take effect on July 4, 1976.

Approved October 11, 1976.
Public Law 94-479

The formal promotion order from the Army does not address six-star status; however the phrasing "such grade to have rank and precedence over all other grades of the Army, past or present" by implication clarifies the relationship of Washington's rank to Pershing's.

Equivalent ranks[link]

George Dewey

The United States Navy maintains one "super rank" known as admiral of the navy. The rank of admiral of the navy has only been held by one person, George Dewey, and at the time of its creation this rank was considered little more than a four-star admiral with an added honorary title. George Dewey was deceased by the time John Pershing was appointed to the rank of General of the Armies, and no formal attempt was ever made by the military to compare the two ranks.^{[citation needed]}

During World War II, naval tradition declared that admiral of the navy was senior to the rank of fleet admiral; however, since there has never been any attempt to promote another officer to the rank, the relative ranking of this grade has never been confirmed.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• Six-star rank
• Five-star rank
• General officers in the United States
• List of United States four-star officers
• List of United States Army four-star generals
• List of United States military leaders by rank
• United States Army officer rank insignia
• Generalissimo

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Commanding Generals and Chiefs of Staff (United States Army Center of Military History)
• How many U.S. Army five-star generals have there been and who were they? from the United States Army Center of Military History
• Military service record of Douglas MacArthur, Military Personnel Records Center
• Naval service record of Chester Nimitz, Military Personnel Records Center

External links[link]

• The Origin of the Ranks and Rank Insignia Now Used by the United States Armed Forces
• Abandoned proposal for six-star rank in Second World War
• General of the Armies of the United States and General of the Army of the United States

v t e United States commissioned officer and officer candidate ranks
Pay Grade / Branch of Service	Officer Candidate	O-1	O-2	O-3	O-4	O-5	O-6	O-7	O-8	O-9	O-10	O-11 (wartime)	Special Grade
Approximate insignia	(no universal insignia)
Air Force	CDT / OT	2d Lt	1st Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig Gen	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen	GAF[1]	[3]
Army	CDT / OC	2LT	1LT	CPT	MAJ	LTC	COL	BG	MG	LTG	GEN	GA[1]	GAS[1]
Marine Corps	MIDN / CAND	2ndLt	1stLt	Capt	Maj	LtCol	Col	BGen	MajGen	LtGen	Gen	[3]	[3]
Navy	MIDN / OC	ENS	LTJG	LT	LCDR	CDR	CAPT	RDML	RADM	VADM	ADM	FADM[1]	AN[1]
Coast Guard	CDT / OC	ENS	LTJG	LT	LCDR	CDR	CAPT	RDML	RADM	VADM	ADM	[3]	[3]
Public Health Service	[3]	ENS	LTJG	LT	LCDR	CDR	CAPT	RADM	RADM	VADM	ADM	[3]	[3]
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration	[3]	ENS	LTJG	LT	LCDR	CDR	CAPT	RDML	RADM	VADM[1]	[2]	[3]	[3]
[1] Grade is inactive; requires Congressional approval for re-activation [2] Grade is authorized by the U.S. Code for use but has not been created [3] Grade has never been created or authorized

v t e United States comparative military ranks
Flag Rank Officers
Pay Grade	Army	Marine Corps	Navy/Coast Guard	Air Force
Special	General of the Armies	none	Admiral of the Navy	none
Special	General of the Army	none	Fleet Admiral	General of the Air Force
O-10	General	General	Admiral	General
O-9	Lt. General	Lt. General	Vice Admiral	Lt. General
O-8	Major General	Major General	Rear Admiral (upper half)	Major General
O-7	Brigadier General	Brigadier General	Rear Admiral (lower half)	Brigadier General
Commissioned Officers
Pay Grade	Army	Marine Corps	Navy/Coast Guard	Air Force
O-6	Colonel	Colonel	Captain	Colonel
O-5	Lt. Colonel	Lt. Colonel	Commander	Lt. Colonel
O-4	Major	Major	Lt. Commander	Major
O-3	Captain	Captain	Lieutenant	Captain
O-2	1st Lieutenant	1st Lieutenant	Lieutenant, JG	1st Lieutenant
O-1	2nd Lieutenant	2nd Lieutenant	Ensign	2nd Lieutenant
Warrant Officers
Pay Grade	Army	Marine Corps	Navy/Coast Guard	Air Force
W-5	Chief Warrant Officer, Five	Chief Warrant Officer, Five	Chief Warrant Officer, Five	Chief Warrant Officer, Five (discontinued)
W-4	Chief Warrant Officer, Four	Chief Warrant Officer, Four	Chief Warrant Officer, Four	Chief Warrant Officer, Four (discontinued)
W-3	Chief Warrant Officer, Three	Chief Warrant Officer, Three	Chief Warrant Officer, Three	Chief Warrant Officer, Three (discontinued)
W-2	Chief Warrant Officer, Two	Chief Warrant Officer, Two	Chief Warrant Officer, Two	Chief Warrant Officer, Two (discontinued)
W-1	Warrant Officer, One	Warrant Officer, One	Warrant Officer, One (discontinued)	Warrant Officer, One (discontinued)
Enlisted Servicemen
Pay Grade	Army	Marine Corps	Navy/Coast Guard	Air Force
E-9 (special)	Sergeant Major of the Army	Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps	Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy/Coast Guard	Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
E-9	Sergeant Major Command Sergeant Major	Master Gunnery Sergeant Sergeant Major	Master Chief Petty Officer Command Master Chief Petty Officer	Chief Master Sergeant Command Chief Master Sergeant
E-8	Master Sergeant First Sergeant	Master Sergeant First Sergeant	Senior Chief Petty Officer	Senior Master Sergeant
E-7	Sergeant First Class	Gunnery Sergeant	Chief Petty Officer	Master Sergeant
E-6	Staff Sergeant	Staff Sergeant	Petty Officer First Class	Technical Sergeant
E-5	Sergeant	Sergeant	Petty Officer Second Class	Staff Sergeant
E-4	Specialist/Corporal	Corporal	Petty Officer Third Class	Senior Airman
E-3	Private First Class	Lance Corporal	Seaman	Airman First Class
E-2	Private	Private First Class	Seaman Apprentice	Airman
E-1	Private	Private	Seaman Recruit	Airman Basic

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2008)

Bikram Singh (born 1980/1981) is an American bhangra music artist. A graduate of Touro Law School, he also works as an attorney in New York City.^[1]

Early years[link]

Singh emigrated from Punjab, India, to Queens, New York when he was twelve years old. He quickly entered the local music scene, debuting his tracks at an open mic night in Greenwich Village. Singh began exploring the boundaries between Punjabi folk lyricism and Asian Underground electronica, and he teamed up with New York's DJ Navdeep to record the underground hit "Aa Gayee". Singh performed with Panjabi MC at Summerjam 2003, when he sang "Beware of the Boys" for a crowd of over 20,000. Since then, Singh has toured all over Europe, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

The 2004 mix-tape Exclusives ^[2] included a collaboration with Global Soul recording artist Shakti to produce "Do the Thang Thang," which played on New York radio stations Hot 97 and Power 105. Also on the album were the Tigerstyle-produced hits "Taakre" and "Nachna".

Singh's latest album, American Jugni, has spent several weeks on the top of the BBC Asian Bhangra charts. Singh brought in two major Bhangra producers, Tigerstyle and Ravi Bal, to work on the album. In 2005, American Jugni was the best-selling album in the UK and the track "Kawan", which featured vocal talents of Gunjan (a well established female Hindi/Punjabi singer) was named by BBC radio as the track of the year.

In 2007, Singh linked up with producer and hip hop extraordinaire Wyclef to create a track on DJ Rekha’s (Basement Bhangra) upcoming Koch Records release. Rekha had actually asked Bikram a while back to do a track for the album and the vocals sat there over the years and nothing materialized for a while. But with the album release finalized, Rekha rekindled the record this year and asked him to re-do the vocals on the track in collaboration with Wyclef. And well, the rest is history! The ‘Basement Bhangra Anthem’ was finally born!

In 2011, Singh performed on Das Racist's "Punjabi Song" from their album Relax. He sings the hook, entirely in Punjabi.

The band[link]

Bikram Singh and the band consists of a drummer, tabla player, dholki player, dhol player, a bass guitarist, and a keyboardist. Bikram Singh has been performing with a band for the past 7 years. These musicians are some of the best in the world, having played alongside award winning singers and producers including A.R. Rahman (India), Panjabi MC (UK), Tigerstyle (UK) and many more. It’s a power packed performance with Bikram Singh singing some of the most traditional folk cover songs along with his high energy original tracks from his recent albums.

Tour destinations[link]

Below are some of the cities and countries Bikram has taken his show to:

• United Kingdom:- London, Birmingham, Leicester, Leeds...
• Switzerland: Basel, Zurich.
• Norway: Oslo & Drammen.
• Denmark: Copenhagen.
• Germany: Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt.
• Thailand: Bangkok.
• Costa Rica: San Juan.
• Puerto Rico: San Jose.
• India: Bombay, Delhi, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Amritsar.
• Canada: Toronto, London, Edmonton.
• Singapore.

In addition, Bikram Singh has performed numerous times in the United States in the following States: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, Michigan (Detroit, Lansing), Florida (Miami, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale), Pennsylvania (State College, Philadelphia, Easton, Allentown) Massachusetts (Boston, MIT) Virginia, District of Columbia, West Virginia, Minnesota (Minneapolis), Indiana (West Lafayette, Indianapolis), Georgia (Atlanta), Illinois (Chicago), Ohio (Columbus), North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas (Houston, Dallas), Nevada (Las Vegas), Arizona, California (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Yuba City, San Diego, Colusa) and more.

Discography[link]

Title: BIK I AM

• Artist: Bikram Singh
• Label: Sony BMG Ent. / Soldier Sound Recordings/ Inar Records
• Production: Tigerstyle, Ranbir S., Twin Beats, Mentor, DDS - Ecamp,
• Release Date: November 24, 2011

Tracks: 1. Kinna Sohna Munda - Bikram Singh 2. Beyonce - Bikram Singh 3. Tenu Kinne Sikhaya - Bikram Singh & Premi Johal 4. Electro Love Boliyan - Bikram Singh feat. Ranbir S. 5. Nachengi - Bikram Singh 6. Mere Naal Nach - Bikram Singh feat. Twin Beats 7. Mein Na Avanga - Bikram Singh 8. Sohni Lagdi - Bikram Singh 9. Just For A Dance - Bikram Singh feat. Bellringer, Mentor, Pramanik 10. Naina'ch Sharab - Bikram Singh 11. Ghar Aja Ve Mahi - Bikram Singh & Jyoti Gill 12. Yaari - Bikram Singh 13. Jaaniye - Bikram Singh feat. PropheC 14. Mere Naal Nach (Remix) Bikram Singh feat. DDS

Title: Tip Top

• Artist: Bikram Singh
• Label: Vip Urban UK / Angel Records India
• Production: Tigerstyle
• Release Date: December 16, 2008
• Tracks:

1. Naagni 2. Aashiqan De Dil 3. Ik Waari Aaja (ft Gunjan) 4. Gidhian Di Rani 5. Akhiyan’ch Tu Vasdi (ft Josh) 6. Tip Top Putt Jatt Da 7. Telephone 8. Solwa Saal 9. Mein Boli Punjabi 10. Dil Sanu De Mutiyare 11. Pehle Tor Di Sharaab 12. Ik Waari Aaja (Bandish Projekt “Come Back” Remix)

Title: American Jugni

• Artist: Bikram Singh
• Label: Vip Urban UK / Universal Music India
• Production: Tigerstyle
• Release Date: December 21, 2005
• Tracks:

1. American Jugni - Bikram Singh 2. Kawan - Gunjan & Bikram Singh 3. Akh Nagni - Bikram Singh 4. Bhabi Munda Lambran Da - Bikram Singh 5. Chaklo Gandasay - Bikram Singh 6. Kei Katal Hongay - Bikram Singh 7. Sada Dil - Bikram Singh 8. Kushian De Dhol - Bikram Singh 9. Luggian - Bikram Singh 10. Chaklo Gandasay (Remix) - Bikram Singh

Title: Exclusives from Bikram Singh

• Artist: Bikram Singh
• Label: Anamika Records
• Production: Tigerstyle
• Release Date: January 3, 2003

References[link]

• http://www.bikramsingh.com
• http://www.punjabonline.com
• http://www.punjab2000.com
• http://www.desimusic.com

External links[link]

• Official Site
• Universal Music India profile

Max Boot
Max Boot on December 4, 2007.
Born	(1969-09-12) September 12, 1969 (age 42) Moscow
Occupation	Writer, Historian
Nationality	American
Subjects	Military history

Max Boot (born September 12, 1969) is an American author, consultant, editorialist, lecturer, and military historian.^[1] He has been a prominent advocate for American power. He once described his ideas as "American might to promote American ideals."^[2] He self-identifies as a conservative, once joking that "I grew up in the 1980s, when conservatism was cool".^[2] Boot worked as a writer and editor for Christian Science Monitor and then for The Wall Street Journal in the 1990s. He is now Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has written for numerous publications such as The Weekly Standard, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times and he has also authored well-reviewed books of military history.^[3]

Personal life[link]

Boot was born in Moscow.^[4] His parents, both Russian Jews, later emigrated from the Soviet Union to Los Angeles, where he was raised.^[4] Boot earned a Bachelor's Degree in History from the University of California, Berkeley in 1991, and a Master's Degree in Diplomatic History from Yale University in 1992.^[1] He started his journalistic career writing columns for the Berkeley student newspaper The Daily Californian.^[5] Boot and his family currently live in the New York area.^[1]

Career[link]

Boot is the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, a contributing editor to The Weekly Standard and the Los Angeles Times, and a regular contributor to other publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The New York Times.^[1] He blogs for Commentary Magazine on its page Contentions.^[6] He serves as a consultant to the U.S. military and as a regular lecturer at U.S. military institutions such as the Army War College and the Command and General Staff College.^[1]

Boot worked as a writer and editor for The Christian Science Monitor from 1992 to 1994. He moved to The Wall Street Journal for the next eight years.^[3] He wrote an investigative column called 'Rule of Law' about legal issues. After a short, four year career with the column, he rose to the head position of the Journal's editorial board.^[7]

In the middle of his career with the Journal, Boot wrote Out of Order, a critique of the American legal system for overreaching published by Basic Books in 1998.^[3] He highlighted the Supreme Court cases of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which he labeled the 'Magna Carta' of judicial activism, and Romer v. Evans (1996) as key examples, although he stated that he agreed with Brown's result while opposing its reasoning. Boot wrote that judges have no authority to legislate or execute laws and are particularly ill-equipped to do so because of their lack of expertise in those policy questions. He stated that judges have unfairly expanded their domains for greater fame and influence, without regard for the wider socio-economic issues effected.^[8] The Washington Post praised the book,^[7] and The Washington Times also did so.^[9] Commentary ran a mixed review by Andrew C. McCarthy that described the book as a polemical "stream of vitriol" and supporting some of its recommendations while panning others.^[8]

Boot left the Journal in 2002, and he then joined the Council of Foreign Relations. He became a 'Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow' with the group.^[3] His writings with the Council appeared in several publications such as The New York Post, The Times, Financial Times, and International Herald Tribune in 2002.^[10]Boot wrote The Savage Wars of Peace: Small War and the Rise of American Power, a study of small wars in American history, with Basic Books in 2002.^[3]

The book was named one of the best of the year by the Christian Science Monitor, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. It won the 2003 General Wallace M. Greene Jr. Award from the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation as the best nonfiction book pertaining to Marine Corps history, and has been placed on Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy professional reading lists.

He published his most recent work,War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today, an analysis of revolutions in military technology since 1500, in 2006.^[3] The book's central thesis is that a military succeeds when it has the dynamic, forward-looking structures and administration in place to exploit new technologies. It concludes that the U.S. military may lose its edge if it does not become flatter, less bureaucratic, and more decentralized.^[11] The book received praise from Josiah Bunting III in The New York Times, who called it "unusual and magisterial",^[12] Boot served as a foreign policy adviser to Senator John McCain in his 2008 United States presidential election bid.^[13] He stated in an editorial in World Affairs Journal that he saw strong parallels between Theodore Roosevelt and McCain.^[14]

Boot appeared on the PBS public affairs program Charlie Rose alongside war correspondent Julian Barnes of The Wall St. Journal on August 3, 2010. During Rose's interview, Boot praised President Obama's decision to appoint General David Petraeus as the ground commander of the Afghanistan campaign and he said that the conflict is winnable. He also mentioned that he has served as a civilian adviser to both Petraeus and his predecessor Stanley McCrystal, with fellow civilians Fred Kagan and Stephen Biddle.^[15]

Beliefs[link]

In general, Boot considers himself to be a "natural contrarian". He credits his economic views to his parent's experiences in leaving the Soviet Union. He used to consider himself a social conservative, but he moderated his views over time.^[5] He opposes banning abortion and banning human cloning.^[2]

Boot vigorously supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the 2007 surge.^[4] He wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed in April 2011 arguing that it is "in America's Interest to Stay in Iraq" because "[h]aving active bases would allow us to project power and influence in the region."^[16]

During the Gaza war, Boot stated that Israel was morally justified to invade the Gaza Strip. However, he also stated that Israel might not be making the right tactical or strategic decision and called its overall situation a "quagmire".^[17] Boot also strongly supported NATO intervention to come to the aid of the Bosniaks in the Yugoslav wars, which he regarded as a just cause for humanitarian reasons. He has criticized President Ronald Reagan's decision to pull out of Lebanon after the barracks bombing as well as President Bill Clinton's decision to pull out of Somalia after the Battle of Mogadishu, viewing each as signs of American weakness and stepping stones towards the 9/11 attacks.^[18]

Boot dislikes the term "neoconservative" since he believes that it "has entirely lost its original meaning", but he does not mind being called one.^[2] He is "an influential neoconservative author and policy expert as well as a military historian," according to The New York Times. ^[4] Christian Science Monitor has labeled him a "self-described neocon".^[19] Boot describes his line of foreign policy thinking as "Wilsonian".^[20] He has credited Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Ronald Reagan as holding similar views. He has also stated that he believes in American exceptionalism.^[21]

Boot supports what he calls American imperialism based on nation building and the pursuit of spreading democracy across the non-Western world. He sees this as the only way to prevent another event like the 9/11 attacks. He has written, "[u]nlike 19th-century European colonialists, we would not aim to impose our rule permanently. Instead... occupation would be a temporary expedient to allow the people to get back on their feet".^[18] He advocates creating a formal Department of Peace alongside the current Department of Defense to promote democracy building abroad.^[21] He later stated in an interview that he thinks most Americans feel uncomfortable with being called an 'empire', but that they would be willing to act like one regardless.^[19] He has said that he believes the U.S. must act as a world police agency since "[t]here is nobody else out there".^[21]

Debates and disputes[link]

Boot published a critique of paleoconservative historian Thomas E. Woods' book The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History in The Weekly Standard on February 2005. Boot labeled Woods' views as a 'Bizarro world' given Woods' support for nullification and the right of secession as well as his opposition to U.S. participation in World War I and II. Boot also blasted Woods for what he saw as ignoring African-Americans' struggle for civil rights and ignoring the fact that Clinton's intervention in the Balkans stopped a potential genocide.^[22] Woods responded in The American Conservative in March. He cited Thomas Jefferson in support for nullification and he accused Boot of anti-Southern prejudice. Woods also commented, "Since in my judgment Max Boot embodies everything that is wrong with modern conservatism, his opposition is about the best endorsement I could have asked for."^[23]

John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt's controversial 2007 book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy named Boot as a neo-conservative 'pundit' that represented the Israeli lobby's positions, notably within the Council of Foreign Relations. The authors argued that Boot and other figures dishonestly warp American foreign policy away from its national interest.^[24] Boot has called their ideas "crazy". He has also remarked that American activists could not keep President Bill Clinton from pressuring Prime Minister Ehud Barak during the Camp David summit, which he believes belies the idea of a powerful Israeli lobby.^[25]

In response to the 2011 Libyan civil war, Boot wrote in the Wall Street Journal that the United States should send an aircraft carrier with "34 F/A-18F Super Hornets and 10 F/A-18C Hornets along with a full complement of electronic-warfare aircraft" to Libya in order to establish a no-fly zone over that country.^[26] In addition, he argued that "It may also be necessary to send arms and Special Forces trainers to support the rebels," and that inaction would "reduce American power and prestige in ways that will do us incalculable long-term harm."^[26] Replying to Boot's arguments, Will Wilkinson of The Economist wrote that "there is no question that serious people do not deliberate like this" and that "crediting this sort of keyboard brinkmanship has already done Americans (and Iraqis and Afghans) incalculable harm."^[26]

Bibliography[link]

• War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today (Gotham Books, 2006), ISBN 1-59240-222-4
• The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power (Basic Books, 2002), ISBN 0-465-00721-X
• Out of Order: Arrogance, Corruption and Incompetence on the Bench (Basic Books, 1998), ISBN 0-465-05375-0

See also[link]

• Members of the Council on Foreign Relations
• Stephen Biddle

References[link]

External links[link]

• "MaxBoot.net"
• Hickman, John. "What Luck!" On Line Opinion: Australia's E-Journal of Social and Political Debate. June 1, 2007.
• Boot, Max. "Neocons May Get the Last Laugh". Los Angeles Times. March 3, 2005.
• Max Boot discusses War Made New at the World Affairs Council of Northern California, November 11, 2006 (video)
• Interview on War Made New at the Pritzker Military Library
• An excerpt from Out of Order at The Denver Post
• Booknotes interview with Boot on Out of Order: Arrogance, Corruption, and Incompetence on the Bench, May 31, 1998.

George Washington
1st President of the United States
In office April 30, 1789[nb] – March 4, 1797
Vice President	John Adams
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	John Adams
Senior Officer of the Army
In office July 13, 1798 – December 14, 1799
Appointed by	John Adams
Preceded by	James Wilkinson
Succeeded by	Alexander Hamilton
Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army
In office June 15, 1775 – December 23, 1783
Appointed by	Continental Congress
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Henry Knox (United States Army)
Delegate to the Second Continental Congress from Virginia
In office May 10, 1775 – June 15, 1775
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Thomas Jefferson
Delegate to the First Continental Congress from Virginia
In office September 5, 1774 – October 26, 1774
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	(1732-02-22)February 22, 1732 Westmoreland County Virginia Colony British America
Died	December 14, 1799(1799-12-14) (aged 67) Mount Vernon Plantation Commonwealth of Virginia United States
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	Martha Dandridge Custis
Profession	Planter Officer
Religion	Deism[1] Episcopal[2]
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Great Britain United States
Service/branch	Virginia provincial militia Continental Army United States Army
Years of service	Militia: 1752–1758 Continental Army: 1775–1783 Army: 1798–1799
Rank	Lieutenant general General of the Armies (posthumous: 1976)
Commands	Virginia Colony's regiment Continental Army United States Army
Battles/wars	French and Indian War  • Battle of Jumonville Glen  • Battle of Fort Necessity  • Braddock Expedition  • Battle of the Monongahela  • Forbes Expedition American Revolutionary War  • Boston campaign  • New York and New Jersey campaign  • Philadelphia campaign  • Yorktown campaign
Awards	Congressional Gold Medal Thanks of Congress
^ March 4 is the official start of the first presidential term. April 6 is when Congress counted the votes of the Electoral College and certified a president. April 30 is when Washington was sworn in.

George Washington (February 22, 1732 [O.S. February 11, 1731] – December 14, 1799) was the first President of the United States of America, serving from 1789 to 1797, and the dominant military and political leader of the United States from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of the Constitution in 1787. Washington became the first president, by unanimous choice, and oversaw the creation of a strong, well-financed national government that maintained neutrality in the wars raging in Europe, suppressed rebellion, and won acceptance among Americans of all types. His leadership style established many forms and rituals of government that have been used since, such as using a cabinet system and delivering an inaugural address. Washington is universally regarded as the "Father of his country."^[3][4][5]

Washington was born into the provincial gentry of the Colonial Virginia slave society;^[6] his wealthy planter family owned tobacco plantations and slaves. After both his father and older brother died when he was young, Washington became personally and professionally attached to the powerful William Fairfax, who promoted his career as a surveyor and soldier. Washington quickly became a senior officer in the colonial forces during the first stages of the French and Indian War. Chosen by the Second Continental Congress in 1775 to be commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, Washington managed to force the British out of Boston in 1776, but was defeated and almost captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the dead of winter, he defeated the British in two battles, retook New Jersey and restored momentum to the Patriot cause. Because of his strategy, Revolutionary forces captured two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. Historians laud Washington for his selection and supervision of his generals, encouragement of morale and ability to hold together the army, coordination with the state governors and state militia units, relations with Congress and attention to supplies, logistics, and training. In battle, however, Washington was repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies. After victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to American republicanism. He retired from the presidency in 1797 and returned to his home, Mount Vernon, and his domestic life where he managed a variety of enterprises. He freed all his slaves by his final 1799 will.

Dissatisfied with the weaknesses of Articles of Confederation, in 1787 Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention that drafted the United States Constitution. Elected as the first President of the United States in 1789, he attempted to bring rival factions together to unify the nation. He supported Alexander Hamilton's programs to pay off all state and national debt, to implement an effective tax system and to create a national bank (despite opposition from Thomas Jefferson). Washington proclaimed the United States neutral in the wars raging in Europe after 1793. He avoided war with Great Britain and guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795, despite intense opposition from the Jeffersonians. Although never officially joining the Federalist Party, he supported its programs. Washington's "Farewell Address" was an influential primer on republican virtue and a warning against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars.

Washington had a vision of a great and powerful nation that would be built on republican lines using federal power. He sought to use the national government to preserve liberty, improve infrastructure, open the western lands, promote commerce, found a permanent capital, reduce regional tensions and promote a spirit of American nationalism.^[7] At his death, Washington was hailed as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen".^[8] The Federalists made him the symbol of their party but for many years, the Jeffersonians continued to distrust his influence and delayed building the Washington Monument. As the leader of the first successful revolution against a colonial empire in world history, Washington became an international icon for liberation and nationalism, especially in France and Latin America.^[9] He is consistently ranked among the top three presidents of the United States, according to polls of both scholars and the general public.

Early life (1732–1753)[link]

The first child of Augustine Washington (1694–1743) and his second wife, Mary Ball Washington (1708–1789), George Washington was born on their Pope's Creek Estate near present-day Colonial Beach in Westmoreland County, Virginia. According to the Julian calendar and Annunciation Style of enumerating years, then in use in the British Empire, Washington was born on February 11, 1731; according to the Gregorian calendar, implemented in the British Empire in 1752, according to the provisions of the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750, the date was February 22, 1732.^{[10][11][Note 1]} Washington's ancestors were from Sulgrave, England; his great-grandfather, John Washington, had immigrated to Virginia in 1657.^[12] George's father Augustine was a slave-owning tobacco planter who later tried his hand in iron-mining ventures.^[13] In George's youth, the Washingtons were moderately prosperous members of the Virginia gentry, of "middling rank" rather than one of the leading planter families.^[14] At this time, Virginia and other southern colonies had become a slave society, in which slaveholders formed the ruling class and the economy was based on slave labor.^[6]

Six of George's siblings reached maturity, including two older half-brothers, Lawrence and Augustine, from his father's first marriage to Jane Butler Washington, and four full siblings, Samuel, Elizabeth (Betty), John Augustine and Charles. Three siblings died before becoming adults: his full sister Mildred died when she was about one,^[15] his half-brother Butler died while an infant,^[16] and his half-sister Jane died at the age of 12, when George was about 2.^[15] George's father died when George was 11 years old, after which George's half-brother Lawrence became a surrogate father and role model. William Fairfax, Lawrence's father-in-law and cousin of Virginia's largest landowner, Thomas, Lord Fairfax, was also a formative influence.

Washington spent much of his boyhood at Ferry Farm in Stafford County near Fredericksburg. Lawrence Washington inherited another family property from his father, a plantation on the Potomac River which he later named Mount Vernon. George inherited Ferry Farm upon his father's death, and eventually acquired Mount Vernon after Lawrence's death.^[17]

The death of his father prevented Washington from crossing the Atlantic to receive the rest of his education at England's Appleby School, as his older brothers had done. He received the equivalent of an elementary school education from a variety of tutors,^[18] and also a school run by an Anglican clergyman in or near Fredericksburg.^[19] Talk of securing an appointment in the Royal Navy for him when he was 15 was dropped when his mother learned how hard that would be on him.^[20] Thanks to Lawrence's connection to the powerful Fairfax family, at age 17 in 1749, Washington was appointed official surveyor for Culpeper County, a well-paid position which enabled him to purchase land in the Shenandoah Valley, the first of his many land acquisitions in western Virginia. Thanks also to Lawrence's involvement in the Ohio Company, a land investment company funded by Virginia investors, and Lawrence's position as commander of the Virginia militia, Washington came to the notice of the new lieutenant governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie. Washington was hard to miss: At exactly six feet, he towered over most of his contemporaries.^[21]

In 1751, Washington travelled to Barbados with Lawrence, who was suffering from tuberculosis, with the hope that the climate would be beneficial to Lawrence's health. Washington contracted smallpox during the trip, which left his face slightly scarred, but immunized him against future exposures to the dreaded disease.^[22] Lawrence's health did not improve; he returned to Mount Vernon, where he died in 1752.^[23] Lawrence's position as Adjutant General (militia leader) of Virginia was divided into four offices after his death. Washington was appointed by Governor Dinwiddie as one of the four district adjutants in February 1753, with the rank of major in the Virginia militia.^[24] Washington also joined the Freemasons fraternal association in Fredericksburg at this time.^[25]

French and Indian War (or 'Seven Years War', 1754–1758)[link]

Washington's map, accompanying his Journal to the Ohio (1753–1754)

In 1753, the French began expanding their military control into the "Ohio Country", a territory also claimed by the British colonies of Virginia and Pennsylvania. These competing claims led to a war in the colonies called the French and Indian War (1754–62), and contributed to the start of the global Seven Years' War (1756–63). Washington was at the center of its beginning. The Ohio Company was one vehicle through which British investors planned to expand into the territory, opening new settlements and building trading posts for the Indian trade. Governor Dinwiddie received orders from the British government to warn the French of British claims, and sent Major Washington in late 1753 to deliver a letter informing the French of those claims and asking them to leave.^[26] Washington also met with Tanacharison (also called "Half-King") and other Iroquois leaders allied to Virginia at Logstown to secure their support in case of conflict with the French; Washington and Tanacharison became friends and allies. Washington delivered the letter to the local French commander, who politely refused to leave.^[27]

Governor Dinwiddie sent Washington back to the Ohio Country to protect an Ohio Company group building a fort at present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania but before he reached the area, a French force drove out the company's crew and began construction of Fort Duquesne. A small detachment of French troops led by Joseph Coulon de Jumonville, was discovered by Tanacharison and a few warriors east of present-day Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Along with their Mingo allies, Washington and some of his militia unit then ambushed the French. What exactly happened during and after the battle is a matter of some controversy, but the immediate outcome was that Jumonville was injured in the initial attack and then was killed - whether tomahawked by Tanacharison in cold blood or somehow shot by another onlooker with a musket as the injured man sat with Washington is not completely clear.^[28][29] The French responded by attacking and capturing Washington at Fort Necessity in July 1754.^[30] However, he was allowed to return with his troops to Virginia. Historian Joseph Ellis concludes that the episode demonstrated Washington's bravery, initiative, inexperience and impetuosity.^[31] These events had international consequences; the French accused Washington of assassinating Jumonville, who they claimed was on a diplomatic mission.^[31] Both France and Great Britain were ready to fight for control of the region and both sent troops to North America in 1755; war was formally declared in 1756.^[32]

Braddock disaster 1755[link]

In 1755, Washington was the senior American aide to British General Edward Braddock on the ill-fated Braddock expedition. This was the largest British expedition to the colonies, and was intended to expel the French from the Ohio Country. The French and their Indian allies ambushed Braddock, who was mortally wounded in the Battle of the Monongahela. After suffering devastating casualties, the British retreated in disarray; however, Washington rode back and forth across the battlefield, rallying the remnants of the British and Virginian forces to an organized retreat.^[33]

Commander of Virginia Regiment[link]

Governor Dinwiddie rewarded Washington in 1755 with a commission as "Colonel of the Virginia Regiment and Commander in Chief of all forces now raised in the defense of His Majesty's Colony" and gave him the task of defending Virginia's frontier. The Virginia Regiment was the first full-time American military unit in the colonies (as opposed to part-time militias and the British regular units). Washington was ordered to "act defensively or offensively" as he thought best.^[34] In command of a thousand soldiers, Washington was a disciplinarian who emphasized training. He led his men in brutal campaigns against the Indians in the west; in 10 months units of his regiment fought 20 battles, and lost a third of its men. Washington's strenuous efforts meant that Virginia's frontier population suffered less than that of other colonies; Ellis concludes "it was his only unqualified success" in the war.^[35][36]

In 1758, Washington participated in the Forbes Expedition to capture Fort Duquesne. He was embarrassed by a friendly fire episode in which his unit and another British unit thought the other was the French enemy and opened fire, with 14 dead and 26 wounded in the mishap. Washington was not involved in any other major fighting on the expedition, and the British scored a major strategic victory, gaining control of the Ohio Valley, when the French abandoned the fort. Following the expedition, Washington retired from his Virginia Regiment commission in December 1758. He did not return to military life until the outbreak of the revolution in 1775.^[37]

Lessons learned[link]

Although Washington never gained the commission in the British army he yearned for, in these years the young man gained valuable military, political, and leadership skills.^[38][39] He closely observed British military tactics, gaining a keen insight into their strengths and weaknesses that proved invaluable during the Revolution. He demonstrated his toughness and courage in the most difficult situations, including disasters and retreats. He developed a command presence—given his size, strength, stamina, and bravery in battle, he appeared to soldiers to be a natural leader and they followed him without question.^[40][41] Washington learned to organize, train, drill, and discipline his companies and regiments. From his observations, readings and conversations with professional officers, he learned the basics of battlefield tactics, as well as a good understanding of problems of organization and logistics.^[42] He gained an understanding of overall strategy, especially in locating strategic geographical points.^[43] Historian Ron Chernow is of the opinion that his frustrations in dealing with government officials during this conflict led him to advocate the advantages of a strong national government and a vigorous executive agency that could get results;^[38] other historians tend to ascribe Washington's position on government to his later American Revolutionary War service.^{[Note 2]} He developed a very negative idea of the value of militia, who seemed too unreliable, too undisciplined, and too short-term compared to regulars.^[44] On the other hand, his experience was limited to command of at most 1000 men, and came only in remote frontier conditions that were far removed from the urban situations he faced during the Revolution at Boston, New York, Trenton and Philadelphia.^[45]

Between the wars: Mount Vernon (1759–1774)[link]

A mezzotint of Martha Washington, based on a 1757 portrait by Wollaston

On January 6, 1759, Washington married the wealthy widow Martha Dandridge Custis, then 28 years old. Surviving letters suggest that he may have been in love at the time with Sally Fairfax, the wife of a friend.^[46] Nevertheless, George and Martha made a compatible marriage, because Martha was intelligent, gracious, and experienced in managing a planter's estate.^[47] Together the two raised her two children from her previous marriage, John Parke Custis and Martha Parke Custis, affectionately called "Jackie" and "Patsy" by the family. Later the Washingtons raised two of Mrs. Washington's grandchildren, Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis. George and Martha never had any children together – his earlier bout with smallpox in 1751 may have made him sterile.^[48] Washington may not have been able to admit to his own sterility while privately he grieved over not having his own children.^[49][50] The newlywed couple moved to Mount Vernon, near Alexandria, where he took up the life of a planter and political figure.

Washington's marriage to Martha greatly increased his property holdings and social standing, and made him one of Virginia's wealthiest men. He acquired one-third of the 18,000-acre (73 km²) Custis estate upon his marriage, worth approximately $100,000, and managed the remainder on behalf of Martha's children, for whom he sincerely cared.^[51]

In 1754, Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie had promised land bounties to the soldiers and officers who volunteered to serve during the French and Indian War.^[52] Governor Norborne Berkeley finally fulfilled Dinwiddie's promise in 1769–1770,^[52][53] with Washington subsequently receiving title to 23,200 acres (94 km²) near where the Kanawha River flows into the Ohio River, in what is now western West Virginia.^[54] He also frequently bought additional land in his own name. By 1775, Washington had doubled the size of Mount Vernon to 6,500 acres (26 km²), and had increased its slave population to over 100. As a respected military hero and large landowner, he held local office and was elected to the Virginia provincial legislature, the House of Burgesses, beginning in 1758.^[55]

Washington lived an aristocratic lifestyle—fox hunting was a favorite leisure activity.^[56] He also enjoyed going to dances and parties, in addition to the theater, races, and cockfights. Washington also was known to play cards, backgammon, and billiards.^[57] Like most Virginia planters, he imported luxuries and other goods from England and paid for them by exporting his tobacco crop.^[58]

Washington enlarged the house at Mount Vernon after his marriage

Washington began to pull himself out of debt in the mid 1760s by diversifying his previously tobacco-centric business interests into other ventures^[58] and paying more attention to his affairs.^[59] In 1766, he started switching Mount Vernon's primary cash crop away from tobacco to wheat, a crop that could be processed and then sold in various forms in the colonies, and further diversified operations to include flour milling, fishing, horse breeding, spinning, weaving and (in the 1790s) whiskey production.^[58] Patsy Custis's death in 1773 from epilepsy enabled Washington to pay off his British creditors, since half of her inheritance passed to him.^[60]

A successful planter, he was a leader in the social elite in Virginia. From 1768 to 1775, he invited some 2000 guests to his Mount Vernon estate, mostly those he considered "people of rank". As for people not of high social status, his advice was to "treat them civilly" but "keep them at a proper distance, for they will grow upon familiarity, in proportion as you sink in authority".^[61] In 1769, he became more politically active, presenting the Virginia Assembly with legislation to ban the importation of goods from Great Britain.^[62]

American Revolution (1775–1787)[link]

Although he expressed opposition to the 1765 Stamp Act, the first direct tax on the colonies, he did not take a leading role in the growing colonial resistance until protests of the Townshend Acts (enacted in 1767) became widespread. In May 1769, Washington introduced a proposal, drafted by his friend George Mason, calling for Virginia to boycott English goods until the Acts were repealed.^[63] Parliament repealed the Townshend Acts in 1770. However, Washington regarded the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774 as "an Invasion of our Rights and Privileges".^[64] In July 1774, he chaired the meeting at which the "Fairfax Resolves" were adopted, which called for the convening of a Continental Congress, among other things. In August, Washington attended the First Virginia Convention, where he was selected as a delegate to the First Continental Congress.^[65]

Commander in chief[link]

General George Washington at Trenton by John Trumbull,Yale University Art Gallery (1792)

After the Battles of Lexington and Concord near Boston in April 1775, the colonies went to war. Washington appeared at the Second Continental Congress in a military uniform, signaling that he was prepared for war.^[66] Washington had the prestige, military experience, charisma and military bearing of a military leader and was known as a strong patriot. Virginia, the largest colony, deserved recognition, and New England—where the fighting began—realized it needed Southern support. Washington did not explicitly seek the office of commander and said that he was not equal to it, but there was no serious competition.^[67] Congress created the Continental Army on June 14, 1775. Nominated by John Adams of Massachusetts, Washington was then appointed Major General and Commander-in-chief.^[68]

Washington had three roles during the war. In 1775–77, and again in 1781 he led his men against the main British forces. Although he lost many of his battles, he never surrendered his army during the war, and he continued to fight the British relentlessly until the war's end. He plotted the overall strategy of the war, in cooperation with Congress.^[69]

Second, he was charged with organizing and training the army. He recruited regulars and assigned Baron and General Friedrich von Steuben, a veteran of the Prussian general staff, to train them. The war effort and getting supplies to the troops were under the purview of Congress,^[70] but Washington pressured the Congress to provide the essentials.^[71] In June 1776, Congress' first attempt at running the war effort was established with the committee known as "Board of War and Ordnance", succeeded by the Board of War in July 1777, a committee which eventually included members of the military.^[70] The command structure of the Americans' armed forces was a hodgepodge of Congressional appointees (and Congress sometimes made those appointments without Washington's input) with state-appointments filling the lower ranks and of all of the militia-officers.^[72] The results of his general staff were mixed, as some of his favorites (like John Sullivan) never mastered the art of command. Eventually he found capable officers, like General Nathaniel Greene, and his chief-of-staff Alexander Hamilton. The American officers never equalled their opponents in tactics and maneuver, and consequently they lost most of the pitched battles. The great successes, at Boston (1776), Saratoga (1777) and Yorktown (1781), came from trapping the British far from base with much larger numbers of troops.^[69]

Third, and most important, Washington was the embodiment of armed resistance to the Crown—the representative man of the Revolution. His enormous stature and political skills kept Congress, the army, the French, the militias, and the states all pointed toward a common goal. By voluntarily stepping down and disbanding his army when the war was won, he permanently established the principle of civilian supremacy in military affairs. And yet his constant reiteration of the point that well-disciplined professional soldiers counted for twice as much as erratic amateurs helped overcome the ideological distrust of a standing army.^[73]

Victory at Boston[link]

Washington assumed command of the Continental Army in the field at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in July 1775, during the ongoing siege of Boston. Realizing his army's desperate shortage of gunpowder, Washington asked for new sources. American troops raided British arsenals, including some in the Caribbean, and some manufacturing was attempted. They obtained a barely adequate supply (about 2.5 million pounds) by the end of 1776, mostly from France.^[74] Washington reorganized the army during the long standoff, and forced the British to withdraw by putting artillery on Dorchester Heights overlooking the city. The British evacuated Boston in March 1776 and Washington moved his army to New York City.^[75]

Although highly disparaging toward most of the Patriots, British newspapers routinely praised Washington's personal character and qualities as a military commander. These articles were bold, as Washington was an enemy general who commanded an army in a cause that many Britons believed would ruin the empire.^[76]

Defeat at New York City and Fabian tactics[link]

In August 1776, British General William Howe launched a massive naval and land campaign designed to seize New York. The Continental Army under Washington engaged the enemy for the first time as an army of the newly independent United States at the Battle of Long Island, the largest battle of the entire war. The Americans were heavily outnumbered, many men deserted, and Washington was badly beaten. Subsequently, Washington was forced to retreat across the East River at night. He did so without loss of life or materiel.^[77] Washington retreated north from the city to avoid encirclement, enabling Howe to take the offensive and capture Fort Washington on November 16 with high Continental casualties. Washington then retreated across New Jersey; the future of the Continental Army was in doubt due to expiring enlistments and the string of losses.^[78] On the night of December 25, 1776, Washington staged a comeback with a surprise attack on a Hessian outpost in western New Jersey. He led his army across the Delaware River to capture nearly 1,000 Hessians in Trenton, New Jersey. Washington followed up his victory at Trenton with another over British regulars at Princeton in early January. The British retreated back to New York City and its environs, which they held until the peace treaty of 1783. Washington's victories wrecked the British carrot-and-stick strategy of showing overwhelming force then offering generous terms. The Americans would not negotiate for anything short of independence.^[79] These victories alone were not enough to ensure ultimate Patriot victory, however, since many soldiers did not reenlist or deserted during the harsh winter. Washington and Congress reorganized the army with increased rewards for staying and punishment for desertion, which raised troop numbers effectively for subsequent battles.^[80]

Historians debate whether or not Washington preferred a Fabian strategy^{[Note 3]} to harass the British with quick, sharp attacks followed by a retreat so the larger British army could not catch him, or whether he preferred to fight major battles.^{[Note 4]} While his southern commander Greene in 1780–81 did use Fabian tactics, Washington did so only in fall 1776 to spring 1777, after losing New York City and seeing much of his army melt away. Trenton and Princeton were Fabian examples. By summer 1777, however, Washington had rebuilt his strength and his confidence; he stopped using raids and went for large-scale confrontations, as at Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth and Yorktown.^[81]

Washington and Lafayette look over the troops at Valley Forge

1777 campaigns[link]

In the late summer of 1777, the British under John Burgoyne sent a major invasion army south from Quebec, with the intention of splitting off rebellious New England. General Howe in New York took his army south to Philadelphia instead of going up the Hudson River to join with Burgoyne near Albany. It was a major strategic mistake for the British, and Washington rushed to Philadelphia to engage Howe, while closely following the action in upstate New York. In pitched battles that were too complex for his relatively inexperienced men, Washington was defeated. At the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, Howe outmaneuvered Washington, and marched into the American capital at Philadelphia unopposed on September 26. Washington's army unsuccessfully attacked the British garrison at Germantown in early October. Meanwhile, Burgoyne, out of reach from help from Howe, was trapped and forced to surrender his entire army at Saratoga, New York.^[82] It was a major turning point militarily and diplomatically. France responded to Burgoyne's defeat by entering the war, openly allying with America and turning the Revolutionary War into a major worldwide war. Washington's loss of Philadelphia prompted some members of Congress to discuss removing Washington from command. This attempt failed after Washington's supporters rallied behind him.^[83]

Valley Forge[link]

Washington's army of 11,000^[84] went into winter quarters at Valley Forge north of Philadelphia in December 1777. Over the next six months, the deaths in camp numbered in the thousands (the majority being from disease),^[85] with historians' death toll estimates ranging from 2000^[85] to 2500,^[86][87] to over 3000 men.^[88] The next spring, however, the army emerged from Valley Forge in good order, thanks in part to a full-scale training program supervised by General von Steuben.^[89] The British evacuated Philadelphia to New York in 1778,^[90] shadowed by Washington. Washington attacked them at Monmouth, fighting to an effective draw in one of the war's largest battles.^[91] Afterwards, the British continued to head towards New York, and Washington moved his army outside of New York.^[90]

Victory at Yorktown[link]

The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown October 19, 1781 by John Trumbull, Yale University Art Gallery (1787- ca. 1828)

General George Washington Resigning His Commission by John Trumbull, Capitol Rotunda (commissioned 1817)

In the summer of 1779 at Washington's direction, General John Sullivan carried out a scorched earth campaign that destroyed at least 40 Iroquois villages in central and upstate New York; the Indians were British allies who had been raiding American settlements on the frontier.^[92] In July 1780, 5,000 veteran French troops led by General Comte Donatien de Rochambeau arrived at Newport, Rhode Island to aid in the war effort.^[93] The Continental Army having been funded by $20,000 in French gold, Washington delivered the final blow to the British in 1781, after a French naval victory allowed American and French forces to trap a British army in Virginia. The surrender at Yorktown on October 17, 1781, marked the end of major fighting in continental North America.^[94]

Demobilization[link]

Washington could not know that after Yorktown, the British would not reopen hostilities. They still had 26,000 troops occupying New York City, Charleston and Savannah, together with a powerful fleet. The French army and navy departed, so the Americans were on their own in 1782–83. The treasury was empty, and the unpaid soldiers were growing restive, almost to the point of mutiny or possible coup d'état. Washington dispelled unrest among officers by suppressing the Newburgh Conspiracy in March 1783, and Congress came up with the promise of a five-year bonus.^[95]

By the Treaty of Paris (signed that September), Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States. Washington disbanded his army and, on November 2, gave an eloquent farewell address to his soldiers.^[96]

On November 25, the British evacuated New York City, and Washington and the governor took possession. At Fraunces Tavern on December 4, Washington formally bade his officers farewell and on December 23, 1783, he resigned his commission as commander-in-chief. Historian Gordon Wood concludes that the greatest act in his life was his resignation as commander of the armies—an act that stunned aristocratic Europe.^[97] King George III called Washington "the greatest character of the age" because of this.^[98]

Constitutional Convention (1787)[link]

Washington's retirement to Mount Vernon was short-lived. He made an exploratory trip to the western frontier in 1784,^[68] was persuaded to attend the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787, and was unanimously elected president of the Convention. He participated little in the debates (though he did vote for or against the various articles), but his high prestige maintained collegiality and kept the delegates at their labors. The delegates designed the presidency with Washington in mind, and allowed him to define the office once elected.^[99] After the Convention, his support convinced many to vote for ratification; the new Constitution was ratified by all thirteen states.^[100]

Presidency (1789–1797)[link]

George Washington by Rembrandt Peale, De Young Museum (ca. 1850)

The Electoral College elected Washington unanimously as the first president in 1789,^{[Note 5]} and again in the 1792 election; he remains the only president to have received 100 percent of the electoral votes.^{[Note 6]} John Adams, who received the next highest vote total, was elected Vice President. At his inauguration, Washington took the oath of office as the first President of the United States of America on April 30, 1789, on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City.^[102]

The 1st United States Congress voted to pay Washington a salary of $25,000 a year—a large sum in 1789. Washington, already wealthy, declined the salary, since he valued his image as a selfless public servant. At the urging of Congress, however, he ultimately accepted the payment, to avoid setting a precedent whereby the presidency would be perceived as limited only to independently wealthy individuals who could serve without any salary.^[103] The president, aware that everything he did set a precedent, attended carefully to the pomp and ceremony of office, making sure that the titles and trappings were suitably republican and never emulated European royal courts. To that end, he preferred the title "Mr. President" to the more majestic names suggested.^[104]

Washington proved an able administrator. An excellent delegator and judge of talent and character, he talked regularly with department heads and listened to their advice before making a final decision.^[105] In handling routine tasks, he was "systematic, orderly, energetic, solicitous of the opinion of others ... but decisive, intent upon general goals and the consistency of particular actions with them."^[106]

Washington reluctantly served a second term. He refused to run for a third, establishing the customary policy of a maximum of two terms for a president.^[107]

Domestic issues[link]

Washington was not a member of any political party and hoped that they would not be formed, fearing conflict that would undermine republicanism.^[108] His closest advisors formed two factions, setting the framework for the future First Party System. Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton had bold plans to establish the national credit and build a financially powerful nation, and formed the basis of the Federalist Party. Secretary of the State Thomas Jefferson, founder of the Jeffersonian Republicans, strenuously opposed Hamilton's agenda, but Washington typically favored Hamilton over Jefferson, and it was Hamilton's agenda that went into effect. Jefferson's political actions, his support of Philip Freneau's National Gazette,^[109] and his attempt to undermine Hamilton, nearly led George Washington to dismiss Jefferson from his cabinet.^[110] Though Jefferson left the cabinet voluntarily, Washington never forgave him, and never spoke to him again.^[110]

The Residence Act of 1790, which Washington signed, authorized the President to select the specific location of the permanent seat of the government, which would be located along the Potomac River. The Act authorized the President to appoint three commissioners to survey and acquire property for this seat. Washington personally oversaw this effort throughout his term in office. In 1791, the commissioners named the permanent seat of government "The City of Washington in the Territory of Columbia" to honor Washington. In 1800, the Territory of Columbia became the District of Columbia when the federal government moved to the site according to the provisions of the Residence Act.^[111]

In 1791, Congress imposed an excise tax on distilled spirits, which led to protests in frontier districts, especially Pennsylvania. By 1794, after Washington ordered the protesters to appear in U.S. district court, the protests turned into full-scale defiance of federal authority known as the Whiskey Rebellion. The federal army was too small to be used, so Washington invoked the Militia Act of 1792 to summon militias from Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey.^[112] The governors sent the troops and Washington took command, marching into the rebellious districts. The rebels dispersed and there was no fighting, as Washington's forceful action proved the new government could protect itself. These events marked the first time under the new constitution that the federal government used strong military force to exert authority over the states and citizens.^[113]

Foreign affairs[link]

In February 1793 a major war broke out between conservative Great Britain and its allies and revolutionary France, launching an era of large-scale warfare that engulfed Europe until 1815. Washington, with cabinet approval, proclaimed American neutrality. The revolutionary government of France sent diplomat Edmond-Charles Genêt, called "Citizen Genêt," to America. Genêt was welcomed with great enthusiasm and propagandized the case for France in the French war against Great Britain, and for this purpose promoted a network of new Democratic Societies in major cities. He issued French letters of marque and reprisal to French ships manned by American sailors so they could capture British merchant ships. Washington, warning and mistrustful of the influence of Illuminism that had been so strong in the French Revolution (as recounted by John Robison and Abbé Augustin Barruel) and its Reign of Terror, demanded the French government recall Genêt, and denounced the societies.^[114]

Hamilton and Washington designed the Jay Treaty to normalize trade relations with Great Britain, remove them from western forts, and resolve financial debts left over from the Revolution.^[115] John Jay negotiated and signed the treaty on November 19, 1794. The Jeffersonians supported France and strongly attacked the treaty. Washington's strong support mobilized public opinion and proved decisive in securing ratification in the Senate by the necessary two-thirds majority.^[116] The British agreed to depart from their forts around the Great Lakes, subsequently the United States-Canadian boundary had to be re-adjusted, numerous pre-Revolutionary debts were liquidated, and the British opened their West Indies colonies to American trade. Most importantly, the treaty delayed war with Great Britain and instead brought a decade of prosperous trade with Great Britain. The treaty angered the French and became a central issue in many political debates.^[117] Relations with France deteriorated after the treaty was signed, leaving his successor, John Adams, with the prospect of war.^[118][119]

Farewell Address[link]