Geo. Washington, once out-ranked, now never to be (1976)

Futility closet ^ | 8 10 13

[InvisibleChurch]

George Washington retired as a lieutenant general and so was technically outranked by the four- and five-star generals of later wars.

Thinking this unseemly, Congress passed a resolution in 1976 arranging that Washington be promoted posthumously to “General of the Armies of the United States” and that no officer in the U.S. Army ever be considered to outrank him:

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.

Gerald Ford signed the executive order that October.

[InvisibleChurch]

Found this tonight. I'm a President Washington admirer.

[rlmorel]

He was an astonishing person. If not for him the revolution would NEVER have succeeded. His will alone was responsible, in my opinion.

He was a once in history entity.

[ConorMacNessa]

As am I. I hope you will indulge me as I post this rather large graphic:

PRAYERS ASCENDING ON HIGH FOR OUR AMERICAN HEROES AND FOR OUR BELOVED NATION!



GEN. GEORGE WASHINGTON
THE PRAYER AT VALLEY FORGE
"Let Tyrants Shake Their Iron Rod"
William Billings
Mixed District Choir, Fairfax, Virginia
(Click)

IN THE COLDEST and darkest days of the American Revolution, General George Washington raised his prayers for the survival of his beleaguered Army and of the new Nation. The Lord answered those prayers, upheld his Army through a punishing nadir to everlasting Glory, and bestowed His manifold benefits upon the new Nation.

Lafayette

Steuben

Pulaski

FROM THE BRAVE, albeit weary, ill-equipped, and untrained volunteers who straggled into Valley Forge on 19 December 1777 arose, with the help of some gallant friends from across the waves, the cohesive fighting force that became the United States Army, global defender of Freedom and scourge of Tyrants.



AS GENERAL WASHINGTON lifted his prayers on high in that bleak Winter, let our prayers now rise like a fountain for our Heroes in the American Armed Forces who seek to secure the benefits of Freedom on behalf of a people hungry for them. Father, look on our prayers for them with favor, guide their steps in righteousness and envelop them in the shelter of Your Healing Wings. Bless and uphold them in the performance of their Mission. Through Jesus Christ, Your Son, with the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever, Amen.



SHADOWS AT ARLINGTON
God Of Our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand
Morman Tabernacle Choir
(Click)

HEAVENLY FATHER, Lord of the Nations, unto Your Divine Mercy we commend the souls of these valiant men and women who have fallen in the service of our Beloved Nation and in defense of the Freedoms we hold dear. We pray that You gather them in Your loving embrace, that You cause Your Countenance to shine upon them, and that You vouchsafe their souls to dwell eternally in Your Divine Presence. Through Jesus Christ Your Son, with the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever, Amen.

TAPS
(Click)

"Riamh nár dhruid ó sbairn lann!

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[EternalVigilance]

"If, to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disprove, how can we afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God."

- George Washington

[man_in_tx]

You probably already said it, but — in effect — I believe he has been made a virtual “six-star” general retroactively.

[Lmo56]

Pershing had same rank ...

[dr_lew]

"If, to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disprove, how can we afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God."

Do you get that? It's a very secular sentiment, it seems to me. "The event is in the hands of God." means that we must follow our own standard, whatever the outcome, which is in the hands of God. And this standard is at the judgement of the "wise and honest", and is conspicuously free from any religious doctrine.

[ClearCase_guy]

Same rank, but Washington had seniority ;)

[2ndDivisionVet]

Yes, even though he only wore four stars. But they were in gold, not silver. They designed a six star rank, in case we had to invade Japan, for MacArthur, so he'd outrank all the allied field marshals.

[Jet Jaguar]

That’s neat. Thanks.

[shove_it]

Put a cherry on top, just for good measure for General Washington.

[jsanders2001]

> He was an astonishing person. If not for him the revolution would NEVER have succeeded. His will alone was responsible, in my opinion.

He was a once in history entity.

We could easily be living in Greater Britain if it were not for him. Now if we can keep from becoming assimilated by Central America or Saudi Arabia (or any other Muslim Middle Eastern country for that matter).

[fortheDeclaration]

A great action by Congress!

[EternalVigilance]

I don’t read it that way. Washington knew quite well that there is no true wisdom apart from the LORD.

Do what you know is right, leave the result to God.

It’s a great Christian attitude, one that Americans would do well to adopt again.

[Vendome]

Awesome!

Thnx

[Vendome]

Well, being that be chopped the cherry tree down, seems propose.../s

[donmeaker]

And Pershing was General of the Armies before Washington was.

I don’t care for honors after death. I don’t care for the idea of promoting Lieutenant General Leslie McNair to 4 star general after his death in Normandy (from a US bomb).

Sure McNair went forward from his safe position in the US in an attempt to better understand the war, and he died as a result of doing that, which he perceived as his duty.

I don’t think that it should be the business of the US government to create legal lies by act of congress. Such an act I think is degrading the congress, and they don’t have credibility points to give away.

[Walrus]

You’ll never stop the dream-weavers from passing feel-good legislation. It’s what they do.

[heye2monn]

Historians generally don’t rate George Washington very highly as a military tactician. He lost most of his battles with the British.

But all admire his sheer force of personality and political savvy. He kept the Army together at Valley Force and outlasted the enemy. He was truly the greatest leader America has ever seen.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Pershing was made a six-star general, so that he would be equal in rank to British and French field-marshals, the only six-star in U.S. history. Eisenhower only needed five stars, since I suppose that the U.S. felt that since it was supplying the bulk of the men and material in Western Europe, we didn’t need shoulder boards to assuage national pride.

I recall at the time of Washington’s posthumous promotion, that the purpose was to insure that Washington would be equal in rank and superior in date of rank to Pershing.

We stopped making five-star (General of the Armies) after World War II.