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I love looking at the many questions and answers that post on Quora, and occasionally I see one that screams at me to be answered. Should I join the Army or Marines? This question has burned through the minds of millions of American youths for many generations.(Marine Corps and Army Airborne - Best Infantry in the world)For as long as I could remember, I knew that I wanted to be a soldier. Initially, I thought that I wanted to be a Marine, and I think that initial thought was born from my desire to be part of something that had discipline and the strictest standards physically and mentally. And they definitely had the best looking dress uniforms.These are things I thought about as I mopped the floor of the neighborhood Party Store on a late Friday night, as I washed dishes in a family restaurant on a Saturday morning, packing bags of groceries after school in the evening, and digging post holes on a ranch during summer break. I still wasn't old enough yet to join on my own, but I sure thought a lot about it - I had a lot of time to think about what kind of soldier that I wanted to be. My father was a corpsman in the Navy, and I grew up listening to his stories of service, each one affected me like watching an action movie. Uncles on both sides fought in Vietnam. The immense feeling of pride that swelled in me when my Uncle’s came home from Vietnam, the screams of joy from family and friends as they ran to hug them as they came off the plane; and my grandfather, Archie O’Connor was a highly decorated Army Infantry sergeant fighting in WWII, was wounded in a firefight, captured, and almost starved to death as a P.O.W. in a hellish Nazi camp.(Standing where my Grandfather bravely stood - Bergen Belsen POW / concentration camp, FRG)I think what did it for me was that Marines spend considerable time cramped inside ships and boats in the water, and I grew up in the midwest roaming the woods and open air from Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Ohio, and Michigan; hunting and fishing and that's where I felt most comfortable. Up until I joined the military, I had never seen the ocean, and the only beach I had been on was Lake Michigan. So I looked for an Army Infantry unit out of boot camp that would station me out of the country. I visited several Recruiters Offices and asked a lot of questions. I told them that I wanted outside of the US and that I wanted to be Infantry. It was the height of the Cold War, and the Soviet Union was our most significant threat at the time. I had on my contract that once I completed basic training and advanced Infantry training, I would go to West Germany (FRG) which was the tip of the spear on the border of East Germany and the Soviet Union's tanks.(Army Infantry doing what they do best)Anyone contemplating military service there is something fundamental to understand - the military is always changing. There will still be a lot of talk about who’s the best, which branch of service is the toughest, or smartest, and a lot of people yapping, do your research. When I joined the Army, I could choose between a $10,000 cash bonus (back in the day that bought a new car), or, College Fund money paid each month for full-time enrollment after service (I chose the latter, and glad I did). You can look on the internet at each branch of service websites and especially what positions are available. Another thing important to understand - Recruiters will try to steer you into jobs that the military needs, not what you need. Recruiters have quotas they have to make, very similar to a sales executive for a company; they will make pumping gas into tanks and trucks sound incredibly sexy and desirable - “Son, Tactical Petroleum Technician’s are the lifeblood of Two MarDiv, no one moves without us! In the battle of Fooledya, Iraq, we pumped more JP4 than………” Don’t get me wrong, every MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) is important, and Recruiters are seasoned professionals with many years of experience; however, you must tell the Recruiter to put what you want in writing on your contract that you sign because if it's not on the contract, otherwise you could end up with your end up. I qualify from my own experience - After several meetings with Recruiters, and asking several guys that had joined the National Guard, I thought I had it all figured out. I went to the Recruiter’s office to join the Army on the ‘Delayed Entry Program’ (3 months from signing date) and made sure that on the contract it stated ’Three Year Enlistment’ ‘Infantry MOS’ ‘Europe Duty Station’ and ‘College Fund’. When I saw the contract with stated items, I gleefully signed, raised my right hand, and swore the oath. I went to the barber shop and told the barber “High and Tight” and forever lost my heavy metal hair, I did PT every day, hopping over to the University of Michigan track field and ran 20 laps a day, after each lap, I did 20 push-ups then 20 sit-ups. My neighbor helped me fasten a pull-up bar in the back of the house my Mom rented. I stopped partying on weekends. Many of my ‘friends’ didn’t believe me initially and thought I was crazy. The three months ‘Delayed Entry’ went by fast, and then it was ‘B-Day’ (Boot camp Day) Sure enough, I went to Ft. Benning GA. ‘Home of the Infantry’ for eight weeks Basic Training and four weeks A.I.T. (Advanced Infantry Training) A few guys that joined as Army Reserves or National Guard left after Basic Training. The rest of us got a 24 hour Pass. We marched in our dress uniforms, stood at parade rest while the Drill Instructors gave us a HooAhh speech, and the Do’s and Dont’s before we start A.I.T. There were a few men that had wives or their families showed up and took their proud young man out for steak dinner. The rest of us maniacs (young, dumb, and full of cum) moved out smartly, ate a belly full at an ‘All You Can Eat’ restaurant and patrolled the infamous ‘Victory Drive’ (VD Drive) in squad-sized elements spending a big chunk of two months basic army pay in every dive bar with dancing girls. (No further details about that)(Marine Corps Drill Instructors are harder than woodpecker lips!)Upon completion of AIT, we gathered ‘round one last time with the Drill Sergeants and were handed our duty assignments on paper. I found out that my Infantry MOS was 11X (X-Ray) I didn’t realize that Infantry (11 series MOS) had so many different options and that ‘X’ meant I was to fill whatever Infantry position that the Army needed at that time. I was so Gung-Ho and motivated when I completed Basic and AIT that I wanted to go to Airborne School like several of my new buddies assigned to Airborne and Ranger units, and I even tried to get my orders changed. However, since I had ‘Europe Duty Station’ in my contract I was assigned to A Co. 1/15th Infantry 3rd Infantry Division stationed in Kitzengen, FRG (W. Germany) upon completion of 3-week Mechanized Infantry Course, also at Ft. Benning, GA. to learn how to operate the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle (BIFV). Every chance I had, I travelled around Europe, and marveled at the amazing transportation system that was the Eurail. If I had a long weekend after breaking brush for a month, it was spent traveling W. Europe. This was something that no college or university can teach, and I learned about ‘the world’. Believe it or not, when I served, being a young American overseas was akin to playing on a pro sports team, or a popular rock band. Pretty much every country I went to, the energy and vibe was unfathomable. It was an amazing time to be an American.(The only ‘ill-discipline’ of this Army unit is the soldier that got shot on patrol in Afghanistan)I don't know where you got “I don't like how ill-disciplined the army is, but I like the quicker promotions” you sound like you are repeating what you heard from someone else, and you need to get your head out of your forth point of contact (there are five points of contact in a parachute landing fall, figure out which one is fourth). Maybe the Army is starting to become slack in some areas since I was in, I don't know. I can tell you that there was a notable difference in the level of discipline and moral between Mechanized (‘straight - leg’) Infantry and Airborne Infantry when I served. I was super motivated and loved soldiering when I was in; I went to the gym after the last formation even though we did PT every morning so that I could be stronger and I volunteered for any schools and training that was available. I made E-5 sergeant in less than two years which is pretty fast, and I reenlisted for 4-years and requested assignment to a Ranger Regiment, but they would not take an E-5 Mechanized Infantry, so I went to the 82nd Airborne Division and I'm very grateful, proud, and honored to have served with such a great unit. However, there was an abundance of 11B staff sergeants E-6, and it was virtually impossible to get promoted, so I spent the next four years without being promoted, even though I served as a squad leader, an E-6 position. Even after I was awarded the coveted Ranger tab after graduating from class 1–92, I still was capped at E-5 and would've had to re-enlist for another 4-year enlistment to get promoted. After combat and my 2nd enlistment were up, my Dad convinced me to give College a try. So I served in the National Guard for a couple years while attending college.Wanting to be a Paratrooper or Force Recon because those are the best Infantry of each branch of service, be advised that you must be extremely physically and mentally fit, and the conditioning that comes with it. You need to wake every morning at 5 a.m. run 4 miles and do a 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups. You can do four sets of 25 or 10 sets of 10, and if you are bad-ass you could do two sets of 50; then you need to do 20 Pull-Ups, even if you can only do one at a time, and you should spend your free time studying soldiering. If you have long hair go to the barber and tell him to put the clippers on zero, and cut it all off (only Delta Force, SEALs, CIA and metal bands get to wear long hair). When you hear that Susie so and so is having a big party at her house - forget about it! If your buddies are doing bong hits after class - forget about it! If they want you to drink 40 ’s with them after school - forget about it! Some people might hate you, and other’s might say you're crazy and your girlfriend might stop sending pictures, and you know what - forget about it! They are not your friends. Believe me, if you are worried that you are going to miss out on something you’re not. There will be adventures incomprehensible to your current life, and if you have the courage and fortitude to make it, you will be a man among men. Your new friends are going to be the soldiers you serve with, the soldiers on your left and right in a foxhole. The soldiers that pull security with you on Christmas Eve in some god-forsaken place, your new friends will be the ones who jump out of airplanes with you in Airborne School, in training, and in combat. The ones you run PT with at ’Oh Five Hundred’ in the rain, and low crawl on the beach getting pounded by heavy surf. Your new friends will be the soldiers that keep our country and all its citizens safe - that fight, bleed, and sweat to serve and protect our nation and our way of life.Freedom isn’t free, it takes people serving our country, whether it be in the military, volunteering as a ‘Big Brother /Sister, or at your local VA hospital, or serving meals to the homeless. Good Luck with your decision and God Bless you.

The best way to understand Mr. Mauricio Pochettino is to observe him in action as a player, a coach at the training ground, or, better still, both.A few years ago, Southampton released a video in which he takes on Luke Shaw in game of two-touch football tennis. While Shaw is casual and light-hearted, Pochettino is engrossed, vocal, competitive. One ace merits clenched fists and cries of ‘Vamos! Vamos!’. A failed attempt at chesting the ball over the net triggers a despairing ‘Nooooo!’. When he wins the match, he sinks to his knees in celebration. This is the real Pochettino—a man of fervent ambition, discipline and dedication—whose temperament infuses teams that fight tooth and nail. His composed touchline persona can deceive. In one press conference, in which he admitted to having lost his rag with the players at half-time, it was put to him that such behaviour might seem out of character. “Really?” he replied. “I don’t really see myself in that way. I’ve kept up appearances quite well.On weekdays, Pochettino typically arrives at 7am and leaves at about 8pm. “My life is to go from the hotel to the training ground,” he once told the BBC. “In football there is not really a timetable; we just work all day long.” His players speak of a gruelling fitness regime that can feature up to three sessions a day. Pochettino has been known to organise drills of fifteen-minute intervals in which he pretends to forget the time, so that the players work harder and for longer than they think. Jack Cork said it felt like you needed two hearts to play for him. “He makes you suffer like a dog, and at the time you hate him for it,” Dani Osvaldo said. “But by the Sunday, you’re grateful, because it works.”Success has followed Pochettino in all his jobs—Espanyol, Southampton, Tottenham—but he has sought no credit. In March, the Argentine magazine El Gráfico ran a rare interview in which they asked him why he so rarely did press. Even in his home country, people knew little about him. But Pochettino has no need to be appreciated or understood. “Praise isn’t something that moves me, because in truth, the most important thing is the collective—it is about the team, the club,” he once said. “Awards and hype are not important for me.” Whereas other managers indulge in the cultivation of their own image, Pochettino does not even have an agent. There are no endorsements, no public relations, no social media. “I don’t need five hundred thousand followers to feel good,”In January 2009, Espanyol parted ways with José Manuel Esnal, who had failed to win any of his six league games. The board decided to take a punt on Pochettino. The club were eighteenth in the league, five points from safety, and while the initial plan had been to hand Pochettino control of the second team, the situation was so dramatic that they took the risk. The stakes were high on both sides. Having played for the club two-and-a-half years earlier, Pochettino now walked into a dressing room full of old friends. According to The Guardian, he had received his coaching badges just two months ago, and his only managerial experience had come as assistant manager of the Espanyol women’s team.“It doesn’t matter who the person is,” Pochettino said as he took charge, according to the same paper. “As a player I was demanding; as a manager, I will be too.”The start was slow. With ten weeks to go, Espanyol were bottom, eight points from safety, with four wins. As the story goes, Pochettino hiked twelve kilometres to Montserrat and begged the Virgin to save his team. Espanyol duly won eight of their remaining ten games, including a victory at the Camp Nou, and came tenth.Over the next three years, Pochettino would implement his beliefs. he ordered that all sides in the academy play 4-4-2—in his view the best formation for player development—and that each age group face older teams in order to steepen the learning curve. A series of youngsters debuted under his reign. At the first team, he supervised punishing fitness work and introduced a high-pressing 4-2-3-1. Over the three seasons, Espanyol were among the teams with the poorest discipline. In the final campaign, they were the very worst, racking up a hundred and forty-three yellows and twelve reds. “There are teams that wait for you, and teams that look for you,” said Guardiola. “Espanyol look for you.”In his handling of players and staff, Pochettino merited his sobriquet. The decisions were ruthless. Tamudo, the club’s all-time top scorer, was shown the door. According to The Guardian, Pochettino also flogged the fitness coach within weeks, despite Pochettino being his son’s godfather. “He wanted to control everything,” said Moisés Hurtado, according to the same paper. “The first season was fine: he’d been a player and he understood, he connected with us well. But then things changed. He seemed to see conspiracy where there was none, and some good people had to leave out the back door, and not just players. He wanted everyone to dance to his tune, people entirely committed to him. The atmosphere ended up not being so good. In purely sporting terms, though, there was no problem: he got great results and we played well.”At Southampton Pochettino had a turbulent start. The fans had been antagonised by the sacking of Adkins, who had left as the Southampton manager with the highest win ratio since the 19th century. In an online poll conducted by local paper Southern Daily Echo, ninety-two percent disagreed with the decision. Pundits and journalist condemned the sacking. The Southampton Independent Supporters Association even planned to wave white handkerchiefs at the next game, at home to Everton. “This is a major gamble and the reputation of the club is at stake,” said Perry McMillan, their vice-chairman. “Do we really want to go the way of Chelsea?”It was classic Cortese. Steeped in the hard-edged world of top-level banking, he had managed the finances of billionaires and was accustomed to making calls irrespective of emotion and popularity. According to The Independent, he had increased ticket prices at St Mary’s and fired long-serving programme sellers. The local paper had been banned. Matthew Le Tissier described him as “not a very nice human being”, and it surely didn’t help that Cortese had fallen out with the Ex-Saints Association. But Cortese was demanding and impatient, and he answered to no one. “Maybe I need to sacrifice my popularity to get the right decision,” he said after sacking Adkins. “If that’s the case, I’m happy.”Cortese’s influence was difficult to overstate. Operating in an autocratic role, he essentially ran the club on his own. “I was working seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, whether I was in the office or not,” he would tell the BBC. He supervised the construction of a twelve-pitch training ground that had assorted types of grass. The scouting set-up was one of the best in the country. At one point, according to the BBC, when the team struggled on the road, Cortese demanded to know why, handing out questionnaires to the players about their daily habits. The club started to book hotel rooms for two nights instead of one, so that their own cleaning staff could be dispatched in advance. They brought mattresses tailored to each player, plus duvets, sheets and pillow cases washed by the club with the same washing powder. That way, sleeping would feel and smell the same wherever they played. Chefs travelled ahead to prepare food. No matter was too trivial for Cortese. According to the Southern Echo, he once intervened over the shape and size of the stadium lobby’s Christmas tree.Recall how some Espanyol colleagues described Pochettino and you see the congeniality. It is tempting to call the appointment the closest Cortese could come to appointing himself. “He is a very pragmatic and direct person…” Pochettino said. “He tells me things straight to my face and is tough when he has to be, because he is the figurehead.” They also shared a similar sense of ambition. When Southampton reached the Premier League, Cortese drew up a five-year plan that asked not if they could win the title, but how.At his introductory press conference, Pochettino said he had been researching the team for weeks. After a reasonable draw with Everton, he got down to work. He did not have a house, and his family had stayed behind in Barcelona for now; towards the end of the season, he said half-jokingly that his daily life had been limited to twelve hours at the training ground and hamburger meals in the hotel restaurant. Much was also made of his use of an interpreter. Pochettino did speak decent English, but feared being misquoted or misunderstood. “I don’t see it as an excuse, but I do spend from 7am to 8pm at the training ground working all day long,” he said. “So that doesn’t give me much time left to have extra English lessons.”Southampton proceeded to lose 2-1 at Manchester United, but won at home to Liverpool and Chelsea. They finished fourteenth. “Our style of play is to win back the ball as soon as possible and then play it,” Pochettino had said in February. “We moved forward our lines and play more upfield. When we lose the ball we must have the mentality of winning it back as soon as possible.” This came with a risk, but Pochettino accepted it. Against Liverpool, he exploded at half-time after the players had shipped a goal in established play. “We are an attack-minded team and always want to push forward, and it’s not such a big deal if we concede a goal when we are pressing really high to get a goal for ourselves as well,” he told the press. “But to concede a goal when there are ten of my players in my own area, in my own box, and concede a goal like that, I can never tolerate that.”The following pre-season was always going to be tough. According to The Daily Mail, Pochettino organised days of training from 10am to noon, 2pm to 4pm, 6pm to 8pm. On a tour abroad, amid an eighteen-day conditioning phase, Pochettino made the players walk barefoot over burning-hot coal. “That was the easy part,” Rickie Lambert told The Telegraph.Armed with newfound endurance, Southampton finished the next season in eighth place. They had the most possession in the league—58.4 percent—but only the eighth highest pass completion—81.1 percent—which underlined the frequency with which they recovered the ball. The aggression Pochettino had demanded was on display: they made the third most tackles, the fourth most fouls. An analysis by Michael Caley at SB Nation found that no other side had forced their opponents into a lower pass completion average. “The effectiveness of Pochettino’s press at breaking up play is unrivalled,” Caley noted.Parallel to this, Pochettino again promoted youth. Talents who improved included Shaw, Morgan Schneiderlin, Adam Lallana, James Ward-Prowse, Calum Chambers, Nathaniel Clyne. “He’d have us pressing high, keeping a high line, receiving the ball in difficult situations, keeping possession and basically having the confidence to play football rather than being afraid,” said Clyne. “The understanding in our defence was down to our training. Personally, it took my game to another level.” Older players also improved. “Tactically he’s very, very good,” José Fonte told The Guardian. “He gives you a lot of advice in terms of positioning, in terms of aggression, anticipation, interceptions, play, be brave; and he gives you the confidence to go on the pitch and give everything for him.”The triangle of Pochettino’s regime consists of high pressing, fitness work and young players. Stamina is fundamental to make the system work; just ask Bielsa, whose teams have sometimes made fast starts before tiring. Bielsa once said that if football were played by robots, he would always win. Accordingly, Pochettino seems to try to make his players as close to robotic as possible. Youngsters are ideal for this because they are easier to manage, receptive to new ideas, and bring energy and enthusiasm. As such, all three factors are interlinked.The 2013/14 season would be Pochettino’s last at Southampton. In January, Cortese resigned over differences with Katharina Liebherr, who had inherited the ownership after Markus had died in 2010. Pochettino stayed until summer, but considered quitting immediately. “I would not understand a Southampton without Nicola being here,” he said.Tottenham moved quickly to sign Pochettino. Since he had no agent, he negotiated directly with Levy. “He offered the contract and I say yes or no or I want more,” Pochettino said, according to The Guardian. “He has a reputation as a very hard businessman? It’s true. I can feel that.”If players aversive to labour feared his appointment, they had every reason to. “Our philosophy is ‘suffer in training so you don’t suffer in the game’,” Pochettino said in his first interview, now in English. Mousa Dembélé soon spoke of being “tired every day” and how training had become “much harder”. Christian Eriksen said there had been days where he had gone to bed pretty early. By August, Danny Rose had lost weight without even noticing. “Seriously,” Rose said, recalling Pochettino’s message about suffering. “He wasn’t joking either.”The denominator for these players is that they spoke in a positive sense. “We do have to work hard in training and I do suffer, but it’s an enjoyable kind of suffering because I’m benefitting so much,” Rose said in October. “I’m far more tactically aware and more consistent.”There was also another side to Pochettino. Behind the scenes, he can be affectionate, warm, tactile. The respect he enjoyed as a player has been retained as a manager. Discipline is interspersed with humour. In late August, Rose had been called up to the England squad, but was unaware of this when Pochettino called him to his office one morning.Pochettino: “I’ve got something to tell you…”Rose: “What is it?”Pochettino: “We’ve accepted a bid. We’re selling you.”Rose: “No you’re not…”Pochettino: “Yeah it’s true.”Pochettino stayed serious. Then one of the coaches walked in and said: “Oh, have you told him he’s got to go?”By December, Tottenham had suffered few injuries and won three league games thanks to stoppage-time goals. “We try to work very hard, and now it’s easy to push them to the limit,” Pochettino said. “To arrive in this moment with the squad fully fit is very important for us.” One of the stories of the season would be Harry Kane. “I feel the fittest I’ve ever felt and the best shape I’ve ever been in,” Kane said in February. “The gaffer did a lot of work on getting us fit and it’s really starting to work. In pre-season there were double sessions, times when you were pushing yourself to the limit, but you’re doing it for a reason. This is the reason that you’re seeing now.”Tottenham eventually came fifth, and would outrun their opponents in forty of their first forty-five league games under Pochettino. On a more fundamental level, Pochettino had tried to change a mentality that had given Spurs a reputation for being complacent and mentally fragile. “We did a lot of work in groups and as individuals on the training ground, in meeting rooms and in my personal office,” he had said in October. “But always you need more time to change the habits. We talk about mentalities and changing habits. It is harder to work on. The mental process is always more slow than the physical or tactical. We know that our challenge is to change this mentality.”There were victims. Pochettino initially made Younès Kaboul captain, but dropped him in November and sold him in summer. Others were weighed and found too light, such as Paulinho, Michael Dawson, Étienne Capoue and Vlad Chiricheș. Pochettino also told Emmanuel Adebayor he could go, but the striker stayed and retained his £100,000-a-week contract. Pochettino responded by withdrawing his squad number and banning him from training. When Aaron Lennon joined Everton on loan in February, Pochettino said: “It’s easy to identify the players who aren’t happy because they’ve not played much in the last few months. But we are a club. And when you sign a contract as a player, you need to understand that you don’t sign to play, you sign to train. And then the club signs a manager or head coach to pick the players. This is football.”Another example was made of Andros Townsend, who clashed with fitness coach Nathan Gardiner after a game against Aston Villa. Pochettino banned him from the squad. “When you behave in the wrong way, you always need to pay,” he said. “It’s always my decision when he is available again to be part of the squad. Discipline for me is very important. I can understand the player—we have a young squad and a player can make a mistake—but when you cross the limit it is important to stop that.” Townsend later apologised, but Pochettino said: “Football is not only about taking the ball in your feet and playing. You have a responsibility as a professional.” He added: “All players have a future. It’s up to them to have a future here.”The players cast aside were replaced by youngsters. Dele Alli become part of the line-up in 2015/16, while roles have been given to Ryan Mason, Nabil Bentaleb, Tom Carroll, Eric Dier. “The young player, if he deserves to play, why not give him a chance?” Pochettino said, according to The Sunday Times. “You have to build the player. A good example is Dier. He played centre-back, full-back and this season we train him as a holding midfielder. He learns because he’s young.” Last September, Tottenham beat Manchester City 4-1 with an average age of twenty-four years and forty days, according to The Guardian; the youngest team of the season up to that point.There is an argument that Pochettino deserved more credit for finishing fifth and reaching the League Cup final in his first season. In his second year, however, more praise has arrived. “In my role as an England coach, I have noticed the difference in psychology and application when Tottenham players come into the camp,” Gary Neville wrote in The Telegraph. “They now arrive prepared for the battle, ready to play, ready to work. They look like they want to partake in the meetings. All the things you would want from responsible players are there. It seems to me that Pochettino has given the younger players the confidence to express themselves, off the pitch as well.”The psychological work seemed to be working. By November, Tottenham had not lost in the league since the opening day. One particularly resounding victory came at home to West Ham. “They were quicker than us, physically stronger, scored goals and grew in confidence,” Slaven Bilić said. “It was 4-1, a massive defeat, but we have to admit it could have been more after 3-0. It was a shock.” Later that month, Dembélé reflected on the new regime. “Pochettino is trying to change the culture of the club, and that was needed,” he said. “The mentality has changed and you can see the difference. We play more pressing and we try to be sharper, whereas in the past we were two goals up and then we’d draw. This season, people talk more. You have to be awake. There has been a big change.”

Not all of the Presidents you mentioned became Generals. I am discussing each individual and grading each President according to their military capabilities and actions. I am including their military experience before their election to office (if any) as well as their military action as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.G. Washington had a lot of problems as a field commander, but he was good at some of his tactics. For example, he had a lady throw a tea party in Trenton so he could sneak his troops away when it was foggy. He had trouble with many deserters, but was good at rallying the men. He typically sat on top of his horse to view the situation. He was not necessarily the most brilliant commander the US has ever known, but he was intelligent. He had no trouble applying new and unorthodox methods of fighting. The British liked to be flashy in their red uniforms and march in rows. If the person in front fell, the person behind him stepped in and took his place. Washington allowed his men to take cover behind trees and anything they could. They yelled like wild Indians did which startled the British. But Washington coordinated the war effort as well as he could despite lack of supplies. His naval battles could have used some improvement in many areas. The colonists had ships which were captured and some American ships actually were captured and turned redcoat. In other words those captured ships were used against the Americans. What saved the American colonists was the fact that the British were fighting on two war fronts—-against the colonies and against France. The French target was actually where the British concentrated their efforts. I’d give G. Washington an A- especially for selecting Benjamin Franklin to get the French involved and make it a two front war. (Benjamin Franklin was great as a hand-kissing diplomat in addition to his other inventions and work on the formation of the US Constitution). Of course there were some other crises as President which Washington handled well.Andrew Jackson was another unorthodox fighter. His fighting tactics in Louisiana were brilliant as well as his barricade. The only problem with Jackson’s battle of New Orleans was the fact that the battle was fought after the US had already signed the peace treaty and the war was over! He used anyone who was willing to fight to help his cause which included some pirates! He could figure out the pathways the British were going to use and fortified the correct places (although defense in certain areas was weak). I would personally rank Jackson’s methods of being a general very highly (like a B+), but I give him a F- for his handling as far as the Indian affairs when he became President as well as his methods when invading Florida to subdue the Seminole.William H. Harrison didn’t really live very long after he became President, so we do not know how brilliantly (or the inverse) he would have been as leader. He participated in several battles, but his most famous battle was against Teumseh’s confederacy at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. This is where he earned his nickname “Old Tippecanoe” and of course his campaign slogan was “Tippecanoe and Tyler too.” He was promoted during the War of 1812 to major general and led the American infantry and cavalry at the Battle of the Thames in Upper Canada. Harrison actually fought thousands of Shawnee when he fought Teumseh, but the Indian confederation fell apart after the death of the Indian leader near Ontario. Many historians feel that Tippecanoe was the center of the Indian culture among the Great Lakes and was the last defense against the whites. So the decision to attack the Shawnee at Tippecanoe was brilliant and opened many pathways to the west for the white immigrants. Harrison’s tactics helped the US Navy gain control of Lake Erie which was necessary for the War of 1812. But of course, Harrison failed to take Canada (which would have been hard to defend anyway). So I am going to give Harrison an B as a dominant figure and general of the Northwest (who represented the Central west).John Tyler was the Vice President for William Harrison who died after being in office for about a month. The constitution was not clear as to who should become President in the case of the death of the President, but Tyler took control of that situation and of course eventually the US had the 25th Amendment. He was a strong proponent of states’ rights and wasn’t adverse to using dirty tactics especially as he believed in manifest destiny. Polk had run for the Presidency on the idea that he would annex Texas. Three days before Polk was to assume office, Tyler decided he wanted the credit for the annexation and signed the bill to annex Texas! Tyler never was a General in any war. But in the War of 1812, the British had captured Hampton, Virginia in the summer of 1813. Tyler organized a militia company, the Charles City Rifles, to defend Richmond, which he commanded with the rank of captain. But no attack came on Richmond. This area was strategic though because there was only 90 miles between Washington, D.C. and Richmond. So Tyler dissolved the company two months later. Regarding the military ability while in office: Tyler did advocate an increase in military strength which especially pleased the naval leaders. He also managed to strengthen forts from Council Bluffs, Iowa to the Pacific. In addition he brought the very bloody Second Seminole War to an end. There was the Dorr Rebellion in Rhode Island when Tyler did send in some troops. Unfortunately, in the long run, his actions eventually backfired. In the short run, the illegal assemblies were put down. After his presidency, Tyler once again served as a captain. John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry was viewed by abolitionists as an attempt to free slaves. So several Virginia communities organized militia units or recalled existing units as a response. Tyler was one of those placed in command but his troop did not see any action. Eventually Tyler went to Washington D.C. and tried to prevent the Civil War. This was especially difficult as Tyler himself was a slaveholder. Tyler was elected to serve as the head of the Virginia Secession Convention. He even signed the Secession bill, but died before the first session. So Tyler did not actually see much military action nor use the federal troops. But for building the strength of the troops and forts as well as for his efforts regarding ending the Second Seminole War, I am going to give Tyler a B-.Franklin Pierce signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act and enforced the Fugitive Slave Act. However he failed to stem conflict between North and South, setting the stage for War between the States. Earlier in May 1946 Pierce wanted to volunteer to serve in the Mexican-American war but no volunteer militia existed for the New England area. Pierce was later appointed commander and colonel of the 9th Infantry Regiment in February 1847. Later in the same year Pierce was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. His troops reinforced General Scott’s regiment and he supplied the troops with provisions. His troops bravely fought and eventually reached General Scott’s troops in time for the Battle of Contreras. But as force Pierce himself, his horse was suddenly startled during a charge. It knocked his groin against his saddle. His horse then tripped and fell into a crevice pinning Pierce. The resultant action debilitated his knee. The incident made him look like he fainted so one soldier called for someone else to take command and yelled, “General Pierce is a damed coward.” General Pierce returned for the next day’s action, but re-injured his knee causing him to hobble behind. So by the time he finally came upon the action, the battle was almost over and won by the Americans. At the Battle of Churubusco Pierce was in so much pain that he passed out and did not see any action. However, he did help negotiate the treaty terms. But because of Pierce’s policies as President the stage was set for the Civil War. So I am going to give Pierce a F+ as a military leader (the plus is only because of something U.S. Grant said about him in his memoirs otherwise I would give him a F-).Andrew Johnson basically followed A. Lincoln’s plan for the Reconstruction of the South, yet we saw the rise of the Carpetbaggers during this time yet he opposed the 14th Amendment which supposedly freed the former slaves. His methods were such that he is one of the top candidates for “worst President of the United States.” Johnson did not do a lot in his position as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Instead, he left a lot of the details to his Secretary of War, Stanton. Johnson and Stanton battled over the question of whether the military officers placed in command of the South could override the civil authorities. The President had Attorney General issue an opinion backing his position that the military could not override civil authorities. But because of Johnson’s bungling efforts during the Reconstruction, I am going to give him a F- as a military leader.U.S. Grant was not Abraham Lincoln’s first choice as the military leader for the North. However, he was the only general who was winning major battles even if they were in the West! So eventually Lincoln appointed Grant as a military leader. Even though Grant was an alcoholic, he was still able to bring the South to it’s knees (but mostly because of the policies of Sherman!). Grant believed that the war in the west was where the war would be won. He then made sure the supplies were cut off to the South. Grant had previously served military duty in the Mexican American War. His unit was assigned to General Zachary Taylor. Grant was quite an equestrian. He was assigned to lead a cavalry charge at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma. Then in Monterrey, he hung off the side of his horse while attacking the enemy and used the horse as his shield. He was carrying dispatches and thus was able to get by the snipers. Polk then decided to divide his forces and Grant was assigned to General Scott’s command. Scott’s division landed by sea at Veracruz and advanced towards Mexico City. Grant participated in the Battles of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec and gained a promotion to first lieutenant. Grant wisely studied Scott and Taylor’s military tactics (which was good since at West Point he decided to read classic literature instead of military tactics!) I have to disrespect General Grant for the way he treated the Confederate prisoners and had the dead buried in mass graves at Shiloh (similar to what the Germans did during WWII). Grant refused to allow the Confederate women, wives, and families to nurse and carry their severely wounded back home. In addition he did not allow the families to take their dead back home to be buried. Yet his military tactics were often brilliant. After the Civil War, Grant retained his position as Commander of the Union Army. He dealt with the French under Maximillian in Mexico, had to enforce the Reconstruction policies on the South, and managed to sabotage some of Johnson’s policies from within. As President, I did not care for Grant’s handling of the Sioux Indians and of course what happened with Custer that eventually led to the slaughter at Wounded Knee under B. Harrison. There is still a lot to admire from this General who was born in a tiny wood cabin. But as a military leader, I am going to give Grant an A- overall because of his treatment of the Confederate soldiers and their families after the battles (but he would get an A in tactics for most battles) and because of his poor Indian tactics especially with the Sioux Indians.Rutherford Hayes volunteered to join a regiment during the American Civil War. He led troops against several Rebel bases, but eventually sustained an injury to his knee. His troops eventually joined Polk’s Army of the Potomac and rushed to cut off R.E. Lee’s advance into Maryland. His division encountered the Confederates at the Battle of South Mountain. Hayes was shot through the left arm and it fractured a bone. He had one of his men tie a tourniquet around the upper part of his arm and continued to lead his men into battle. Eventually he was taken to a hospital and thus was taken out of action for a long time. After he recovered, Hayes led a division which destroyed many Confederate salt and lead mines. He joined the Army of the Shenandoah and aside from several battles he had his men tear up a lot of railroad tracks to cut off supplies to the South. At Kernstown he was defeated and received a bullet in his shoulder plus his horse was shot out from under him. At Cedar Creek he was wounded again in the head as well as spraining his ankle. Afterward he was promoted to brigadier general and then brevetted as a major general. As President Hayes had a conflict with Mexico as to the border. Porfirio Diaz who was the Mexican President at that time protested the US position and sent troops to the border. Hayes eventually backed off his position against Mexico. Hayes never engaged the Indians but did work to reduce fraud against the American Indians. For his bravery and tactics trying to cut off the Southern supplies, I am giving Hayes a B+. He was not ever responsible for winning major battles.James Garfield opposed secession of the South during the Civil War. He served as a major general for the North and fought in the battles of Middle Creek, Shiloh, and Chickamauga. Under Buell’s command, Garfield became a brigadier general at the age of 30 because of his command at the battle of Middle Creek. Garfield was marching his troops towards Corinth, Mississippi when he received word of Albert Johnson’s surprise attack on Grant’s forces. So he force marched his men to join the battle and helped Grant win the battle at Shiloh. Since Garfield was assassinated (although he didn’t die for 11 weeks) early in his Presidency, he never really had a chance as President to be a military leader. Because of Garfield’s actions at Shiloh, I am giving him a C+ since he wasn’t much of a military tactician and made some errors of judgement especially by befriending Rosecrans even though he disagreed with his policies.Chester Arthur came in as President after the death of Garfield (who died eventually from complications from a bullet shot by Charles J. Guiteau). Before the Civil War, Arthur served as a engineer-in-chief. When the Civil War started, Arthur was assigned to the quartermaster department and was promoted to Brigadier General. The closest Arthur ever came to the front lines was at Fredericksburg when he was inspecting the New York regiment. Eventually Arthur was relieved of his post when the Democrats took control. As President he never sent in troops while he was Commander-in-Chief. I’m giving him a C because of his average contribution to the war effort during the Civil War.Benjamin Harrison served as a colonel during the American Civil War. He was elevated to the position of brevet brigadier general. He eventually served as a recruiter, but then did some reconnaissance duty and guarded railroads. He eventually joined Sherman’s Atlanta campaign. He He commanded the brigades at the battles of Resaca, Cassville, New Hope Church, Lost Mountain, Kennesaw Mountain, Marietta, Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, and then Nashville. It was during his Presidency that the Sioux started the famous Ghost Dance and a lot of Sioux were killed at Wounded Knee by Harrison’s troops. As President Harrison helped avert a war by using a strong arm in the crises in the Aleutian Islands and Chile. Because of this action alone Harrison is receiving a grade of a B from me.Dwight Eisenhower was a five-star general in the US Army during WWII. He served as a Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe. He was the individual who helped plan and supervise the invasion of North Africa in 1942–43 in what we call “Operation Torch.” He also planned and supervised the invasion of France and Germany in 1944–45 from the Western Front. After Eisenhower became President, the Soviet Union launched After the Sputnik in 1957. Eisenhower then authorized the establishment of NASA which led to the famous Space Race. He also deployed 15,000 troops during the 1958 Lebanon crisis. It was during Eisenhower’s term when a U.S. spy plane with Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union. Eisenhower approved the Bay of Pigs invasion, but it was left to John F. Kennedy to implement that policy and take actions. It was also under Eisenhower that a strong science program was established in American schools in order to help with National Defense. It was called the National Defense Education Act. Eisenhower expressed his concerns about the dangers of massive military spending particularly if it resulted in deficit spending. He fought against government contracts to private military manufacturers. I should mention that Eisenhower did serve in WWI. He had requested overseas assignments, but instead was assigned to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Eventually Eisenhower was assigned to a tank corps and did see some military action, but it was his superb and efficient organizational skills which caught the eyes of his superiors. He was especially adept at recognizing Junior Officer’s skills as well as assigning personnel to places where they were most useful. He was due to go to France, but the armistice was signed a week before he was deployed. So he never saw action overseas despite his many requests. Between the wars, he served with such notables as George Patton, Fox Connor, John J. Pershing, Douglas MacArthur, and George Marshall. Eisenhower’s primary duty during the Depression years was to plan the next war. In 1935 he accompanied MacArthur to the Philippines, where he served as assistant military adviser to the Philippine government in developing their armies. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Eisenhower was assigned to develop major war plans to defeat Japan and Germany. Eventually Eisenhower’s strategies resulted in the liberation of France and victory in Europe. After the German surrender, Eisenhower was appointed military governor of the American occupation zone. He helped handle things such as the liberation of the concentration camps and the food shortages. I can’t even really begin to document all the marvelous things this General did. I give him an A.So as a historian here are my rankings or report card regarding your question:Dwight Eisenhower AGeorge Washington A-U S Grant A-Andrew Jackson B+Rutherford Hayes B+William Henry Harrison BBenjamin Harrison B (slightly below W. H. Harrison in my opinion)John Tyler B-James Garfield C+Chester Arthur CFranklin Pierce F+Andrew Johnson F -