Look up the major remaining presidential candidates of both parties in Wikipedia. None of the biographies of the candidates, save one, mentions military experience. Not any kind of military experience--not ROTC, not drafted or volunteered in active duty, not in reserves or the National Guard. None appears ever to have worn a uniform of any kind.
- Hillary Clinton--No military service
- (William Jefferson Clinton--No military service)
- John Edwards--No military service
- Rudolf Giuliani--No military service
- Mike Huckabee--No military service
- Barak Obama--No military service
- Mitt Romney--No military service
Only John McCain has had military service--distinguished, heroic, service, of course.
I don't think military service is a qualification for being president; but I do think that for a nation at war, the lack of experience in the military of all but one of the candidates is a gaping hole in their background.
Do the candidates without military experience understand military command? Do they understand service of ultimate sacrifice? Have they ever put themselves or been put into situations of extreme danger? Do know what it is to order men and women to undertake missions from which they are unlikely to return? What images and stories will come into their minds when they perform their duties as Commander in Chief? Will all images and stories come from movies and television shows?
Revised, January 26, 2008.
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