Problem: Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786 - May 29, 1866) was a United States Army general and the unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852. Known as "Old Fuss and Feathers" and the "Grand Old Man of the Army", he served on active duty as a general longer than any other person in American history, is rated as one of the Army's most senior commissioned officers, and is ranked by many historians as the best American commander of his time. Over the course of his 53-year career, he commanded forces in the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War, the Mexican-American War, and the Second Seminole War. He was the army's senior officer at the start of the American Civil War, and conceived the Union strategy known as the Anaconda Plan, which was used to defeat the Confederacy.

From the War of 1812 until he became commanding general of the U.S. Army in 1841, Scott maintained a rivalry with Brevet Major General Edmund P. Gaines. The central issue was the question of which had seniority; should brevet ranks count, which would favor Scott, or were regular Army ranks what mattered, which would favor Gaines? Scott claimed he outranked Gaines because Scott's brevet rank of major general, dated July 25, 1814, made him senior to Gaines, whose brevet was dated August 15, 1814. Gaines argued that he should be senior; his and Scott's promotions to brigadier general, colonel, and lieutenant colonel were all issued on the same dates, but Gaines had been promoted to major while Scott was still a captain. The dispute was important to both because they realized that assignment as the Army's commanding general might be at stake.  Scott served as president of the Army's Board of Tactics in 1815, and supervised the modernization of the Army's drill regulations. He also headed a postwar officer retention board in 1815, with post-war reductions in personnel strength the overriding concern. As a result of the board's recommendations, Jacob Brown was appointed as the Army's commander with the rank of major general; Scott and Gaines were retained as brigadier generals, and Brigadier General Alexander Macomb agreed to accept reduction in rank to colonel in order to serve as the Army's chief of engineers. Scott visited Europe to study French military methods in 1815 and 1816, and translated several of the manuals from Napoleon's Army into English. Scott held command of the Division of the North beginning in 1816. He served again as president of the Board of Tactics in 1821, 1824 and 1826, and again oversaw updating of the Army's field regulations. He began command of the Eastern Department in 1825.  Scott and Gaines were passed over for the commanding general's post in 1828, following the death of Jacob Brown. Aware of the Scott/Gaines rivalry, President John Quincy Adams nominated Macomb. Scott attempted to resign, but it was not accepted. Scott again visited Europe and then resumed command of the Eastern Department in 1829. In 1830, Scott published Abstract of Infantry Tactics, Including Exercises and Manueuvres of Light-Infantry and Riflemen, for the Use of the Militia of the United States.

How long did he continue to serve?

Answer with quotes: 1830,


Problem: Graziano was the son of Ida Scinto and Nicola Barbella. Barbella, nicknamed Fighting Nick Bob, was a boxer with a brief fighting record. Born in Brooklyn, Graziano later moved to an Italian enclave centered on East 10th Street, between First Avenue and Avenue A in Manhattan's East Village. He grew up as a street fighter and learned to look after himself before he could read or write.

As he grew older and seeing no other way to raise his standard of living, Graziano signed a few boxing contracts, but the rigors of training disinterested him. He and his early managers went their separate ways but eventually, he was picked up by Irving Cohen who had the sense to give him a long leash. Cohen changed the young fighter's name from Barbella to Graziano (his grandfather's surname) and lined up a fight. Refusing to train much, Graziano nevertheless showed his killer instinct and won by a knockout. Other fights were lined up with Cohen trying, in his subtle way, to overmatch Graziano, get him defeated, and thereby show him the value of getting into condition. He even demanded a match against Sugar Ray Robinson.  In March 1945, at Madison Square Garden, Graziano scored a major upset over Billy Arnold, whose style was similar to that of Sugar Ray Robinson; he was a slick boxer with lightning-fast combinations and a knockout punch. The Ring magazine and various newspapers across the United States touted Arnold as the next Joe Louis or Sugar Ray Robinson. Arnold was a heavy favorite to defeat Graziano and then to go on to fight for the world title, but Graziano absorbed a beating in the early going, before going on to batter and knock Arnold out in the third round of the scheduled eight-round bout. Following his defeat to Graziano, Arnold was never the same.  Graziano is most famous for his three title bouts with Tony Zale, all for the middleweight title. In their first match (September 27, 1946), after flooring Graziano in the first round, Zale took a savage beating from him, and was on the verge of losing the fight by TKO. However, he rallied and knocked him out in the sixth round to retain his title. The rematch, a year later in Chicago (July 16, 1947), was a mirror image of their first fight. The referee almost stopped the second fight in the third round because of a severe cut over Graziano's left eye, which would have awarded the victory to Zale, but Graziano's cutman, Morris ("Whitey") Bimstein, was able to stop the bleeding to let the fight continue. Graziano was battered around the ring, suffered a closed eye and appeared ready to lose by a knockout, then rallied and knocked Zale out in the sixth round, becoming world middleweight champion. Their last fight was held in New Jersey the following year (June 10, 1948). Zale regained his crown, winning the match by a knockout in the third round. The knockout blows consisted of a perfect combination of a right to Graziano's body, then a left hook to his jaw. He was knocked unconscious. His last attempt at the middleweight title came in April 1952, when he fought Sugar Ray Robinson. He dropped him to his knee with a right in the third round. Less than a minute later, Robinson knocked him out for the count with a right to the jaw. He retired after losing his very next fight, a 10-round decision to Chuck Davey.

How many championships did he win?

Answer with quotes: