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Military Service of Presidents
Posted on 3/17/15 at 10:59 pm
Posted on 3/17/15 at 10:59 pm
Kind of interesting: LINK
Of 43 presidents, 31 have served in the military while 12 have not.
Breakdown by rank:
General Officers - 12
Field Grade Officers - 11
Company Grade Officers - 6
Non-Commissioned Officers - 0
Junior Enlisted - 2
By service:
Army (including militias) - 24
Navy - 6
Marine Corps - 0
Air Force - 1
Coast Guard - 0
Of 43 presidents, 31 have served in the military while 12 have not.
Breakdown by rank:
General Officers - 12
Field Grade Officers - 11
Company Grade Officers - 6
Non-Commissioned Officers - 0
Junior Enlisted - 2
By service:
Army (including militias) - 24
Navy - 6
Marine Corps - 0
Air Force - 1
Coast Guard - 0
This post was edited on 3/17/15 at 11:03 pm
6
Posted on 3/17/15 at 11:05 pm to KSGamecock
Are we starting president week?
Posted on 3/17/15 at 11:06 pm to Patton
It takes three threads to effectively start a week so we'll see.
This post was edited on 3/17/15 at 11:07 pm
Posted on 3/18/15 at 7:26 am to KSGamecock
'Bout time the Big Green Machine is represented in the Oval Office
Posted on 3/18/15 at 7:42 am to KSGamecock
quote:
Marine Corps - 0
Posted on 3/18/15 at 8:43 am to KSGamecock
Just curious, of all the Presidents, did military experience correlate with foreign policy (wars) during their presidency?
Posted on 3/18/15 at 11:45 am to 5thTiger
quote:
Just curious, of all the Presidents, did military experience correlate with foreign policy (wars) during their presidency?
Not really.
Previous presidents who initiated or directed major conflicts post civil war:
William McKinley (Spanish-American) - Army. Civil war combat veteran.
Woodrow Wilson (WW1) - no military service.
Franklin Roosevelt (WW2) - no military service.
Harry Truman (Korea) - Army. WW1 combat veteran.
Dwight Eisenhower (Korea) - 'nuff said.
John F Kennedy (early Vietnam) - Navy. WW2 combat veteran.
Lyndon Johnson (Vietnam) - Navy. Lied about seeing combat.
Richard Nixon (Vietnam) - Navy. No combat.
Ronald Reagan (Grenada, Libya) - Army. No combat.
George HW Bush (Panama, Gulf War I) - Navy. WW2 combat veteran.
Bill Clinton (Somalia, Yugoslavia) - No military service.
George Bush (Gulf War 2, Afghanistan) - Air Force (ANG). No combat experience.
Posted on 3/18/15 at 12:04 pm to JustGetItRight
Bush (either of them) did not initiate a conflict
If you say Clinton did then so did Reagan
The French initiated Vietnam
Serbians initiated ww1
Germany invading Czechoslovakia started WW2
If you say Clinton did then so did Reagan
The French initiated Vietnam
Serbians initiated ww1
Germany invading Czechoslovakia started WW2
This post was edited on 3/18/15 at 1:15 pm
Posted on 3/18/15 at 12:08 pm to JustGetItRight
quote:
JustGetItRight
quote:
quote:
Just curious, of all the Presidents, did military experience correlate with foreign policy (wars) during their presidency?
Not really.
Previous presidents who initiated or directed major conflicts post civil war:
William McKinley (Spanish-American) - Army. Civil war combat veteran.
Woodrow Wilson (WW1) - no military service.
Franklin Roosevelt (WW2) - no military service.
Harry Truman (Korea) - Army. WW1 combat veteran.
Dwight Eisenhower (Korea) - 'nuff said.
John F Kennedy (early Vietnam) - Navy. WW2 combat veteran.
Lyndon Johnson (Vietnam) - Navy. Lied about seeing combat.
Richard Nixon (Vietnam) - Navy. No combat.
Ronald Reagan (Grenada, Libya) - Army. No combat.
George HW Bush (Panama, Gulf War I) - Navy. WW2 combat veteran.
Bill Clinton (Somalia, Yugoslavia) - No military service.
George Bush (Gulf War 2, Afghanistan) - Air Force (ANG). No combat experience.
Why did you leave Obama off the list. You know he killed bin Laden...
Posted on 3/18/15 at 3:41 pm to sms151t
quote:
Bush (either of them) did not initiate a conflict
If you say Clinton did then so did Reagan
Well, for starters I said "initiated or directed major conflicts". I made an accurate (as best as I could) list of presidents that were in office at the start of or assumed office during the prosecution of a major military action since the end of the Civil War. Not one single word of my post made any made a judgement about their roles in starting any conflict. In fact, the only quasi-editorial comment in the entire post is the one I made about LBJ claiming to have seen combat in WW2 when both the official records and statements of fellow bomber crew members say he did not.
Now, for more specific responses.
quote:
Bush (either of them) did not initiate a conflict
I think I covered the both Bush presidents by pointing out that you're applying your personal judgement about presidents that started wars verses those that had war thrust upon to my list and assuming I disagree when in fact my list makes no such distinction.
quote:
If you say Clinton did then so did Reagan
If you look between Richard Nixon and George HW Bush, you'll see that Ronald Reagan is on the list.
quote:
The French initiated Vietnam
Serbians initiated ww1
Germany invading Czechoslovakia started WW2
None of those actions triggered US involvement in those conflicts.
quote:
Why did you leave Obama off the list.
Honest answer - because he's the sitting president and I figured even the most historically challenged posters here know his background.
Posted on 3/18/15 at 4:57 pm to KSGamecock
quote:
Marine Corps - 0
Figures
Posted on 3/18/15 at 5:01 pm to JustGetItRight
You are missing Gerald R Ford. WW2, USN combat veteran aboard USS Monterey.
Posted on 3/18/15 at 5:16 pm to sms151t
quote:
Bush (either of them) did not initiate a conflict
manuel noriega disagrees with this... a lot
Posted on 3/18/15 at 5:25 pm to KSGamecock
Should be a requirement for being President.
Posted on 3/19/15 at 6:50 am to Pavoloco83
No major or extended military action under Ford. That is why neither he nor Carter ( USN) are on my list.
Posted on 3/19/15 at 12:55 pm to ehole
For arresting him and send the SEALS after him?
I guess you could be right, but I do not see that as initiating a conflict as much as using the SEALS as Law Enforcement.
Semantics I suppose.
But to say Bush's initiated both conflicts I disagree. GHWB went in after a country was invaded. GWB went into a country after his was attacked and then decided to expand it after the UN and every other country had data suggesting that there were banned weapons. Those weapons were in violation of international law.
I guess you could be right, but I do not see that as initiating a conflict as much as using the SEALS as Law Enforcement.
Semantics I suppose.
But to say Bush's initiated both conflicts I disagree. GHWB went in after a country was invaded. GWB went into a country after his was attacked and then decided to expand it after the UN and every other country had data suggesting that there were banned weapons. Those weapons were in violation of international law.
Posted on 3/19/15 at 3:07 pm to sms151t
quote:
But to say Bush's initiated both conflicts I disagree.
Just curious as to how old you are?
ehole's post is in reference to the US invasion of Panama in 1989.
Manuel Noreiga was the very definition of a tPOS and deserved what he got, but there's absolutely no argument that GHWB initiated the major military conflict between the two nations.
Posted on 3/19/15 at 8:30 pm to kywildcatfanone
quote:
Should be a requirement for being President.
Jesus fricking christ no it should not.
Posted on 3/19/15 at 8:36 pm to MoreLandshark
It should be a requirement in order to vote or run for office.
Posted on 3/19/15 at 9:29 pm to KSGamecock
we need a chart showing how much better the presidents that served did than those that didn't
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