The duties of the office are varied and complex. The Superintendent is directly responsible for the actual state of the discipline, instruction, police administration, fiscal affairs, and other concerns of the Academy. The necessary work is organized and under the control of various officers, his assistants, who constitute his staff. The office of Superintendent is regarded as one of the most desirable and most honored that the Government has to offer to an officer of the Army, and justly so, for the position carries with it a great responsibility, fascinating work, large powers, and enormous prestige. The President is in no way limited in his selection for the office. He may appoint an officer of any rank whatsoever, from second lieutenant to general officer, but the policy always pursued has been to intrust the important duties of the position to an officer of character, ability, and experience. The selection of the Superintendents of the Military Academy was confined to the Corps of Engineers from the establishment of the institution, March 16, 1802, till the passage of the law of July 13, 1866, which opened it to the entire Army. It is not an easy task to find just the man with all of the necessary requirements for this office. In addition to the officer’s military ability, grasp of affairs, and experience, it is desirable that his scholarly attainments be of a distinctly high order, for, since he is _ex-officio_ the President of the Academic Board, he will find occasion to use his scholarship for the permanent benefit of the curriculum. In general, the military demands upon the average officer’s time preclude the pursuit, on his part, of cultural and academic studies to any great degree, so that, while an officer may be of the highest moral character, have great experience, and on the whole make an admirable administrative chief, yet he might lack scholarship, which deficiency would lessen his value to the Academy as Superintendent. Besides, the Superintendent should be a good judge of human nature, and in particular of young men. To be able to throw oneself back in memory to the age of twenty, re-grasp the fresh and immature viewpoint of youth, and then make the proper allowances for youth’s inability to see life as a whole, is a gift not given to many men. Some of us could do it if we would exert our minds, but many are incapable. Where sympathy and understanding of young men are lacking on the part of the commanding officer there is too often a tendency to judge a cadet by the standard held by his superiors which they have gained only through years of experience. Moreover, a broad man in command dissipates with a word all of the trivialities of military life that seem big for the moment, and relieves his subordinates of the haunting fear of an excess of participation in their affairs.