A General for President?

[windansea]

GEORGE WASHINGTON
Biography


George Washington (1732-1799), first PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. When Washington retired from public life in 1797, his homeland was vastly different from what it had been when he entered public service in 1749. To each of the principal changes he had made an outstanding contribution. Largely because of his leadership the Thirteen Colonies had become the United States, a sovereign, independent nation.

As commander in chief during the American Revolution, he built a large army, held it together, kept it in a maneuverable condition, and prevented it from being destroyed by a crushing defeat. By keeping the army close to the main force of the British, he prevented them from sending raiding parties into the interior. The British did not risk such forays because of their belief that their remaining forces might be overwhelmed. The British evacuation of Boston in 1776, under Washington's siege, gave security to nearly all New England.

Drawing from his knowledge of the American people and of the way they lived and fought, Washington took advantage of British methods of fighting that were not suited to a semiprimitive environment. He alternated between daring surprise attacks and the patient performance of routine duties. Washington's operations on land alone could not have overcome the British, for their superior navy enabled them to move troops almost at will. A timely use of the French fleet contributed to his crowning victory at Yorktown in 1781.
http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/ea/bios/01pwash.html

[Jack_Dawson]

1. It's happened twelve (12) times before

Why not?

In case you were wondering, this country has elected three legislators to high office.

[bearfartinthewoods]

22. were any of them lobbyists too?

has there ever been a registered lobbyist as president?

[windansea]

31. deal braker?? n/t

[goobergunch]

2. You missed the part where he served in the VA Legislature

...served as a justice of the peace, 1760-1774, and as a member of the Virginia house of burgesses, 1758-1774; delegate to the Williamsburg convention of August 1774; Member of the First and Second Continental Congresses in 1774 and 1775; ...

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000178

Generals have become President before, but almost all of them have held elected office.

[windansea]

4. true

but this is the year of the outsider

:)

[goobergunch]

11. Was Washington a registered lobbyist?

:shrug:

[windansea]

16. nope..he made his money in land

He also dealt in Western lands. Virginia's greatest estates, he wrote, were made "by taking up ... at very low prices the rich back lands" which "are now the most valuable lands we possess." His Western urge had largely inspired his labors during the French and Indian War. At that time, Britain encouraged settlement in the Ohio Valley as a means of gaining it from the French. In July 1754, Governor Dinwiddie offered 200,000 acres (80,000 hectares) in the West to colonial volunteers. Washington became entitled to one of these grants. After the war he bought claims of other veterans, served as agent of the claimants in locating and surveying tracts, and obtained for himself (by July 1773) 10,000 acres (4,000 hectares) along the Ohio between the Little Kanawha and Great Kanawha rivers, and 10,000 acres on the Great Kanawha. In 1775 he sought to settle his Kanawha land with servants.

[RafterMan]

39. Yeah,

Cause "lobbyist" is so much worse than "slaveholder".

Sheesh.

[BootinUp]

3. Those who would exclude Generals

from consideration, are just practicing a strange form of stereotyping. As if they know what is in the mind of a General who is responsible for the lives of his men. Not all Generals are Good or Great, neither are they all bad.

[windansea]

5. your sig line says a lot n/t

[Jack_Dawson]

7. Windandsea do you live in San Diego?

[windansea]

9. yep

LJ

[Jack_Dawson]

10. Cooool - you surf at Windansea then I take it?

Nothing gets by me...

[windansea]

12. heh heh

I'm a member of WSC and have enjoyed many a fine session at windansea

in fact it's about 4-5 feet right now..going to take some pics!!

[PatGund]

13. Coolness

Work in LJ, but live out in East County.

[windansea]

20. right on n/t

[bearfartinthewoods]

24. how about those who would exclude lobbyists

who slip out of the government, into a lobbying gig, and then back into government.

or those who do likewise into and out of big business, like cheney.

[BootinUp]

25. All lobbyists are evil, they should be taken out and shot!

I'm not into conspiracy theories. If there is real evidence that a government official or lobbyist has broken laws then let them have it.

Clark started working for Acxiom with no pay btw. He was trying to help our country not savage it like Cheney.

[bearfartinthewoods]

27. when he started, could they afford to pay him?

what about when he left?

btw....all lobbyists aren't evil. just the ones who take advantage of their government connections.

[isbister]

6. Was Geaorge on...

DuPont's payroll while running for President?

[windansea]

8. nope

but I heard he had slaves

[Capn Sunshine]

14. Did Wes grow pot on his farm in Ark?

and write Gore on the healthy virtues of smoking it?

[MoonRiver]

15. What's that supposed to mean?

[Capn Sunshine]

18. Historical reference to Washington

He and Jefferson both grew and smoked marijuana. Washington's letters contain a passage extoling the virtues of the herb.

[windansea]

19. no wonder they were such good men!!

[MoonRiver]

29. Oh, thanks for the clarification,

I wasn't aware of that! Really funny! :hi:

[windansea]

17. huh??

was George a pothead...I know Bubba had a few tokes

:smoke:

[AntiCoup2K4]

21. Why do you think he chopped down the cherry tree?

Bad case of the munchies.... and the nearest convenience store was half a day away by horseback... had to bake a pie - after he baked himself :evilgrin:

[windansea]

28. mmmmm

cherry pie.......

[Clark4VotingRights]

23. Since BushCo plunged the world into war

A military man is the logical choice to lead us out.
And we just happen to have a brilliant one handy...

[mike_c]

26. Washington was NOT a professional soldier, nor...

...a lifetime militarist. Furthermore, prior to WWII the MIC as we know it today did not really exist-- and I condider being up to one's eyeballs in the MIC one of the primary dangers of electing modern career militarists to civilian office. And yes, that includes Eisenhower, who left us the Korean War and the Cold War as legacies of his term in office.

[windansea]

30. there were no career soldiers then

he did participate in the French Indian war prior to the revolution

[MoonRiver]

32. If only we could go back in time and ask Washington

if, according to current definitions, he was part of a MIC!! He'd probably say :wtf: we just fought for freedom.

[windansea]

33. he probably would have

:puke: on current politics

[Mattforclark]

36. Correction

Eisenhower "went to Korea" and ended the war at Panmunjon in 1953. Eisenhower was elected in 1952. The war began in 1950.

Blaming the "Cold War" on Eisenhower is also pretty silly.

[rogerashton]

49. Um -- about the language.

A military officer is not a militarist. A militarist is one who advocates military discipline over the civilian population. There probably are some military officers who advocate that, and some civilians who do -- but there are military officers who believe fervently in the great American tradition of civilian supremacy over the military, as a condition of democracy, and I'm quite sure they are the majority in the American armed forces.

That's why an officer who wants to seek public office is required to resign his commission, as (of course) Clark has done. To hold office while a serving military officer would be against the doctrine of civilian supremacy.

I would definitely list myself as an enemy of militarism.

By the way, the reason George Washington was not a career military officer was that he was unable to get the commission he sought in the British army. Boy, did the muddling Brits cock that one up!

[Lefty48197]

34. There comes a time when this country turns to Generals for leadership

Whether it was the Revolution, the post Civil War era, or the Cold War era, we turned to a General for leadership during times of turmoil. Whether it was internal political turmoil or external world affairs that led us into times of uncertainty, it was always a General who led us out.

[windansea]

35. we need a General

to lead a war against the chimpster and his minions

[isbister]

37. and this ain't that time

If Clark will make a good President fine but we don't need a General just because he made it to General.

And you're talking about Washington, Grant, and Ike.

I didn't know any of these people but Wes Clark is no Washington, Grant or Ike!

[deminflorida]

43. Your right, I think Clark is smarter...He finished higher in his class

at West Point....

[Hoppin_Mad]

38. No thanks - I like a civilian government -eom

[windansea]

40. Clark is a civilian now

and a damn smart one too!

[ShimokitaJer]

41. Last Democratic general to become president:

Andrew Jackson, 1824

[ShimokitaJer]

45. Actually, make that the ONLY Democratic general to become president

In fact, since the modern Republican party didn't exist until the 1850s, you could say that NO Democratic general has EVER beaten a Republican in a presidential race.

In addition, most of the Republican generals who managed to become president were war heroes (Ike, Grant), which it would be a bit of a stretch to call Clark.

All in all, our fascination with military generals may display how little we differ from the militaristic Republicans we claim to despise, but it should do little to convince anyone that a general is a sure thing for the presidency.

[windansea]

50. Clark is a hero and much more

General Clark is a 1966 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he graduated first in his class. He holds a master's degree in Philosophy, Politics and
Don't miss the last part....

Economics from Oxford University where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar (August 1966-August 1968). He is a graduate of the National War College, Command and General Staff College, Armor Officer Advanced and Basic Courses, and Ranger and Airborne schools. General Clark was a White House Fellow in 1975-1976 and served as a Special Assistant to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. He has also served as an instructor and later Assistant Professor of Social Science at the United States Military Academy.

Among his military decorations are the Defense Distinguished Service Medal (three awards), Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit (four awards), Bronze Star Medal (two awards), Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), and the Army Commendation Medal (two awards).

No stranger to tough campaigns, Clark was severely wounded in Vietnam and spent months afterward teaching himself to walk without a limp.

[windansea]

53. Andrew Jackson...

a great president!!

[PATRICK]

42. Not the same mold

Yet he not just a general. He has natural political gifts, a compassionate and very intelligent nature. If he was a colonel he'd still be a natural. His only drawbacks in competing would be the same. The long background, the military paradigm would always be there, but considering how the neocons would transform our armed services and foreign policy it would be a needed restorative.

The destabilizing of foreign affairs would stop. The nonsense in the Congress would be called on the carpet, not neglected as Eisenhower did until a few last petulant speeches aimed mostly at Kennedy. Not compromised as if the GOP was actually playing by the rules of democracy. Lord knows what he would do to the Party itself, but his qualities there might be restorative more than a bad fit.

In essence, he has too many strengths to get trapped in a mold. If the DLC is backing him, they are backing a change they cannot imagine. We've had smart guys and honest guys. We need someone who can strategize and out will the other side(composed of orcs and opportunists). Oh yes, the buts, those have to do with whether he really got what the political disaster of the GOP was all about and that sympathetic misplaced loyalty to their platforms. In the past he was the typical military brass supporter of GOP rhetoric. If he is a winner, he has learned and adapted to the mistake.

[windansea]

44. great post thanks! n/t

[shivaji]

46. Did George switch parties a few months before election?

Sorry but I emigrated to US during my graduate college years, and missed out on AMerican history....but I can tell you a lot about
history of England...Oh yes! I knew Magna Carta by heart at one time
LOL

[dogman]

47. Yeah, George was English citizen too.

There was no US before George.

[windansea]

52. heh

nice one dogman....

[Cuban_Liberal]

48. This isn't 1788, and Wesley Clark isn't Geo. Washington.

The analogy actually begs a bigger question.

[windansea]

51. which question?

I liked this biography because you could substitute Clark for Washington, and Bush for the British...a nice metaphor of our current situation...