[spacefreak]

Screw the talk of whether the USA is ready for a female president... I want to know if the USA is ready for a president who wears a military uniform around.

[Dork.]

You mean like this guy?

Edit: the more I read up about him, the more I like his style, especially as compared with our current choice:

Originally Posted by from the Wiki article

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
-- Dwight Eisenhower, April 16, 1953
I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell Address January 17, 1961 (source: Fortune program)
Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower in a letter to his brother Edgar, November 8, 1954, Snopes page

[art_director]

You mean like this guy?

[art_director]

Or this guy?

[art_director]

Or this guy?

[Randman]

Or this guy?

[art_director]

Originally Posted by Randman

Or this guy?

Nice military uniform.

[Randman]

Even better salute. Must've learned in Vietnam.

[OldManMac]

Maybe they don't wear uniforms because this country isn't run by the military, although no doubt some would like it to be.

[art_director]

Originally Posted by Randman

Even better salute. Must've learned in Vietnam.

Nope, learned that one in a hash bar in Amsterdam.

Bush learned his while hunched over a mirror snorting coke with a $100 bill.

[art_director]

Originally Posted by KarlG

Maybe they don't wear uniforms because this country isn't run by the military, although no doubt some would like it to be.

This country may not be run by the military but the Republicans seem to be hell-bent on ensuring they get a disproportionate amount of our tax dollars.

[Dork.]

Originally Posted by KarlG

Maybe they don't wear uniforms because this country isn't run by the military, although no doubt some would like it to be.

Interestingly enough, Ike felt the need to resign his commission before becoming President. He rejoined the Army after he left office, though. Is there any prohibition against a military officer becoming President?

[SimeyTheLimey]

Originally Posted by Dork.

Interestingly enough, Ike felt the need to resign his commission before becoming President. He rejoined the Army after he left office, though. Is there any prohibition against a military officer becoming President?

I don't think that is quite correct. Ike retired from the Army in 1948, when he became president of Columbia University. Truman recalled him from active duty in 1950 to become Supreme Allied Commander of Europe (i.e. the military head of NATO). He retired again in May, 1952, was courted by both parties, and won the Republican nomination, and then was elected president in November.

After he left the White House, he retired to Pennsylvania. He asked to be called "General of the Army" rather than "Mr. President" (which actually, is the correct protocol, the rank of General is a permanent title, "President" technically is not). Nevertheless, he never reentered active duty. He was 71 years old when he left office in 1961, and he died only 8 years later.

To answer your question, yes, Article II, Section 1, Clause 7 of the Constitution forbids a president from receiving compensation from any other office, either of the federal government, or the states. That would include military office.

Clause 7: The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Also, there is just the practical problem that the president would be his own commander in chief, and couldn't be subordinate to any other officer in the military. And on top of that is the strong tradition of civilian government. Several generals have been elected president -- beginning with Washington, and including Jackson, Taylor, Grant, and Ike. Each of them separated themselves from their military rank when they became president.

[Dork.]

Originally Posted by SimeyTheLimey

I don't think that is quite correct. Ike retired from the Army in 1948, when he became president of Columbia University. Truman recalled him from active duty in 1950 to become Supreme Allied Commander of Europe (i.e. the military head of NATO). He retired again in May, 1952, was courted by both parties, and won the Republican nomination, and then was elected president in November.

After he left the White House, he retired to Pennsylvania. He asked to be called "General of the Army" rather than "Mr. President" (which actually, is the correct protocol, the rank of General is a permanent title, "President" technically is not). Nevertheless, he never reentered active duty. He was 71 years old when he left office in 1961, and he died only 8 years later.

Well then, not being a military man myself, I'm not sure if there's any distinction between "Retirement from active duty" and "Resigning a commission". But here's what that Wiki link which I found yesterday said, which is the only "reserarch" I'll do until the football game is over.

Due to the legality of holding a military rank while in a civilian office, Eisenhower resigned his permanent commission as General of the Army before entering the office of President of the United States. Upon completion of his Presidential term, his commission was reactivated and Eisenhower was again commissioned a five star general in the United States Army. With the exception of George Washington, who was appointed a Lieutenant General after serving as President, Eisenhower is the only United States President with military service to reenter the United States armed forces after leaving the office of President.

[SimeyTheLimey]

Originally Posted by Dork.

Well then, not being a military man myself, I'm not sure if there's any distinction between "Retirement from active duty" and "Resigning a commission". But here's what that Wiki link which I found yesterday said, which is the only "reserarch" I'll do until the football game is over.

I think the reason for that is that General of the Army is a unique rank. It's the fifth star that is only given in wartime and is a special commission. If Wiki is correct (and Wikipedia entries vary wildly in accuracy), what it looks like what he did was resign that special commission -- at which point he would have reverted to being either a retired four star, or possibly a retired two star. (Technically, the highest rank a person can retire as without congressional approval is major general -- two stars). Of course, he did not resign his commission as an officer, he simply retired. Retired officers are kept on the retired list -- which means they are in a sense still in the Army. That's the difference between retirement and resignation.

Now, obviously, the country wouldn't have wanted to take away the honor of Ike's fifth star permanently, which is why there would have been that manuever. Hence, the resumption of the special commission as a General of the Army. He never served in the Army as an active officer again, however. This is all about honorifics.

[Dork.]

I did take a little bit of time to look for some more information, since the SF/ARI game seems a bit boring.

The "General of the Army" rank seems to have been created because the American army had no rank equivalent to the traditional European "Field Marshal" who outranked all the other generals. So, when we started fighting together, that created a problem, since our highest generals did not "rank" as high in their system, and were often giving orders to people who technically outranked them. So a new rank had to be created, and a handful of the highest Generals and Admirals were given this rank. (I've read that it might have been called "Field Marshal", but General Marshall objected to the thought of being called Field Marshal Marshall....)

After the war, this "promotion" was made permanent -- i.e. a lifetime commission, which you never really retire from. So when Ike became President, he had to "resign" the commission, because as you pointed out, the Constitution forbid him to collect his pension or hold another office while serving as President. But the special commission must never have been rescinded, and Ike re-accepted it again when he left office, in order to collect his pension. So the only reason he "returned to active duty" is that the nature of his commission was that he was always on active duty as long as he held it....

Well, I found it interesting, at least.

[Millennium]

Originally Posted by art_director

This country may not be run by the military but the Republicans seem to be hell-bent on ensuring they get a disproportionate amount of our tax dollars.

'Disproportionate' according to what proportions?

[Gee-Man]

Originally Posted by spacefreak

Screw the talk of whether the USA is ready for a female president... I want to know if the USA is ready for a president who wears a military uniform around.

I'd rather we didn't. While there are certainly fine people who wear military uniforms and are well-qualified to be president, the image of our president constantly wearing full military regalia is just too "tin-pot dictator" for my taste. A regular ol' suit is a comforting reminder of why we have civilian leadership enshrined in our Constitution.

[Randman]

The oath of office that a president-elect takes would supercede any previous oathes, such as military indoctrination.

That would make an American president commander-in-chief but retired from any specific military service.