Superintendents of the United States Military Academy

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The commanding officer of the United States Military Academy is its Superintendent. This position is roughly equivalent to the president of an American civilian university. The officer appointed is by tradition a graduate of the United States Military Academy who is considered to best exemplify the creed of "Duty, Honor, Country".

Historically, the Superintendency was often a stepping stone to higher prominence within the Army. The list of Superintendents includes future Commanding Generals or Chiefs of Staff John McAllister Schofield, Hugh L. Scott, Douglas MacArthur, Maxwell Davenport Taylor, and William Westmoreland. However, in the modern era, the post is a terminal assignment in the Army; as a condition for detail to the position the officer is required by law to acknowledge that he will be retired at the end of his appointment. This formulation was meant to secure the independence of the Superintendent from undue command influence; however, this lame duck status also restricts his power and influence within the Army. There has been some discussion about reverting to the previous system or recalling a retired officer to fill the post.

The billet carries the rank of lieutenant general, and is not counted against the Army's statutory limit on the number of active-duty officers above the rank of major general. Gen. Andrew J. Goodpaster originally retired from active duty as a full general, was recalled to assume the superintendency as a lieutenant general, and reverted to his four-star rank upon his second retirement.

[edit] Superintendents

	Start	End	Rank	Name	Notes
1	1801	1803	LTC	Jonathan Williams	(1750-1815). In June 1803, Lieutenant Colonel Williams vacated (he did not resign) the post of Superintendent. He returned in Superintendency in April 1805.
2	1803	1805	MAJ	William Amherst Barron	(1769-1825). Major Barron resigned his commission on 14 June 1807, just before he was brought to trial by a court martial for "for...neglect of the Military Academy..."
3	1805	1812	COL	Jonathan Williams	See notes for 1.
4	1812	1814	COL	Joseph Gardner Swift	(1783-1865). Class of 1802.
5	1814	1817	CPT	Alden Partridge	(1785-1854). Class of 1806. (Actually, Captain Partridge was Acting Superintendent, and Dean of Mathematics. His administration was noted as being unsatisfactory and negligent to duties. When Sylvanus Thayer was appointed, Captain Partridage refused to relinquish command, and was subsequently Court Martialed. He was sentenced to be cashiered in November 1817, and resigned from the Army in April 1818.)¹
6	1817	1833	COL	Sylvanus Thayer	(1785-1872). Class of 1808.
7	1833	1838	MAJ	Rene DeRussy	(1796-1864). Class of 1812.
8	1838	1845	MAJ	Richard Delafield	(1798-1873). Class of 1818. Later served as 12th and 14th Superintendents.
9	1845	1852	CPT	Henry Brewerton	(1801-1879). Class of 1819.
10	1852	1855	LTC	Robert E. Lee	(1807-1870). Class of 1829.
11	1855	1856	CPT	John Gross Barnard	(1815-1882). Class of 1833.
12	1856	1861	COL	Richard Delafield	See notes for 8.
13	Jan 23, 1861	Jan 28, 1861	CPT	Pierre Gustave Toutant (P.G.T.) Beauregard	(1818-1893). Class of 1838.
14	Jan 28, 1861	Mar 1, 1861	COL	Richard Delafield	See notes for 8.
15	1861	1864	COL	Alexander Hamilton Bowman	(1803-1865). Class of 1825.
16	Jul 1864	Sep 1864	MAJ (brevetted BG)	Zealous Bates Tower	(1819-1900). Class of 1841.
17	1864	1866	MAJ (brevetted MG)	George Washington Cullum	(1809-1892). Class of 1833. Wrote Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y... , in 1891.
18	1866	1871	COL	Thomas Gamble Pitcher	(1824-1895). Class of 1845.
19	1871	1876	COL	Thomas Howard Ruger	(1833-1907). Class of 1854.
20	1876	1881	MG	John McAllister Schofield	(1831-1906). Class of 1853. Awarded the Medal of Honor at the Battle of Wilson's Creek in 1861. Later Commanding General of the Army.
21	1881	1882	BG	Oliver Otis Howard	(1830-1909). Class of 1854.
22	1882	1887	MAJ	Wesley Merritt	(1834-1910). Class of 1860.
23	1887	1889	COL	John Parke	(1827-1900). Class of 1849.
24	1889	1893	COL	John Moulder Wilson	(1837-1919). Class of 1860. Awarded the Medal of Honor at the Battle of Malvern Hill, VA in 1862.
25	1893	1898	COL	Oswald Hurbert Ernst	(1842-1926). Class of 1864.
26	1898	1906	COL	Albert Leopold Mills	(1854-1916). Class of 1879. Awarded the Medal of Honor as a 1st Lt. at San Juan Hill in Cuba. Appointed Superintendent to West Point by President McKinley, which carried an automatic promotion from 1st Lt. to Col.
27	1906	1910	MAJ	Hugh L. Scott	(1853-1934). Class of 1876. Later Chief of Staff of the Army.
28	1911	1912	MG	Thomas Henry Barry	(1855-1919). Class of 1877.
29	1913	1917	COL	Clarence Page Townsley	(18??-1926). Class of 1881.
30	1917	1919	COL	Samuel Escue Tillman	(1847-1942). Class of 1869.
31	1919	1922	BG	Douglas MacArthur	(1880-1964). Class of 1903. Later Chief of Staff of the Army. Awarded the Medal of Honor in 1942 for his leadership to Philippine resistance to the Japanese invasion.
32	1922	1925	BG	Fred Winchester Sladen	(1863-1945). Class of 1890.
33	1926	1928	BG	Merch Bradt (M.B.) Stewart	(1875-1934). Class of 1896.
34	1928	1928	BG	Edwin Baruch Winans	(1869-1947). Class of 1891.
35	1929	1932	MG	William Ruthven Smith	(1868-1941). Class of 1892.
36	1932	1938	MG	William Durward Connor	(1874-1960). Class of 1897.
37	1938	1940	BG	Jay Leland Benedict	(1882-1953). Class of 1904.
38	1940	1942	MG	Robert L. Eichelberger	(1886-1961). Class of 1909.
39	1942	1945	MG	Francis Bowditch Wilby	(1883-1965). Class of 1905.
40	1945	1949	MG	Maxwell Davenport Taylor	(1901-1987). Class of 1922. Later Chief of Staff of the Army and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
41	1949	1951	MG	Bryant Edward Moore	(1894-1951). Class of Aug 1917.
42	1951	1954	MG	Frederick Augustus Irving	(1894-1995). Class of 1917.
43	1954	1956	LTG	Blackshear Morrison Bryan	(1900-1977). Class of 1922.
44	1956	1960	LTG	Garrison Holt Davidson	(1904-1992). Class of 1927.
45	1960	1963	MG	William Westmoreland	(1914-2005). Class of 1936. Later Chief of Staff of the Army.
46	1963	1966	MG	James Benjamin Lampert	(1914-1978). Class of 1936.
47	1966	1969	LTG	Donald V. Bennett	(1915-2005). Class of 1940.
48	1969	1970	MG	Samuel William Koster	(1919- ). Class of 1942.
49	1970	1974	LTG	William Allen Knowlton	(1920- ). Class of Jan 1943.
50	1974	1977	LTG	Sidney Bryan Berry	(1926- ). Class of 1948.
51	1977	1981	LTG	Andrew Jackson Goodpaster	(1915-2005). Class of 1939.
52	1981	1986	LTG	Willard Warren Scott, Jr.	(1926- ). Class of 1948.
53	1986	1991	LTG	Dave Richard Palmer	(1934- ). Class of 1956.
54	1991	1996	LTG	Howard Dwayne Graves	(1939-2003). Class of 1961.
55	1996	2001	LTG	Daniel William Christman	(1943- ). Class of 1965.
56	2001	2006	LTG	William James Lennox, Jr.	(1949- ). Class of 1971.
57	2006		LTG	Franklin Lee Hagenbeck	(1949- ). Class of 1971.