Gen'l Washington...................

Civilian control over the military has always been an important part of the American experiment:

     John Adams spoke soon afterward, sharing an idea publicly that many in Congress had only whispered about privately;  the fear that overblown patriotism was turning the commander in chief into some kind of superhero - or worse, a newfangled democratic king.  "I have been distressed," Adams said, "to see some members of this house disposed to idolize an image which their own hands have molten.  I speak here of the superstitious veneration sometimes paid to Gen'l Washington.  Altho' I honour him for his good qualities . . . in this house I feel myself his superior.  In private life I shall always acknowledge that he is mine."

-Stephen Fried,  Rush:  Revolution, Madness & The Visionary Doctor Who Became A Founding Father

For context, the year in which Adams was speaking was 1777.