Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

No vets on the presidential tickets for the first time since FDR ran against Hoover

John Wilkens points out something I hadn’t realized: "It’s the first time in 80 years that there are no veterans on either major-party ticket for the White House. The last time it happened, in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Herbert Hoover." And even then, FDR had served as assistant Navy secretary, leading him to identify ...

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
Wikimedia
Wikimedia
Wikimedia

John Wilkens points out something I hadn't realized: "It's the first time in 80 years that there are no veterans on either major-party ticket for the White House. The last time it happened, in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Herbert Hoover."

John Wilkens points out something I hadn’t realized: "It’s the first time in 80 years that there are no veterans on either major-party ticket for the White House. The last time it happened, in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Herbert Hoover."

And even then, FDR had served as assistant Navy secretary, leading him to identify with that service even years later. I recall reading somewhere that he used to tease George Marshall by referring to the Navy as "us" and the Army as "them." 

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

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