Great- maybe you will like today's useless piece of information.... :-)
So who was the highest ranking officer ever in the US military? The answer is short, the reason for it is a little longer.
Before the 20 century the answer is sketchy due to the various ranks, terms and qualifiers. From 1919 it was John J. Pershing ('Black Jack' Pershing although that was a much- softened version of his nickname and it was quite derogatory). But then in 1976, George Washington became the highest ranking US military officer ever. Kinda' funny, huh?
So it goes like this: after the first World War, Pershing was given the rank "General of the Armies" (note the plural) and it was considered the equivalent of a six- star general. This meant he clearly out- ranked Washington and all that served before himself. Then in 1976, Congress passed a bill making Washington General of the Armies also but given his earlier promotion, he would effective out rank Pershing.
Pershing was given the choice of the what insignia to use- he chose to wear the four stars of a full general but in gold rather than silver to denote the different rank.
Brian
That is a cool piece of trivia I never knew. Thanks Brian.