How does wartime service make one more fit for office?

[Rick Lee]

With all the Bush/Cheney haters lampooning the fact that they didn't serve in Nam, I started thinking of some politicians WITH wartime service and how/if they might do or have done better. Does wartime service really make a great political leader?

Bob Dole - great guy, lifelong pol, got crushed by Bubba in '96, now a lobbyist and Viagra spokesman.

George McGovern - WWII vet, Socialist.

John McCain - Fighter pilot, POW, hot tempered and egregious panderer.

John Kerry - thank God, this man will never be president, even better that his wife won't be first lady.

Al Gore - ditto above.

Duke Cunningham - Top Gun instructor, war hero, confessed bribe taker, headed to the pokey soon.

Wesley Clark - stellar miltary career, egomaniac, couldn't make it through a primary.

James Stockdale - definite hero and patriot, who, sadly, will be most remembered for "Who am I and why am I here?".

George H.W. Bush - WWII vet, love the guy, but mediocre president.

JFK - WWII vet, Bay of Pigs, sent first combat troops to Vietnam,

Eisenhower - WWII hero. Great president?

Got any more?

[dhoward]

No.
It may show (very slightly) leadership capability...

[Rick Lee]

Ok Mike, I'll take your bait. If a president believes sending troops into combat is the only way to solve a national security crisis, does it matter if he's a vet or not? Would you want a president to NOT send troops into combat because of his own combat experience or lack thereof? I think our national security concerns trump everything in the universe outside the laws of physics. I sure wouldn't want someone letting things slide because he had once been one of the grunts who would bear the real burden of political military decisions. If a judge had a kid killed in a DUI accident, he'd probably have to recuse himself if a DUI case came to his court. We don't have that luxury with presidents.

[jyl]

Rick, IMO your list is pretty meaningless. If you assembled the names of all politicians who have and have not been combat veterans, and used some semi-objective basis to assess their political performance, then the exercise might mean something. Otherwise, it's just a trick akin to posting pictures of ugly Democratic women next to attractive Republican women, and similar pointless rhetorical gimmicks.

My personal opinion: I would give a combat veteran some extra "points" when deciding who to vote for, but it wouldn't be a primary factor in my decision. I do believe that having been in a war would give that person a little to think about before starting a war. I honestly can't say I have any hard evidence to prove that this is so.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I will make a good President someday, never served in uniform, except that one time with the tat chick, but that's another story...

[Rick Lee]

John, I can't write a bio of each of those guys, though I know a lot more abotu each than I wrote in my first post. But they are mostly well-known pols whose military service has either not much helped their careers or did not manifest itself much once they got to the top.

[Rodeo]

It teaches them to shoot?

[Mulhollanddose]

Originally posted by Rodeo
It teaches them to shoot?

Nope, case in point, John Kerry.

[Rick Lee]

You can very easily make a career out of the military without being ever proficient with guns. I know some Navy vets, whose "qualifications" consisted of firing a pistol into the water and hitting the ocean was considered hitting the target.

[gaijindabe]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
With all the Bush/Cheney haters lampooning the fact that they didn't serve in Nam, I started thinking of some politicians WITH wartime service and how/if they might do or have done better. Does wartime service really make a great political leader?



Got any more?

George Washington. Case closed.

[Rick Lee]

Well, I kinda was thinking of modern day pols. Washington is better remembered for things he did before he was president though.

[rcecale]

Originally posted by mikester
...By the way, Al Gore is not a vet.

Hah! Al Gore is every bit as much a veteran as John Kerry!

Although opposed to the Vietnam War, on August 7, 1969, Gore enlisted in the army to participate in the Vietnam War effort. After completing training as a military journalist, Gore shipped to Vietnam in early 1971, serving for four months before being given an honorable discharge. The chronology of Gore's military service is as follows:

August 1969: Enlisted at the Newark, New Jersey recruiting office.
August to October 1969: 8 weeks of basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey
Late October 1969 to December 1970: Fort Rucker, Alabama, on-the-job occupational training at the Army Flier newspaper.
January 1971 to May 1971: field reporter in Vietnam, part of the 20th Engineer Brigade, stationed primarily at Bien Hoa Air Base near Saigon.
May 24, 1971: Given an honorable discharge, after his early discharge request was granted.

Source

Randy

[gaijindabe]

How about Nixon? Served in the Pacific.

[Tervuren]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
Well, I kinda was thinking of modern day pols. Washington is better remembered for things he did before he was president though.

I think a good president should be more known for the laws he didn't pass then the ones he did!

[Rick Lee]

Originally posted by Tervuren
I think a good president should be more known for the laws he didn't pass then the ones he did!

You got that right!!!

I think Lamar Alexander said in his 2000 campaign, "Tis better to repeal than to enact."

[speeder]

Strictly speaking I would say that it would be on a case-by-case basis; when the next crop comes up that is my age, (currently 46), no one has combat experience unless they were a career officer in for ~20 years. There simply was not a war occurring when I was of combat age. I was 14 y.o. when Viet Nam ended.

I think that there is a special category for chicken-hawks that were of age during Viet Nam, weaseled their way out of serving and now are overly eager to invade foreign countries and send young soldiers to their death. Especially w/o properly planning said invasion and providing the soldiers w/ all of the equipment and troop strength needed to stay alive. (Hopefully).

I somehow can't imagine Kennedy, Nixon or Carter or GHW Bush doing this.

[Rick Lee]

"I somehow can't imagine Kennedy, Nixon or Carter or GHW Bush doing this."

Are you kidding? Didn't I mention the Bay of Pigs and first to send combat toops to Nam for Kennedy? How about ratcheting up the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Nixon didn't escalate Vietnam?

If George HW Bush had gone all the way in Gulf War I (Cheney was influential in that one too), his son wouldn't have done Gulf War II.

[wludavid]

Military service shows that you place a higher regard for the health of the country than you do for your own. That attribute theoretically means a person is better suited to make decisions that will affect everyone and not just himself.

In practice, I think too many aspiring pols these days go into service for a few years just so they can claim it when they start running for office. Kind of ruins it, IMO.

[rcecale]

Originally posted by wludavid
In practice, I think too many aspiring pols these days go into service for a few years just so they can claim it when they start running for office. Kind of ruins it, IMO.

You mean like Kerry or Gore?

Randy

[wludavid]

Originally posted by rcecale
You mean like Kerry or Gore?

Randy

Seems pretty equally distributed on both sides, based on anecdotal evidence.