"West Point Bicentennial"
A Pictorial History of the First Two Hundred Years of the United States Military Academy
Preface | 1776-1817 | 1817-1833 | 1833-1848 | 1848-1865 | 1865-1890 | 1890-1919 | 1919-1939 | 1939-1950 | 1950-1970 | 1970-1980 | 1980-2002 | Bicentennial and Beyond

"West Point:
Bicentennial and Beyond"

Today’s Military Academy continues to evolve, constantly reassessing itself and striving to improve. Over the years, West Point has tried to balance cherished traditions with the need to educate officers for an increasingly complex world. The success of the aca-demic program is only partially reflected in the academy’s top-five ranking in numbers of Rhodes, Marshall and Hertz scholars. (West Point and Princeton are the only institutions in the nation that rank in the top four for both Rhodes and Hertz scholarships.)

The Military Academy’s success is reflected in the quality of the leaders it has produced for the nation. Military leaders like Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Emory Upton, Philip H. Sheridan, Robert E. Lee, John J. Pershing, Joseph W. Stilwell, George S. Patton, Omar N. Bradley, Dwight D. Eisenhower, J. Lawton Collins, Matthew B. Ridgway, Douglas C. MacArthur, Henry H. Arnold, Creighton W. Abrams, James M. Gavin, Maxwell D. Taylor, Benjamin O. Davis, William C. Westmoreland, H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Wesley K. Clark and current Army Chief of Staff General Eric K. Shinseki are only some of the thousands who have claimed West Point as the well-spring of their professional development.

The academy has also developed leaders whose contributions have extended beyond the military arena. They include individuals such as Benjamin L.E. Bonneville (explorer and cartographer of the American West), Oliver O. Howard (head of the Freedmen’s Bureau and founder of Howard University), George Washington Goethals (architect and builder of the Panama Canal), Leslie R. Groves (director of the Manhattan Project), Frank Borman and Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin (astronauts) and Thoralf M. Sundt (pioneering neurosurgeon at the Mayo Clinic).

Although many things have changed at West Point in 200 years, the traditions that have inspired the Military Academy and her graduates to greatness have not. West Point continues to provide a solid foundation, mentally, physically and ethically, upon which each graduate can build a lifetime of distinction and value. The United States Military Academy’s timeless mission is expressed today as: "to educate, train and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country; professional growth throughout a career as an officer in the United States Army; and a lifetime of selfless service to the nation." With the continued support of the nation and the willingness of young men and women to face the challenges of the next century, we will continue to meet our great national purpose. West Point, that hallowed ground where George Washington walked and so many of our national leaders were educated and inspired, will continue to be that special place where America develops her leaders of character for her Army and nation. It is often stated that at West Point, much of the history we teach was made by people we taught.