President of the United States amount of military detail handled personally by the President in wartime has varied dramatically. George Washington, the first U.S. president, firmly established military subordination under civilian authority. In 1794, Washington used his constitutional powers to assemble 12,000 militia to quell the Whiskey Rebellion—a conflict in western Pennsylvania involving armed farmers and distillers who refused to pay excise tax on spirits. According to historian Joseph Ellis, this was the "first and only time a sitting American president led troops in the field", though James Madison briefly took control of artillery units in defense of Washington D.C. during the War of 1812.
The Prosecution of an American President The Prosecution of an American President The Prosecution of an American President is a 2012 American documentary film about the Iraq War directed by Dave Hagen and David J. Burke. Former prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi outlines his legal case for prosecution of George W. Bush for deliberately starting the war under false pretences, misleading America over Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, and falsely blaming Iraq for 9/11. The film is based on the 2008 book "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder" by Bugliosi, a former Los Angeles district attorney who prosecuted Charles Manson and his "Family" for the