Powers of the President of the United States The 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
The Selling of the President 1968 The Selling of the President 1968 The Selling of the President 1968 is a 1969 book by American author Joe McGinniss. It was published by Trident Press in October, 1969. The title is a play on the Making of the President books by Theodore White. The book describes the marketing of Richard Nixon during the 1968 presidential campaign. It has been described as "a classic of political journalism" and a "classic of campaign reporting that first introduced many readers to the stage-managed world of political theater." It was reprinted in 1988 under the title "The Selling of the President". McGinniss