AHC: No WWII Veterans as POTUS

gentboss

This one seems impossible given the high percentage of men of a certain generation who served in WW2 - but IMO is certainly doable:
1953 - Robert Taft (R-OH)
1953-1961 Earl Warren (R-CA)
1961-1963 Stuart Symington (D-MO)
1963-1969 Pat Brown (D-CA)
1969-1975 George Romney (R-MI)
1975-1977 Donald Rumsfeld (R-IL)
1977-1981 Jimmy Carter (D-GA) (or Fred Harris (D-OK) if we count Carter)
1981-1989 Jack Kemp (R-NY)
1989-1993 Richard Lugar (R-IN)
1993-2001 Bill Clinton (D-AR)
 
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The Tai-Pan

"1961-1963 Stuart Symington (D-MO)."

I have never heard of this guy, what is his story and route to the White House?
 

Locke01

Jimmy Carter is a war veteran. He qualified for the Victory Medal since he was in service prior to December 31, 1946-and his service career started on the day he entered the United States Naval Academy in 1943. He was, not of course, a combat veteran.
 

gentboss

Locke01 said:
Jimmy Carter is a war veteran. He qualified for the Victory Medal since he was in service prior to December 31, 1946-and his service career started on the day he entered the United States Naval Academy in 1943. He was, not of course, a combat veteran.
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If we count Carter (and sure, why not) then it's Fred Harris's time to shine!

en.wikipedia.org

Fred R. Harris - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 

gentboss

Locke01 said:
Secretary of the Air Force (the first one, I think), and a not terribly highly regarded Senator.
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Symington was popular - his big problem was that he was from an older generation and didn't quite get that the era of dark horse candidates being picked by conventions was fully over in 1960.
 

Locke01

gentboss said:
Symington was popular - his big problem was that he was from an older generation and didn't quite get that the era of dark horse candidates being picked by conventions was fully over in 1960.
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He was popular with the voters in Missouri, certainly, but not neccesarily with his fellow senators or the national press. At least, that is my impression. Your mileage may vary.
 

marktaha

Banned
gentboss said:
This one seems impossible given the high percentage of men of a certain generation who served in WW2 - but IMO is certainly doable:
1953 - Robert Taft (R-OH)
1953-1961 Earl Warren (R-CA)
1961-1963 Stuart Symington (D-MO)
1963-1969 Pat Brown (D-CA)
1969-1975 George Romney (R-MI)
1975-1977 Donald Rumsfeld (R-IL)
1977-1981 Jimmy Carter (D-GA) (or Fred Harris (D-OK) if we count Carter)
1981-1989 Jack Kemp (R-NY)
1989-1993 Richard Lugar (R-IN)
1993-2001 Bill Clinton (D-AR)
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Humphrey not war veteran. No way real life Harris ever elected.
 

gentboss

I thought about Humphrey but couldn't fit him in - probably not electable on his own in 1960 but might have been a good VP for someone other than Symington.

Harris was a weird outsider in 1976, true - but so too was Jimmy Carter.
 

ejpsan

Sen. Stuart Symington was a very important civilian official in the War Department during WW II for the USAAC, later the USAAF and was the leading person in charge in creating the USAF.
He was in the Washington Establishment a "Serious Person' and the leading compromise choice for the 1960 Democratic Presidential nomination.
The "Conventional Wisdom" in 1960 was that Kennedy and Humphery were going to battle it out in the primaries leaving Johnson to pick up delegates through the state party conventions, and Stevenson being the choice of the Liberal Activists" wing of the party was going to lead to a deadlocked convention and Symington was going to be the consensual choice after the first and second ballots.
 

marktaha

Banned
gentboss said:
I thought about Humphrey but couldn't fit him in - probably not electable on his own in 1960 but might have been a good VP for someone other than Symington.

Harris was a weird outsider in 1976, true - but so too was Jimmy Carter.
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Why not Symington/Humphrey? And Harris was a Leftwing radical.unlike consensus Carter.
 

Post

JFK and GHW Bush could have easily been killed in WW2. JFK's torpedoboooat was cut in two, and Bush's Avenger was shot down.
 

gentboss

I have no objection to a Symington/Humphrey ticket necessarily, but "two Midwestern pro-civil rights Protestants" probably wasn't the right ticket for 1960. (There was talk of Harris as a VP for _Humphrey_ in 1968 - maybe I should have Humphrey elected POTUS in 1976 with Harris as VP, then die in office...)
 
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