essay
YIFU1216
10.Civil-MilitaryRelations2.pptSOME THOUGHTS ON THE CURRENT STATE OF CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS
TWO CENTURIES OF CIVILIAN CONTROL OF THE MILITARY
General George Washington demonstrates his respect for civilian control of the military by surrendering his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army to Congress at Annapolis, Maryland, on April 23, 1783.
GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP WITH CONGRESS
During the Valley Forge winter of 1777-78, General George Washington exaggerated the plight of his troops to prod the Continental Congress into assigning a more urgent priority to supporting the Continental Army.
THE MEXICAN WAR: A PRESIDENT AT ODDS WITH HIS TOP COMMANDERS
President James K. Polk resented the victories of his top generals, Zachary Taylor (upper right) and Winfield Scott (lower right) because he feared they would cost his Democratic Party the White House.
THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE WAR
A Republican cartoon mocks Major General George B. McClellan, a Democrat, for alleged timidity in waging war against the Confederacy.
THE TRUMAN-MacARTHUR CONTROVERSY
The clash between President Harry S. Truman and General Douglas MacArthur over American war goals in Korea is probably the most famous disruption in civil-military relation in American history. The bad feelings between the two men is obvious in the photograph of their meeting on Wake Island in October 1950. Note how the President ignores MacArthur’s attempt to shake hands.
THE LATEST LOW POINT: THE CLINTON YEARS
1992: A CANDIDATE HAUNTED BY HIS PAST
Bill Clinton’s past as a draft dodger and a protestor during the Vietnam War elicited a visceral negative reaction from the American military when he ran for president in 1992. (Upper left) Clinton and Hillary Rodham, his future wife, as young law students at Yale University
GAYS IN THE MILITARY: CLINTON LOSES THE FIRST SHOWDOWN
RUMSFELD VERSUS THE MILITARY
Donald Rumsfeld, George W. Bush’s first secretary of defense, owed his abbreviated tenure to the fact that he forfeited the confidence of the military with his botched handling of the Iraq War.
CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS: WHO’S IN CHARGE?
President George W. Bush inspects the troops at the Full Honor Farewell to the President at Fort Myer, Virginia, January 6, 2009.
THE MILITARY’S MUCH MORE PUBLIC FUNCTION
General David H. Petraeus briefs Congress (upper right) and the press (lower left) on the progress of the “Surge” strategy that he devised to reverse America’s losing war in Iraq. Some Democrats charged the general with becoming a partisan spokesman for the Bush Administration (lower right).
THE IMPLICATIONS OF A LARGE, PERMANENT MILITARY
“Our first duty is toward the government”
(Left) Brigadier General John J. Pershing with a young aide in 1916. (Below) Pershing with his staff. (Right) A young George S. Patton, Jr., with his bride, Beatrice.
“Do my job, hold my tongue, and keep my name out of the papers.”
(Left) Omar N. Bradley as a four-star general. (Below) President Harry S. Truman pins the five-star silver insignia of General of the Army on Bradley’s uniform.
A LOSS OF FAITH IN AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS
Much like the radicals of the 60s, today’s right-wing pundits make their living trying to convince Americans they can no longer trust in government to protect them and solve their problems.
A NATION FRAGMENTED BY THE CULTURE WARS
THE END OF THE AGE OF THE CITIZEN SOLDIER
American troops engage Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, October 2008.
AN INCREASINGLY ISOLATED U.S. MILITARY
An American soldier looks to a Taliban position following a firefight October 28, 2008, in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley
VIETNAM: A CRUCIAL TURNING POINT
The U.S. military felt betrayed by the Democratic Party after Vietnam. Even though the Democrats got the nation embroiled in that quagmire, they repositioned themselves afterwards as anti-war and often as anti-military.
RONALD REAGAN WINS OVER THE MILITARY
President Reagan’s unabashed patriotism, his administration’s heavy defense spending, and his willingness to confront the Soviet Union won him many fans in the American military.
RETIRED GENERALS ENDORSE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
During the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama not only visited American troops in Iraq (upper right), but he copied the Republicans by rounding up endorsements from retired generals and admirals, including Wesley Clark (lower left).
RETIRED GENERALS DUEL IN 2016
(Left) Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, U.S,. Army (retired) extolls the virtues of Donald J. Trump on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, July 18, 2016. (Right below) Backed by a multi-cultural collection of American veterans, General John Allen, U.S. Marine Corps (retired) delivers a raucous endorsement for Hillary Clinton a week later at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. (Below left) Former Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey publicly criticized retired generals for engaging in partisan politics.
AN ISSUE OF TRUST
Political partisanship by the high-ranking officers can undermine public confidence in the military, making it look like just another special-interest group.
AN ISSUE OF TRUST
How can a President be candid with high-level military advisors if they feel free to criticize him after they retire? (Below) Six retired generals who went before Congress in 2006 and called on Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to resign.
HOW THE MILITARY VIEWS AMERICA
Many American military personnel think that their fellow citizens are obsessed with pleasure-seeking and putting this country on the path to extinction like ancient Rome.
THE U.S. MILITARY VS. THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION
THE MILITARY FORCES THE RESIGNATION OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LES ASPIN
Secretary Aspin with Army Chief of Staff General John M. Shalikashvili and the latter’s wife, Joan.
THE NAVY’S HEAD MAN COMMITS SUICIDE
Admiral Jeremy Michael Boorda, the twenty-fifth Chief of Naval Operations, was the only CNO to have risen from the ranks. He shot himself on May 16, 1996, when the media accused him of wearing decorations for valor to which he was not entitled.
SALVOS IN THE GENDER WARS
(Left) Lieutenant Kelly Flinn, the compromised poster girl for women in the military. (Upper right) A shoulder patch making light of the Tailhook Scandal involving naval aviators. (Lower right) A parody of a World War 2 poster lashing out at the political correctness of the 1990s.
ARGUING OVER DEPLOYMENTS
Clinton drew fire for ending American military intervention in Somalia after a fierce firefight in Mogadishu on October 3-4, 1993, in which eighteen U.S. Army Rangers and Delta Force Commandos died. (Lower right) Somalis drag a dead American through the streets.
THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION SHUNS CONFRONTATIONS WITH THE MILITARY
CLINTON TRIES TO HAND OFF THE MILITARY
(Left) Admiral Bobby Ray Inman, named to replace Les Aspin at the Pentagon, abruptly withdrew his nomination at a shocking press conference on January 18, 1994. (Right) William Perry headed the Defense Department from February 3, 1994, to January 23, 1997.
CLINTON GIVES THE MILITARY TO A REPUBLICAN
Senator William Cohen, Republican from Maine, Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Defense from 1997 to 2001.
HOW WILL HISTORY RATE OBAMA AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF?
The Obama Administration allowed gays to serve openly in the U.S. military and opened combat roles to women.
