high-ranking military official appointed for reasons other than strategic acumen From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A political general is a term used by historians and most often applies to the American Civil War. In this context, it means a General officer who does not have formal military training or experience and who gained his position through political influence.[1] To a lesser degree, it can also mean generals who engaged in politics during or after their time as a general.[2] A "political general" can seem to be a contradiction in terms in a country such as the United States where by law the military is under civilian authority.[3] An example was Dwight D. Eisenhower, who graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in the class of 1915.[4] He was an experienced staff officer who commanded the invasions of North Africa and Western Europe.[3] Eisenhower developed the political skills to deal with his British and American officers as well as political leaders.[3] He later became President of the United States.[3]
In history, many great generals were also political leaders. Julius Caesar was a general who became the dictator of Rome in 44 BC.[5] Genghis Khan was the son of a Mongol chieftain who became a general and then the leader of the Mongol Empire.[6] As a general, Alexander the Great never lost a battle. He was a king who was also a general.[6] In the British Army of the 17th and 18th centuries, the officers were often aristocrats and most obtained their rank by purchase.[7]
In American history up to the Civil war, there had been a long line of amateur military leaders going back to the colonial militias.[8] Before he led the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War, George Washington had little military experience.[8] Andrew Jackson only had experience in the American Indian Wars.[8] But he successfully defeated a larger and more professional British army at the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812.[9]
During the American Civil War, two great armies were raised that were made up largely of citizen-soldiers.[10] There simply were not enough trained generals to lead all these men. Both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis appointed political generals, some of whom later proved to be incompetent.[11] Others proved to be good or even great generals. Many of these generals had very little or no military training before being commissioned a general.[10] Confederate general Patrick Cleburne was such a leader.[10] He earned his nickname as the "Stonewall Jackson of the West" by being a great general.[12] One of the worst examples was Union general Daniel Sickles. He was a Tammany Hall politician[lower-alpha 1] who used his influence to rise to the rank of major general.[14] Sickles nearly lost the Battle of Gettysburg for the North yet, after 34 years of lobbying, managed to get himself awarded the Medal of Honor.[14]
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