Existing comment:
Commander in Chief:
President Washington commanded the military as a civilian, not a general.
When Washington became president in 1789, he realized that there were no traditions or precedents for the office. "My station is new," he remarked, "I walk on untrodden ground." Under the newly ratified Constitution, the president was commander in chief of the army and navy.
Washington initially saw his role as that of a general: he took to the field with troops when farmers in western Pennsylvania challenged a federal tax on whiskey. But ultimately he established the convention of commanding the military as a civilian. |