The tag G.O.A.T. appears everywhere these days. Especially if you watch football.  Besides its use in any sport context, advertisers incorporate it into claims about their products. Everyone spins and capitalizes on this ‘new’ buzz word.

But it’s not new. The award of GOAT goes way back. However it had an entirely different meaning in the 1800s. Not anything good!

And I don’t just mean the ornery animal. It connoted: worst in the class.

Let’s face it: General George Armstrong Custer was not all that bright. All biographical and historical sources make reference to his recklessness and vanity. Custer worried more over the niceties of life than the responsibilities of his job, combing cinnamon oil through his long, luxurious blond curls and embellishing his Army uniform with a brocaded velveteen vest and a red cravat.

That was not just because he suffered through grim circumstances both on the edge of the frontier and in the midst of hostilities. Rather than facing his grey reality, Custer addressed his grey uniform. He added fringed buckskin britches and a dashing broad rimmed hat. Next he tried his hand at ladies apparel and fashioned a few new looks for his wife Elizabeth.

 It began years before. Custer worked just hard enough for his state representative to nominate him to United States Military Academy West Point. But he was almost expelled before joining the ‘long grey line.’ His insubordination and hijinks upon arriving at West Point earned him an immediate court martial. However his superiors discovered he had not yet been sworn in, so they could not yet expel him. His pattern of applying his energies to anything fun and rash rather than his studies kept him in constant hot water and earned him a reputation. 

Custer’s ineptitude and devilishness kept him on the brink of failure and expulsion all four years in school. He spent more time carousing in the local tavern than doing his homework. He almost didn’t graduate. But it was 1861, the Civil War had just begun and the Union needed officers. (23 members of his class had already left to join the Confederacy.) Custer ranked last in his class in discipline, academic scores and overall comportment, earning him the title GOAT.

Some historians say the same recklessness and daring that almost flunked him made him a good officer. His daring leadership in the Civil War earned him the rank of brigader general. (For further reading see Last in their Class: Custer, Pickett and the GOATS of West Point by James Robbins.)

Today’s West Point GOAT is celebrated for that accomplishment. After all, they qualified to graduate! Now it pays to be last. Following a tradition established long after Custer’s last stand, every classmate gives the GOAT a dollar. Depending on class size, the GOAT leaves with upwards of one thousand dollars.

We have come a long way since the 1800s (check out Custer’s ‘uniform’ sleeves). Now, whether GOAT means Greatest Of All Time or last in rank, it still designates an outstanding individual.

© Jane F. Collen  January 8, 2024 IndexCardCure.com™ outstanding in our class

*See more fun facts about Custer in a history channel story 10 Surprising Facts About General Custer