Winfield Scott (1786-1866) was arguably the premier soldier of his era, responsible for the professionalization of the US Army during his long career. Allan Peskin's biography presents research which supports the view of General Scott as a forward-looking managerial officer.

More than a military history, this book explains how Scott's aristocratic pretensions were out of place with emerging notions of equality in Jacksonian America and made him an unappealing political candidate in his bid for the presidency. Johnson recounts the details of Scott's personality that alienated nearly every one who knew him, as well as the unsavory methods Scott used to promote his career and the scandalous ways he attempted to alleviate his lifelong financial troubles.

The hero of the War of 1812, the conqueror of Mexico City in the Mexican-American War, and Abraham Lincoln’s top soldier during the first six months of the Civil War, General Winfield Scott was a seminal force in the early expansion and consolidation of the American republic. John S. D. Eisenhower explores how Scott, who served under fourteen presidents, played a leading role in the development of the United States Army from a tiny, loosely organized, politics-dominated establishment to a disciplined professional force capable of effective and sustained campaigning.

Written by a professional U.S. Army soldier, this was the first and still the most complete life of Scott, tracing in more than fifty carefully researched chapters, his entire career and opening up many new perspectives on his role in the Army, especially during the Mexican War. More than this, the work provided the first comprehensive examination of ""the atrocious military policy"" of the United States government, which, the author argues, lasted all the way up to 1920, and why military genius, such as Scott's, was required to win victories and keep and army in existence despite presidental and congressional ignorance throughout the antebellum period. Includes all the original illustrations, maps, and sketches. Reprint edition. 2006: 837 pages. Softcover. (Scholar's Bookshelf)