Soldiers and Politics: Exposing Some Myths

Abstract

A mericans today could not imagine the nation's senior military officer running for high political office while still in uniform.They would think it absurd for that officer to campaign for the presidency, lose, and then quietly resume his position in the Pentagon while continuing to serve for another decade, receiving not only a promotion but also wide respect and acclaim from Congress, the people, the news media, and even the President.And yet, this is what occurred in the mid-nineteenth century.Major General Winfield Scott, the general-in-chief of the US Army and hero of the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, contested with the incumbent President, Millard Fillmore, to win the Whig Party's presidential nomination.Scott then ran against his erstwhile subordinate, former Brigadier General Franklin Pierce.Scott did not resign his commission.He lost the election of 1852, but continued as the Army's top general for another decade.In 1856, a grateful Congress promoted him to lieutenant general, the first officer to hold that rank since George Washington. 1 The campaign of 1852 was not Scott's first foray into politics.In 1848, he had lobbied for the Whig presidential nomination, but the party chose another general, Zachary Taylor, as its standard bearer.Taylor, also a Mexican War hero, was then-commander of the Army's Western Division.He remained in uniform throughout the campaign.In fact, the election was held on 7 November, but General Taylor did not submit his resignation from the Army until 21 December, to take effect the following 28 February, four days before his inauguration.2 These were not isolated incidents.Throughout most of our nation's history this type of conduct was part of the American military tradition.It is a myth to argue that the military has been divorced from political affairs.On the contrary, military leaders have been deeply involved in politics.Yet, one of the foremost observers of civil-military relations, Richard H.

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