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Thread: CSA soldiers running for POTUS

  1. #1
    Oliphaunt
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    Default CSA soldiers running for POTUS

    Were rank-and-file soldiers forbidden from running for office? If not, could the CSA have produced a plausible candidate?

  2. #2
    Member Elendil's Heir's avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Erictelevision View post
    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

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    Oliphaunt
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    Obviously was thinking postwar. Knew about the amnesty, surprised none got higher up.

  4. #4
    Oliphaunt
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    Plus: most Presidents who were veterans were relatively low ranking. Washington and Ike notable exceptions.

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    Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo What Exit?'s avatar
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    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

  6. #6
    Oliphaunt
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    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)

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