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Friday, August 20, 2004
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ASK skippy: PART SIX
The most fetching Kilgore Trout asks the following,
Does military service help a candidate at all? We Americans love to bray about "supporting the troops," but in the last three elections we've chosen draft weasels Clinton and Bush 43 over certified war heroes Bush 41 and Dole, as well as Gore (not exactly a combat veteran, but he did volunteer and went to Vietnam). Not to mention that W stomped extra-certified POW McCain in the 2000 primaries.
I eagerly await your response.
Well, Kilgore that's a somewhat complicated question. Historically, yes, military service does provide some electoral benefit. According to The American Presidents by David C. Whitney (an invaluable resource that every presidential scholar and aspiring lothario should own and, indeed, carry with them on dates), 23 of the 43 presidents have had some military experience. Of those, 11 were generals. As a matter of fact, despite a lack of any political experience, George Washington was elected by acclimation due to his command of the Revolutionary Army. In the late nineteenth century, a majority of those elected president were Civil War veterans. All of the 8 presidents between Eisenhower and the first Bush had served in World War II.
However, the record is a little more mixed than that statistic implies. While service does tend to matter, the quality or level of service does not. As I noted last night, George McGovern had flown 42 heavy bombing raids over Germany, while President Nixon was an operations officer for a navy transport unit. Nixon carried 49 states anyway. Gerald Ford, who was nearly killed in an aircraft carrier fire, was defeated by Jimmy Carter, who was an Annapolis cadet during the war. As you mentioned in the question, the elections of 1992, 1996 and 2000 all saw candidates who avoided service prevail over those who volunteered.
While Senator Kerry is currently suggesting that his Vietnam service better qualifies him for the presidency, the record doesn't bear that out. Neither Woodrow Wilson or Franklin Roosevelt served and they didn't seem to be inhibited leading the country through the First and Second World Wars. William McKinley was a military neophyte, yet the Spanish American War is among the most successful in American history. Conversely, the three highest ranking generals to be elected, Washington, Grant and Eisenhower fought no wars as president.
So the record is mixed.
Wow, that was almost brief. Sadie will be impressed.
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