Should the President and elected officals with the power to send our sons and daughters to war be required to have served in the military?
I know this is an unpopular opinion among us, but here is why I believe no.
I believe the CIC should not actually be the President. The Secretary of Defense should be the CIC of the Armed forces and that position should be held by someone with prior military service. The president should have some oversight obviously, but then he should leave most of the "burden" on the SECDEF.
I am a proponent for not changing the Constitution. It sounds like your main gripe is our President and his perceived lack of military experience.
I think the military leaders (Chief of Staff, Secretary for each service, Secretary of Defense) need to talk more and advise the President. Now whether the President heeds that advice is out of our hands but does not warrant changing our constitution and government.
Veterans make up 7/11 (64%) of the 3rd quartile, so non-vets have a disproportionately high share here.
Veterans make up only 6/11 (54%) of the 2nd quartile, so non-vets once again have a disproportionally high share.
And in the top quartile, vets have a 9/11 presence (82%).
So veterans have a higher showing when adjusted for percentage of population in the top and bottom quartiles.
Draw your conclusions...
Historical rankings of Presidents of the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In political science, historical rankings of Presidents of the United States are surveys conducted in order to construct rankings of the success of individuals who have served as President of the United States. Ranking systems are usually based on surveys of academic historians and political scientists or popular opinion. The rankings focus on the presidential achievements, leadership qualities, failures and faults.[1][2][3]
This list of 10 best includes 9 that were veterans but the top 1 was not.
Their 5 worst were all veterans but one.
90% of top 10.
80% of bottom 10.
So with 73% of total, we had higher representation in both best and worst.
(According to one site).
The 10 best (and 5 worst) American presidents
The 10 best (and 5 worst) American presidents,The 10 best and five worst American presidents, according to a 2010 poll of presidential scholars.
All but 12 have served in some capacity, so such a rule would only eliminate roughly 27% of our past presidents.
That list includes:
Clinton, Obama, FDR, Hoover, Coolidge, Harding, Wilson, Taft, Cleveland, Van Buren, John Adams and J.Q. Adams.
Is that group you have important presidents and duds.
So, most of our presidents have served, a few that didn't were great non-the-less, many that did were still terrible.
A president should have some sort of basic understanding of foreign policy, but enforcing that is the voters' job.
A job that some among us are not that well suited for.
FDR had a profile. Taft wouldn't make tape. Cleveland outsourced his service to another fellow. Harding died in office and had an ice field named after him in Alaska as a result. John Quincey Adams was blind as a bat but was not equipped with echo location - not the guy you want blithering about with NODS. Papa Adams was the fellow who proposed the creation of a Continental Army and was the one who nominated Washington to command it, so he earns a pass.