President Abraham Lincoln called his cabinet to the Executive Mansion on March 9, 1864, to witness something that had occurred only once before in the history of the republic. As soon as everyone had arrived, Lincoln presented Ulysses S. Grant with his commission as a lieutenant general. Only George Washington had risen to that rank in the U.S. Army before him. Grant was characteristically humble. ‘I accept the commission with gratitude for the high honor conferred, he told Lincoln. With the aid of the noble armies…it will be my earnest endeavor not to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full weight of the responsibilities now devolving upon me, and I know that if they are met it will be due to those armies, and above all, to the favor of that Providence which leads both nations and men.

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Grant’s recognition of the need for divine help showed he appreciated the difficulty of the task before him, because in addition to receiving the second lieutenant generalcy in U.S. history, he would also become the fifth general in chief in the history of the army. And throughout its 43-year existence, this difficult job had stressed and exasperated its occupants like few other jobs could.

There was a good reason why so few Americans had ever received the awesome power Grant now enjoyed. It was the same reason that had made Americans rejoice back in December 1783, when Washington tendered his resignation as commander in chief of the Continental army. The move had brought great relief to a generation that understood America was embarking on an experiment — the creation of a republic — that did not have a great track record in world history. For guidance, the nation looked primarily to the greatest republic of the past — Rome — knowing that it had fallen after a disgruntled army found an emperor to lead it.

The fear of a dictator remained powerful in America after the Revolution, and the people were unwilling to grant too much prestige to a military man. In European armies, general officers were commissioned at one of four grades: brigadier general, major general, lieutenant general, or general. The U.S. Congress, however, refused to authorize a rank higher than major general until 1798. That year, fears that France might invade the United States induced Congress to create a lieutenant generalcy, which President John Adams appointed Washington to fill. It quickly became evident that France had no intention of attacking on American soil, and when Washington died in December 1799, the rank died with him.

In the aftermath of the War of 1812, in which poorly coordinated and incompetently led American armies suffered humiliating battlefield defeats at the hands of the British, Secretary of War John C. Calhoun pushed through Congress a series of measures to reform the army. In 1821, to ensure better command efficiency, he decided that the single major general authorized by the reform package would be stationed in Washington and be designated general in chief or commanding general of the army.

Unfortunately, neither Calhoun nor Congress clearly outlined the general in chief’s powers and responsibilities. If the general in chief truly commanded the army and could act as he saw fit, he would infringe on the president’s role as commander in chief as written in the Constitution. If he did not, then the civilian leadership in Washington was free to ignore him, making his position in effect merely an honorary one. Because the legislation did not formally define the job, the duties, responsibilities, and authority of the general in chief depended on the character of the individual who held the office and on his informal relationships with the army and the nation’s political leaders.

The test subject for the newly created position was Jacob Brown, who was suited to the role of general in chief for several reasons. As the nation’s finest combat leader during the War of 1812, he was respected inside the army. He accepted the independence of the general staff that managed the army’s administrative, technical, and logistical functions and was accountable by law only to the secretary of war. He modestly defined his position as that of advisor to the civilian leadership. And he enjoyed an excellent relationship with Calhoun and Presidents James Monroe and John Quincy Adams. With all this working to his advantage, during his seven years in office Brown was able to allay the anxieties of those who opposed centralization of authority — whether real or symbolic — in a single military man. In so doing, he established a firm foundation for the office of general in chief.

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