2012 ELECTION

[HairOfTheDog]

Its good to see that the voters are starting to realise that having a career in the military doesn't mean you will be any good at running the country, having done military service means you were a good soldier nothing more.

The fact so many ex-squaddies end up on the employment scrapheap is further proof of this.

Nearly ¹⁄₃ of elected Presidents throughout US history have never served in the military.

The ideal presidential candidate for me, would have served in the military. However, whether or not the candidate served wouldn't be the only factor in voting for or against a candidate. I would like to see a candidate that has also served in senior management for a private business with a large budget and many employees, been a member of congress, favor the states being more self governing - leaving only the truly national matters to be regulated at the federal level, be truly committed to reforming/diminishing entitlement programs with a plan that could be carried on after leaving office... My ideal candidate would also consider appointing the best qualified Cabinet members (not appointments rooted mainly in nepotism) as one of the most important duties of his/her presidency.

Few presidential candidates, if any, possessed all of what I consider ideal qualifications (my opinion only). Many times I feel like I am choosing between the lesser of two evils. So, I'm willing to trade military service for a preponderance of other ideal qualifications.

Reference:
Presidents who had no active military experience at all (did not serve in uniform):

Adams - Federalist
Jefferson - Democratic-Republican (non-Federalist)
J. Q. Adams - National Republican
van Buren - Democrat
Cleveland - Democrat
Taft - Republican
Wilson - Democrat
Harding - Republican
Coolidge - Republican
Hoover - Republican
FDR - Republican
Clinton - Democrat
Obama - Democrat