Navy Veteran Presidents
20 JANUARY 1961
NAVY VETERAN PRESIDENTS
The inauguration of Donald J. Trump as our 47th President later today calls attention to the dwindling number of government legislators with prior military service and the impact this has on defense issues. For the office of the President in particular, such experience has generally been considered a virtue as the incumbent is concurrently the Commander in Chief of American Armed Forces. Thirty of our 47 Presidents came to that office as veterans. Twenty-four had served in Army, state militia, Reserve, or National Guard units. John F. Kennedy was the first to reach the Oval Office as a US Navy veteran on this date.
But even Kennedy tried to join the Army first. Disqualified for back problems, he petitioned the Navy and went on to heroic service as a PT boat skipper in the Pacific. Kennedy’s running mate, Lyndon Johnson, started his political career in 1937 when he was elected to Congress from Texas’s 10th Congressional District. Though he served on the House Naval Affairs Committee, like many he took leave from Congress to join the Navy in December 1941. While on a bombing mission to New Guinea on 9 June 1942 his B-25, the “Heckling Hare”, dodged a Japanese attack–an action for which Johnson was awarded the Silver Star. Johnson returned to legislative duties in July 1942 when President Roosevelt recalled all Congressmen to Capitol Hill. Johnson ultimately achieved the rank of LCDR in the Reserves.
Richard Nixon joined the Navy in August 1942 as a LTJG. He served two years in the Pacific with the South Pacific Air Transport Command in Bougainville and at Green Island. Nixon was discharged in 1946 having reached the rank of LCDR. Gerald Ford served four years in WWII as well. He spent two years at sea as Gunnery Division Officer on USS MONTEREY (CV-26), from whose deck he was almost washed in a typhoon. He later completed pilot training and was also promoted to LCDR. George H.W. Bush served with VT-51 aboard SAN JACINTO (CVL-30) as a torpedo-bomber pilot.
Three Presidents have been graduates of our military academies. Ulysses Grant and Dwight Eisenhower both graduated from West Point in 1843 and 1915, respectively. Jimmy Carter is the only Annapolis graduate to reach the White House. Carter was appointed to the Academy during WWII and graduated 59th out of 820 in the Class of 1946. He served aboard WYOMING (BB-32) and MISSISSIPPI (BB-41) until transferring to submarines in 1948. While stationed on POMFRET (SS-391) he was hand-picked by ADM Hyman Rickover to fill the Engineering Officer billet aboard the new nuclear sub SEAWOLF (SSN-575). However, after his father’s death in 1953, Carter resigned to manage the family peanut farm.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 24 JAN 25
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
Caro, Robert A. Means of Ascent: The Years of Lyndon Johnson. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990, pp. 35-45.
DeGregorio, William A. The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents. New York, NY: Dembner Books, 1984.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: Fifteen Presidents had no previous military experience, but these include such greats as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson, and FDR. No Marine Corps officer has yet acceded to the office. The only president with a prior Air Force connection is (the younger) George W. Bush, who served from 1968-74 with the Texas Air National Guard, logging 336 hours in the F-102A “Delta Dagger.” None of Bill Clinton, Barak Obama, Joe Biden, nor Donald Trump are veterans, Trump having received a 1-Y classification during Vietnam, meaning he was qualified for military service only in a national emergency (in his case for medical reasons).