who was the only sitting president to lead troops in the field during his term
Commander-in-chief The amount of military detail handled personally by the President in wartime has varied dramatically.[62] 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 Rebellionâ€”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.[63]
David Rice Atchison David Rice Atchison (August 11, 1807 – January 26, 1886) was a mid-19th century Democratic[1] United States Senator from Missouri.[1] He served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate for six years.[2] Atchison served as a major general in the Missouri State Militia in 1838 during Missouri's Mormon War and as a Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War under Major General Sterling Price in the Missouri Home Guard. He is best known for the questionable claim that for one day (March 4, 1849) he may have been Acting President of the United States.[3] This belief, however, is dismissed by nearly all historians, scholars, and biographers.[4][5]