Al Gore | Horatio GatesIn contemporary times, Al Gore, in his service as vice president, has been strongly associated with Bill Clinton. Ironically, I submit that Al Gore has a stronger karmic connection with George W. Bush, for both, I believe, were generals in the Continental Army under George Washington. If my assessments are correct, Gore and Bush fought together at the battle of Saratoga, which was the first and one of the most strategic victories for the American Continental Army. It is my contention that, in the Revolutionary era, Al Gore was Horatio Gates and George W. Bush was Daniel Morgan. If so, Gore and Bush were great, though largely forgotten, heroes of the Revolutionary War. In addition to having nearly identical facial architecture, Horatio Gates and Albert Gore share similar personality traits. In particular, the two men share reputations as organizers and technocrats. Horatio Gates was a master at getting an army into fighting shape. He was a professional soldier, described by one historian as having “rare abilities as a military organizer.” Gates, upon numerous occasions, was able to convert undisciplined and demoralized troops into fighting units that even the British admired. This is significant, as the British considered the American forces as amateurs, which in many ways, they were. The Continental Congress also recognized the administrative abilities of Horatio Gates and eventually, Gates was made the President of the Board of War, which technically made Gates superior in rank to George Washington. Though Gates was a military disciplinarian, he cared a great deal about the common soldier. Perhaps this arose from a battle during the French and Indian War, in which Gates was wounded by a musket ball; an infantryman dragged him from the field, saving his life. General Gates always tried to make sure that his troops were fed and sheltered. He made it a point to camp with his men, and in this way Gates won the affection and admiration of his troops. Samuel Adams described Gates' relationship with his men in the following way: “He has the Art of gaining the Love of his Soldiers principally because he is always present with them in Fatigue and Danger.” Al Gore has been described as having similar abilities as an organizer and administrator. While Horatio Gates was a master of military organization, Gore is a master of the intricacies of government. Some have called Gore a technocrat in this regard. There are other similarities in the lives of Horatio Gates and Al Gore. In the period between the French and Indian War (1754–1763) and the Revolutionary War (1775–1782), Gates went through a period of “guzzling and gaming,” as one historian has noted. Al Gore has had his own history of partying days, and Gore went through a similar “gaming” stage when he was a student at Harvard. Gates later experienced a religious conversion, consistent with the spiritual conversion episodes studied by William James/Jeffrey Mishlove. Gore has also had religious or mystical experiences, similar to the spiritual conversion of Horatio Gates; following these, Gore adopted the habit of asking, “What would Jesus do?” when pondering difficult issues. Let us now return to the battle of Saratoga. Horatio Gates/Albert Gore was in command of a demoralized and disorganized Northern army, which he transformed into an effective fighting unit. It was Gates' superior understanding of military strategy, terrain, and the mind of his enemy, which led to victory at Saratoga and the surrender of a large segment of the British forces. In fact, one fifth of the British troops on American soil (5,700 men) laid down their arms on that day. This was the first victory for the American Continental Army, and this achievement gave the colonists hope that they could succeed in their war against the British who possessed the most powerful army in the world. More importantly, it was the victory at Saratoga that convinced France to join America in the struggle against Britain, committing military and financial aid to the American cause. John Adams, serving as an ambassador in Paris at the time, made the following statement regarding the international importance of the military event that shook the world: “General Gates was the ablest negotiator you ever had in Europe.” The negotiating chip Gates produced was Saratoga. Years later, at the siege of Yorktown, victory for the Americans came only with the assistance of the French Navy and Army. Without the support of Louis XVI, the victory at Yorktown, which effectively ended the Revolutionary War, could never have been achieved. The importance of Saratoga, both as America's first strategic military victory and as the inducement for France to become America's ally, cannot be overemphasized. Due to his role in this critical campaign, some historians feel that Horatio Gates should be considered one of the Founding Fathers of America. Readers may be interested in the following
related cases, which are found in Return
of the Revolutionaries: |
