Military Veterans Running for Public Office in the 2008 Election

Veterans Running to Become The
44th United States President

USN
Combat Vet
POW

John McCain was a Navy fighter pilot who was shot down over North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. He spent five-and-a-half years as a prisoner of war, and was awarded the Silver Star for his heroic resistance. If elected in 2008, John McCain would be the FIRST Vietnam War Veteran to the Presidency, and would be the second President in our history to have suffered as a Prisoner of War.

John McCain Biography

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History of Veterans & The Presidency

Forty-two different men have served as President of the United States, and of these, a total of THIRTY (71%) were veterans of military service. Twenty-two of the forty-two men who served as President were combat veterans who demonstrated their devotion to our nation on fields of battle. Below are the 30 U.S. Presidents for whom the military service became the proving ground for the Oval Office.

No	Name	Combat Veteran	Branch	Rank	War or Priod	Notes
1	George Washington	CV	USA	General of the Armies	Revolutionary War
3	Thomas Jefferson		VA Militia	Colonel	Revolutionary War Era
4	James Madison		VA Militia	Colonel	Revolutionary War Era
5	James Monroe	CV	USA	Lieutenant Colonel	Revolution	Wounded in Action
7	Andrew Jackson	CV	USA	Major General	Revolution/1812	Wounded/Prisoner of War
9	William H. Harrison	CV	USA	Major General	War of 1812 & Indian
10	John Tyler	CV	USA	Captain	War of 1812
11	James Polk		TN Militia	Colonel
12	Zachary Taylor	CV	USA	Major General	War of 1812 & Indian
14	Franklin Pierce	CV	USA	Brigadier General	Mexican-American
15	James Buchanan	CV	PA Militia	Private	War of 1812
16	Abraham Lincoln		USA	Captain	Black Hawk War
17	Andrew Johnson		USAV	Brigadier General	Civil War Era	Military Governor of TN
18	Ulysses S. Grant	CV	USA	General	Mexico & Civil War	West Point Graduate
19	Rutherford B. Hayes	CV	USAV	Brevet Major General	Civil War	Wounded in Action
20	James A. Garfield	CV	USAV	Brigadier General	Civil War	Youngest BG of War
21	Chester A. Arthur	CV	NY Militia	Quartermaster General	Civil War Era
23	Benjamin Harrison	CV	USAV	Brevet Major General	Civil War
25	William McKinley	CV	USAV	Brevet Major	Civil War
26	Theodore Roosevelt	CV	USA	Colonel	Spanish-American	Medal of Honor
33	Harry S Truman	CV	USA	Major	WWI
34	Dwight D. Eisenhower	CV	USA	General of the Army	WWI Era & WWII	West Point Graduate
35	John F. Kennedy	CV	USN(R)	Lieutenant	WWII	Wounded in action
36	Lyndon B. Johnson	CV	USN	Commander	WWII	Silver Star
37	Richard M. Nixon	CV	USN(R)	Commander	WWII
38	Gerald R. Ford	CV	USN	Lieutenant Commander	WWII
39	James E. Carter		USN(R)	Lieutenant	Korean War Era	Naval Academy Graduate
40	Ronald W. Reagan		USAAF(R)	Captain	WWII Era
41	George H.W. Bush	CV	USN(R)	Lieutenant (j.g.)	WWII	Youngest Naval Pilot of WWII
43	George W. Bush		TX ANG	First Lieutenant	Vietnam Era

Of the Eleven U.S. Presidents since the end of World War II, only ONE (William Clinton), was not a veteran of military service and only three (James E. Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush) were not COMBAT Veterans.

Of the TWELVE men who served as Vice President during this dame period (including 4 who went on to become President), only FOUR never benefited from military service. Beyond the FOUR Vice Presidents who went on to become President (Nixon, Johnson, Ford, and George H.W. Bush), ALL Veterans, the information below reflects the veterans status of the other eight Vice Presidents since the end of WWII:

Alben Barkley		No Military Service
Hubert Humphrey		Classified 4-F due a hernia, he tried TWICE unsuccessfully to enlist in WWII
Spiro Agnew	Combat Vet	Earned a Bronze Star in World War II`
Nelson Rockefeller		No Military Service
Walter Mondale	Veteran	Served as an Army Corporal during the Korean War era
Dan Quayle	Veteran	Served as a Sergeant in the Indiana National Guard during the Vietnam Era
Albert Gore	Combat Vet	Served as a Combat Corresponded for an Engineer Unit in Vietnam
Dick Cheney		No Military Service

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