Were rank-and-file soldiers forbidden from running for office? If not, could the CSA have produced a plausible candidate?
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Were rank-and-file soldiers forbidden from running for office? If not, could the CSA have produced a plausible candidate?
Do you mean in the election of 1864, or after the war? There was no CSA in existence in the election of 1860. After 1865, most former Confederates of all ranks were eligible for election to Federal office under the terms of President Andrew Johnson's various amnesties, as long as they swore the oath of allegiance to the U.S. Several former Confederates rose to relatively high Federal office, although I don't believe any ever ran for President.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexan...tbellum_career
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_...st-bellum_life
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_B...tbellum_career
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius...I#Later_career
Obviously was thinking postwar. Knew about the amnesty, surprised none got higher up.
Plus: most Presidents who were veterans were relatively low ranking. Washington and Ike notable exceptions.
Many of the earlier Presidents were Generals and Colonels though, far more than you probably think: I bolded their ranks below.
George Washington General and Commander in Chief, Continental Army- - - ->1775-1783
Thomas Jefferson Colonel, Virginia Militia- - - ->1770-1779
James Madison Colonel, Virginia Militia- - - ->1775-1781
James Monroe Major, Continental Army- - - ->1775-1778
Andrew Jackson Major General, U.S. Army- - - ->1814-1821
William Henry Harrison Major General, Kentucky Militia- - - ->1812-1814
John Tyler Captain, Virginia Militia- - - ->1812
James K. Polk Colonel, Tennessee Militia- - - ->1821
Zachary Taylor Major General, U.S. Army- - - ->1805-1815, 1816-1849
Millard Fillmore Major, Union Continentals (home guard)- - - ->1861
Franklin Pierce Brigadier General, New Hampshire Militia- - - ->1846-1848
James Buchanan Private, Pennsylvania Militia- - - ->1814
Abraham Lincoln Captain, Illinois Militia- - - ->1832
Andrew Johnson Brigadier General, U.S. Army (Volunteers)- - - ->1862-1865
Ulysses S. Grant General, U.S. Army- - - ->1866-1869
Rutherford B. Hayes Major General, U.S. Army (Volunteers)- - - ->1861-1865
James A. Garfield Major General, U.S. Army (Volunteers)- - - ->1861-1863
Chester A. Arthur Brigadier General, New York Militia- - - ->1858-1863
Benjamin Harrison Brevet Brigadier General, U.S. Army (Volunteers)- - - ->1862-1865
William McKinley Brevet Major, U.S. Army (Volunteers)- - - ->1861-1865
Theodore Roosevelt Colonel, U.S. Army (Volunteers)- - - ->1898
Harry S. Truman Colonel, Army Officer Reserve Corps- - - ->1919-1945
Dwight D. Eisenhower General of the Army, U.S. Army- - - ->1915-1948, 1951-1952
John F. Kennedy Lieutenant, U.S. Naval Reserve- - - ->1941-1945
Lyndon B. Johnson Commander, U.S. Naval Reserve- - - ->1940-1964
Richard M. Nixon Commander, U.S. Naval Reserve- - - ->1942-1966
Gerald R. Ford, Jr. Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Naval Reserve- - - ->1942-1946
Jimmy Carter Lieutenant, U.S. Navy- - - ->1946-1953
Ronald Reagan Captain, U.S. Army- - - ->1942-1945
George Bush Lieutenant (junior grade), U.S. Navy- - - ->1942-1945
George W. Bush First Lieutenant, Texas Air National Guard- - - ->1968-1973
By "high ranking " I meant in charge of a whole side. Like Grant running the Union army and Ike running the Allies (at least in the European theater)