George Washington and the American Military Tradition

This is a small book that includes a lot of fascinating information. Don Higginbotham is a historian who's studied George Washington carefully, and he wrote and delivered three papers on Washington's influence on the American military, as lectures at Mercer University. This book includes those three lectures, reworked and lengthened, along with a fourth chapter he wrote for this book, contrasting and comparing George C. Marshall, the US Chief of Staff in World War II and later Secretary of State and author of the Marshall Plan, with Washington. The author's main premise can be succinctly stated. Washington was a fine model for the American army to follow and build on, because of his character and sense of duty. He deliberately restrained himself and others from abusing his power as commander in chief during the Revolution, and that example served as the framework for the behavior of generals in the years since. Washington was working without benefit of examples, in many ways: no one had ever dealt with a government like the Continental Congress before, because there hadn't been a government like it in the past. So Washington essentially was making it up as he went along, and the result was exemplary, and has done us proud in the years since. This is an excellent little book, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in Washington or the American military.

Whether you are interested in George Washington specifically, or military history generally, this book is a must read. Higginbotham, a well-respected University of North Carolina history professor has done a magnificent job of explaining the unique relations between civilian and military interests that are so crucial in our form of government. In the process, you are sure to gain a renewed appreciation for George Washington, the military leader whose character and forebearance created a solid foundation for American military tradition.