List of presidents of the United States by military rank explained

The United States Constitution names the president of the United States the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. Many presidents, however, also served in the military before taking office. All but 13 of the 45 persons to become president have served.

Of the 32 presidents with military service, 31 have been commissioned officers, of whom five began their careers as regular officers (Jimmy Carter transferred to the Navy Reserve after five years in the Navy). There have been 13 presidents who held general officer rank (four regular officers, six militia officers, three volunteers).

Four presidents received military awards for heroism; Theodore Roosevelt (posthumous Medal of Honor), John F. Kennedy (Navy and Marine Corps Medal), Lyndon B. Johnson (Silver Star), and George H. W. Bush (Distinguished Flying Cross).__TOC__

Table of United States presidents by military rank

General of the Armies

Rank order	Highest rank	Branch	President	Service experience	Service notes
1	No official insignia General of the Armies of the United States	Virginia militia (1752–1758) Continental Army (1775–1783)^[1] United States Army (1798–1799)^[2]	George Washington	French and Indian War (1754–1758)^[3] ^[4] War for Independence (1775–1783)^[5] ^[6] Whiskey Rebellion (1791–1794)^[7] ^[8]	Served in the Virginia militia (1752–1758) during the French and Indian War. Served as commander in chief of the Continental Army (1775–1783) during the Revolutionary War, with the rank of "General and Commander in Chief." Washington was a lieutenant general in the United States Army at his death. In 1976, as part of the Bicentennial, then-president Gerald R. Ford posthumously appointed Washington as General of the Armies of the United States, a rank that ensured he would forever rank above all other officers.^[9] ^[10]
		United States Army (Regular Army)	Ulysses S. Grant	Mexican–American War and Civil War	Graduated West Point; first Lieutenant General since Washington, appointed as four-star General of the Army of the United States in 1866. In 2022 Grant was promoted by the United States Congress to General of the Armies to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth. The rank of General of the Armies is considered senior to General of the Army. Grant became the third person to become General of the Armies after John J. Pershing and George Washington. Grant and Pershing are outranked only by Washington.

Colonel (O-6)

Notes and References

1. Book: ((Middlekauff, R.)) . 2005 . The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 . Oxford University Press . 603 . 978-0-19-516247-9.
2. Book: ((Wood, G. S.)) . 2009 . Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815 . Oxford University Press . Chapter 7: The crisis of 1798-99 .
3. Book: ((Anderson, F.)) . 2007 . Crucible of War: The Seven Years’ War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766 . Knopf . Chapter 4: Washington steps onto the stage .
4. Book: ((Fowler, W. M., Jr)) . 2009 . Empires at War: The French and Indian War and the Struggle for North America, 1754-1763 . Bloomsbury . Chapter 2: George Washington helps start a war .
5. Book: ((Flexner, J. T.)) . 1968 . George Washington in the American Revolution . Little, Brown & Company . 978-0-316-28595-7.
6. Book: ((Chernow, R.)) . 2010 . Washington: A Life . Part Three: The General . Penguin .
7. Book: ((Crytzer, B. J.)) . 2023 . The Whiskey Rebellion: A Distilled History of an American Crisis . Westholme Publishing . 978-1-59416-400-2.
8. Book: ((Hogeland, W.)) . 2006 . The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America’s Newfound Sovereignty . Scribner . 978-0-7432-5490-8.
9. [wikisource:Public Law 94-479]
10. [wikisource:Order 31-3]
11. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1917-08-07/ed-1/seq-3/#date1=1917&index=15&date2=1917&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&words=general+GENERAL+MAJOR+major+Taft+TAFT&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=Taft+Major+general&phrasetext=&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 The Washington times., August 07, 1917, NIGHT FINAL, Page 3, Image 3
12. Web site: Military Personnel File of Harry S. Truman . January 1, 2009 . Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum.
13. Web site: American Warriors Home Page . americanwarriorsfivepresidents.com. October 25, 2015.
14. http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq60-6.htm Commander Lyndon B. Johnson, USNR
15. Book: Caro, Robert . Robert Caro . . 1982 . . 0-394-49973-5 . The most you can say about Lyndon Johnson and his Silver Star is that it is surely one of the most undeserved Silver Stars in history, because if you accept everything that he said, he was still in action for no more than 13 minutes and only as an observer. Men who flew many missions, brave men, never got a Silver Star..
16. Web site: LBJ's Silver Star: The Mission That Never Was . March 22, 2009 . Tillman, Barrett and Sakaida, Henry . The fact is LBJ never got within sight of Japanese forces..
17. Web site: Richard Milhous Nixon: 9 January 1913–22 April 1994. . February 18, 2015 . Naval History and Heritage Command . United States Navy . October 1, 2022.
18. Web site: CNN.com Specials . cnn.com. October 25, 2015.
19. http://www.history.navy.mil/bios/ford_gerald.htm Lieutenant Commander Gerald R. Ford, USNR
20. http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq60-2.htm Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, USN
21. Ryder, Robert Randall "My War Chuck Downey Youngest Naval Aviator in WWII." Sea Classics, August 2013. "Off he went for training in Memphis, Tenn., before heading to Pensacola, Fla., for flight school, where he was commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy on July 16, 1943. Downey was the tender age of 18 years, 11 months, and 14 days when he earned his wings."
22. http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq10-1.htm Lieutenant Junior Grade George Bush, USNR
23. Web site: Democratic Group's Ad Revives "AWOL" Allegation Against Bush . FactCheck.org . May 24, 2010.
24. Web site: Roane . Kit R. . Bush's military service in question – again (9/8/04) . USNews.com . May 24, 2010.
25. Lynn . Kenneth S. . 2004 . The Hidden Agony of Woodrow Wilson . The Wilson Quarterly . October 26, 2022.
26. News: Eder . Steve . Philipps . Dave . August 1, 2016 . Donald Trump's Draft Deferments: Four for College, One for Bad Feet . . New York, NY . A1.