Evening star., 1951-10-20
The Political Mil
The Political Mil
Army Leaders Proved
Worth as Presidents
Yet Mony See on Attempt
To MiIiturize u. S. Now
By Gould Lincoln

Army Of the United States that would
disqualify him from being President?
The answer is-nothing. On the con-
trary, they teach him to defend the
country and the Constitution. They
teach him discipline, for himself and
for other men, They teach him to obey
and to command and to take RESPONSE
bility. They teach him to follow the
course Of honor in all things. In the
higher ranks of command, he becomes
an executive. directing large operations
and handling masses of material. Are
these lessons which unfit him to serve
as Chief Executive Of the Nation? The
answer again is-no.
Already. however. Senator Carlson of
Kansas, Republican, and other support
ers of the nomination Of Gen. Dwight D.
Eisenhower for President are receiving
letetrs urging that a military man
should not be placed in the White House.
They do not deny his ability or his
qualifications. They base their oppoSi-
ton only on the ground that he is a
military man by profession. They do
not contend that he is ignorant when
1t comes to world affairs or the foreign
relations OF this country, or that he is
unable to deal with those most momen-
tous questions of today. They merely say
ne is soldier. They do not claim he is
deficient in knowledge of the civilian
problems of the country, or that he is
incapable of grasping them.
only a few years ago some fourteen
million men were in the armed services
OF the country. Are they likely to take
stock in an argument that such service
is disqualification for the presidency?
Few OF them would so stultify them
selves. Soon there will be millions
Of other men in the armed serv-
ices. Congress has enacted a universal
military training and service act, as a
proper measure to meet the present
emergency and to make available at all
times militarily trained reserve for the
defense OF the country. There is no in
tention on the part of Congress to mill
tarize the United States-the only inten-
tion is to make it strong in the event OF
attack. in day when millions of men
are required to fight war.
The American people in the past have
not heSltated to place military man at
the head of the executive branch of the
Government. The first President was
Gen. George Washington, whose chief
claim to fame was that he was military
leader. There were other men of ability
men in civil life-fitted for the Presi-
dency, men who later became President
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
among them. But Washington was the
choice, the man who not only had led
the American people to a military
victory but who later strongly urged that
all citizens should be trained in arms.
Looking Down the Line.
Take look down the line of Presi-
dents. Andrew Jackson. who served
two terms in the White House, was pre-
dominantly a military man, a soldier
large part Of his life William Henry
Harrison was another, although he died
soon after his Inauguration as President.
Gen. Zachary Taylor. the twelfth PreSi-
dent. was military man all his life,
until he was elected President. follow
ing brilliant service in the war with
Mexico. Although he had never voted
or given his views on political topics,
he was nominated by the Wings in ma
tional convention over Clay and Weo-
ster, and defeated the Democratic can
didate in the election. Lewis Cass.
Five officers Of the Union Army in
the Civil War were elected to the presi-
dency: Grant for two terms, Hays for
one and Garfield, who was assassinated
soon after becoming President. A fourth
was BENJAMIN Harrison. William Nc
Kinley, another veteran of the Civil
War, with rank of major, was twice
elected President, and was succeeded by
Col. Theodore Roosevelt-who certainly
considered himself a military man.
Grant was the only so-called profess
Sional" in the lot-so-called because
he had gone to West Point, although
he was not in the Army at the time
the Civil War broke out. The present
occupant OF the White House, President
Truman, was a captain of artillery in
the First World War.
Another professional" soldier, the
late Gen. Leonard Wood, was leading
candidate for the Republican presiden-
tial nomination in the 1920 national
convention-which was deadlocked and
brought forth the nomination of a ci-
william. the late President Harding.
II the American people want a mill
tary man as Chief Executive, they will
not hesitate to take him-certainly not
on the theory that to do so would be
to start a military cult in the United
States.