A Time for Choosing

[Senator Clarence]

This has been the topic for some talk I've had with friends...  Mitt Romney is about to have a time for choosing. I spent the last hour checking every Presidential election in my lifetime and seeing the backgrounds of every major candidate for the Presidency and Vice Presidency in my lifetime and here is the list I have compiled-

1944
FDR- N/A
Truman- Army (WWI)
Dewey- N/A
Bricker- Army (WWI)

1948
Truman- Army (WWI)
Barkley- N/A
Dewey- N/A
Warren- Army (WWI)

1952
Eisenhower- Army (WWI/WWII)
Nixon- Navy (WWII)
Stevenson- N/A
Sparkman- Army(equivalent of ROTC) (WWI)

1956
Eisenhower- Army (WWI/WWII)
Nixon- Navy (WWII)
Stevenson- N/A
Kefauver- N/A

1960-
JFK- Navy (WWII)
LBJ- Navy (WWII)
Nixon- Navy (WWII)
Lodge- N/A

1964
LBJ- Navy (WWII)
Humphrey- N/A
Goldwater- Army/Air Force (WWII/Korea)
Miller- Army (WWII)

1968
Nixon- Navy (WWII)
Agnew- Army (WWII)
Humphrey- N/A
Muskie- Navy (WWII)
Wallace- Army (WWII)
LeMay- Army/Air Force (WWII)

1972
Nixon- Navy (WWII)
Agnew- ARmy (WWII)
McGovern- Army (WWII)
Shriver- Navy (WWII)

1976
Carter- Navy (Korea)
Mondale- Army (Korea)
Ford- Navy (WWII)
Dole- Army (WWII)

1980
Reagan- Army (WWII)
HW Bush- Navy (WWII)
Carter- Navy (Korea)
Mondale- Army (Korea)

1984
Reagan- Army (WWII)
HW Bush- Navy (WWII)
Mondale- Army (Korea)
Ferraro- N/A

1988
HW Bush- Navy (WWII)
Quayle- National Guard (Vietnam)
Dukakis- Army (Korea)
Bentsen- Army/Air Force (WWII)

1992
Clinton- N/A
Gore- Army (Vietnam)
HW Bush- Navy (WWII)
Quayle- National Guard (Vietnam)
Perot- Navy
Stockdale- Navy (Korea/Vietnam)*****SEE NOTE BELOW

1996
Clinton- N/A
Gore- Army (Vietnam)
Dole- Army (WWII)
Kemp- Army

2000
W Bush- National Guard (Vietnam)
Cheney- N/A
Gore- Army (Vietnam)
Lieberman- N/A

2004
W Bush- National Guard (Vietnam)
Cheney- N/A
Kerry- Navy (Vietnam)
Edwards- N/A

2008
Obama- N/A
Biden- N/A
McCain- Navy (Vietnam)
Palin- N/A

2012
Obama- N/A
Biden- N/A
Romney- N/A
-

*** First of all- I want every one to know something about James Stockdale. You probably know him as the old man who stumbled in the 92 VP debate... he is an American hero whose conduct as aPOW places him above even McCain. I urge you to read up


ANYWAY... to my point. In EVERY election in my life time, there has been a major candidate for Pres or VP with military experience. If I am the oldest member of this board- that means in YOUR lifetime, the same is true. This is the first time in my life that there may not be any major candidate for Pres or VP who has served our nation in the military

I urge Mitt Romney to select a veteran as his Vice Presidential running mate to not make history in this awful way...those of us who served will be watching

[opebo]

So are you saying he should choose James Stockdale?

[Senator Clarence]

That is unfortunately impossible

[opebo]

Sorry, a bit of a faux pas there - I just checked and according to wikipedia he has passed away.

Any suggestions, clarence? Colin Powell? Might get a bit of the black vote.

[Senator Clarence]

He would be outstanding but may be a bit too old... I would give a few options-

Bob McDonnell- Army
Duncan Hunter- Army (Vietnam)
Duncan D. Hunter- Marine Corps (Iraq/Afghanistan)
Allen West- Army (Persian Gulft/Iraq)
Chuck Hagel- Army (Vietnam)

There are MANY more but these men off the top of my head would be excellent...

[Jayhawker]

I have great respect for candidates who have military experience, but it is usually not a deciding factor for me. It wouldn't hurt Romney, though, to have a nominee. I think Governor McDonnell was in the Army or Navy, so it boosts my belief he'd be one of the best for the position.

[Erc]

For historical interest:

Wendell Wilkie and Alf Landon both served in the Army during WWI.  As far as I know, 1932 was the last election with nobody having official military experience (although Hoover and Roosevelt both played significant civilian roles during WWI, and Curtis apparently ran messages during a conflict between the Cheyenne and Kaw).

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

I wish he'd pick Hagel, but that's not going to happen.

[Yelnoc]

Bob McDonnell is the most likely pick, I would say.

[5280/East California]

Maybe this election cycle won't have anybody with military experience, that will be the first time.

[King]

Most of the Military Republicans have tainted legacies from Iraq right now.  He could choose Robert Gates.  However, I don't think national security is a big enough issue in this campaign to bother.

[AmericanNation]

David Howell Petraeus will likely serve in either administration.  Maybe not Obama's second term.  

[For Oklahoma]

I wish he'd pick Hagel, but that's not going to happen.

Oh how I wish.

[Progressive Realist]

W "served" in the National Guard, defending Texas from the Viet Cong (when, of course, he wasn't AWOL).

[For Oklahoma]

Ron Paul served in the Air Force.

[Paul Kemp]

I think you'll be pretty disappointed.

Does it really matter when it comes down to it? I'm not really sure it makes a difference either way. It's not like he'd be insulated from veterans as a president.

[Nagas]

A candidate's military experience is no indicator that he will be a good executive.

[CathKhan]

A candidate's military experience is no indicator that he will be a good executive.

It shows a willingness to put yourself above country. As well, it can help get rid of some of those "chickenhawk" attacks that we're all so fond of.

[Nagas]

A candidate's military experience is no indicator that he will be a good executive.

It shows a willingness to put yourself above country. As well, it can help get rid of some of those "chickenhawk" attacks that we're all so fond of.

I would argue that (for most people), running for President is putting yourself above your country.  Yes, some people want the glory and power associated with the job, but the POTUS fulfills a stressful role, which can be physically and mentally taxing on one man. In some senses, it is self-sacrifice: you lose some of the little things we take for granted, such as merely walking down the street to grab a burger.

[King]

A candidate's military experience is no indicator that he will be a good executive.

I beg to differ, slightly.  I think really sound military leader would provide a great break from the partisan divide in Washington right now; at least a relatively smart one with good diplomatic skills like David Petreus.

Eisenhower was successful because he was impossible to attack as an "American hero" and didn't have to appease a particular platform so he worked with everyone well, at least compared to other Presidents.  He managed the executive effectively.  I think another like him could do the same.

The only thing is that they probably won't make the best candidates in the modern age.  Ike wasn't exactly a great speaker.  We all saw how bad Wesley Clark failed. 

[AmericanNation]

Petreus seems just destined to be on a presidential ticket.  He can build a resume (weirdly somewhat like Cheney) of diverse Cabinet level experience and then be a "gravitas" boost.   

[Χahar]

Most of the Military Republicans have tainted legacies from Iraq right now.  He could choose Robert Gates.  However, I don't think national security is a big enough issue in this campaign to bother.

Of course, Gates is thoroughly tainted by his association with Obama.

[pillage the village, trash the scene]

If I remember, Perry had served in the USAF.

[CathKhan]

Clarence, I'm afraid you made a historical error in Lodge's military record.

Lodge served with distinction during the war, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. During the war he saw two tours of duty: The first in 1942, while also serving as a U.S. Senator, and the second in 1944–5 after resigning from the Senate.

The first period was a continuation of Lodge's longtime service as an Army Reserve Officer. Lodge was a major in the 1st Armored Division, a tank unit which would later be sent to North Africa; he went to observe allied tank troops in Egypt and Libya, and in that position was on hand for the British retreat from Tobruk. That tour ended in July 1942, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered congressmen serving in the military to resign one of the two positions, and Lodge, who chose to remain in the Senate, was ordered by Secretary of War Henry Stimson to return to Washington.

After returning to Washington and winning re-election in November 1942 (just as the 1st Armored became the first U.S. armed forces to make actual contact with the Germans on land), Lodge served the first year of his new Senate term, but then resigned his Senate seat on February 3, 1944 in order to return to active duty, the first U.S. Senator to do so since the Civil War. He saw action in Italy and France. Promoted to a lieutenant colonel, in the fall of 1944 Lodge single-handedly captured a four-man German patrol. By March 1945 he was decorated with the French Legion of Honor and Croix de Guerre with palm. At the end of the war in 1945 he served as a liaison and interpreter to U.S. Sixth Army commander General Jacob Devers in Devers' surrender negotiations with the German forces in western Austria.

[Senator Clarence]

I sincerely apologize- thank you for pointing that out Cathcon