Gerald Ford signed the 1976 law honoring George Washington with the rank General of the Armies.
Congress passed Public Law 94-479 to appoint Washington posthumously to the grade of General of the Armies of the United States. President Gerald Ford signed the law on October 11, 1976, during the national Bicentennial year. The honor was intended to ensure that no U.S. Army officer would outrank Washington.
The law specified that Washington’s appointment would be effective from July 4, 1976, the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The Army issued the formal promotion order later, on March 13, 1978, after questions arose about how Washington’s rank compared with that of other senior officers.
The rank is often described informally as a six-star rank, but no official six-star insignia was created. John J. Pershing had received the rank in 1919, and Washington became the first person to hold it posthumously during the Bicentennial.