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TABLE 1 -- U. S. Presidential Candidates Prior Military Service, 1789 - 1992
(Army Service Unless Noted Otherwise)
Presidents & Nominees1	Election Years	Veteran Yes / No	Highest Rank2	Period(s) of Active Duty
George Washington	1789, 1792	X	Gen. & Cmdr.- in-Chief 3	1752-59, 1775-83
John Adams	1789, 1792, 1796, 1800	X	n/a	n/a
George Clinton	1792, 1808	X	Brig. Gen	1758, 1777
Thomas Jefferson	1796, 1800, 1804	X	n/a	n/a
Thomas Pinckney	1796	X	Maj.Gen	1775-82, 1812-14
Aaron Burr	1796, 1800	X	Lt. Col.	1775-79
Charles C. Pinckney	1804, 1808	X	Brig. Gen.	1775-83
James Madison	1808, 1812	X	n/a	n/a
DeWitt Clinton	1812	X	n/a	n/a
James Monroe	1816, 1820	X	Maj.	1776-78
Rufus King	1816	X	Volunt.	1778
John Q. Adams	1820, 1824, 1828	X	n/a	n/a
Andrew Jackson	1824, 1828, 1832	X	Maj. Gen.	1779, 1791 1802-1821
Henry Clay	1824, 1832	X	n/a	n/a
William H. Crawford	1824	X	n/a	n/a
William Wirt	1832	X	Capt.	1814
Martin Van Buren	1836, 1840, 1848	X	n/a	n/a
Hugh L. White	1836	X	Volunt.	1793, 1813
Daniel Webster	1836	X	n/a	n/a
William H. Harrison	1836, 1840	X	Brig. Gen.	1791-98, 1811-14
Presidents & Nominees	Election Years	Veteran Yes / No	Highest Rank	Period(s) of Active Duty
John Tyler	-- 4	X	n/a	n/a
James K. Polk	1844	X	n/a	n/a
Zachary Taylor	1848	X	Maj. Gen.	1808-15, 1816-48
Lewis Cass	1848	X	Maj. Gen.	1812-13
Franklin Pierce	1852	X	n/a	n/a
Winfield Scott	1852	X	Maj. Gen.5	1807-48, 1861
James Buchanan	1856	X	Pvt.	1814
John C. Fremont	1856	X	Lt. Col.6	1833-48, 1861-62
Millard Fillmore 7	1856	X	n/a	n/a
Abraham Lincoln	1860, 1864	X	Capt.	1832
Stephen A. Douglas	1860	X	n/a	n/a
John C. Breckinridge	1860	X	Maj.8	1847-48, 1861-65
John Bell	1860	X	n/a	n/a
George B. McClellan	1864	X	Maj. Gen.	1846-62
Andrew Johnson	-- 9	X	Brig. Gen.	1862-65
Ulysses S. Grant	1868, 1872	X	Lt. Gen.	1843-54, 1861-68
Horatio Seymour	1868	X	n/a	n/a
Horace Greeley	1872	X	n/a	n/a
Rutherford B. Hayes	1876	X	Maj. Gen.	1861-64
Samuel J. Tilden	1876	X	n/a	n/a
James A. Garfield	1880	X	Maj. Gen.	1861-65
Winfield S. Hancock	1880	X	Maj. Gen.	1844-86
Chester A. Arthur	-- 10	X	Qtr.Mstr.Gen.11	1861-63
Grover Cleveland	1884, 1888, 1892	X	n/a	n/a
James G. Blaine	1884	X	n/a	n/a
Presidents & Nominees	Election Years	Veteran Yes / No	Highest Rank	Period(s) of Active Duty
Benjamin Harrison	1888, 1892	X	Brig. Gen.	1862-65

James B. Weaver	1880, 1892	X	Brig. Gen.	1861-64
William McKinley	1896, 1900	X	Maj.	1861-65

William J. Bryan	1896, 1900, 1908	X	Col.	1898
Theodore Roosevelt 12	1904, 1912	X	Col.	1898
Alton B. Parker	1904	X	n/a	n/a
William H. Taft	1908, 1912	X	n/a	n/a
Woodrow Wilson	1912, 1916	X	n/a	n/a
Eugene V. Debs	1904, 1908, 1912, 1920	X	n/a	n/a
Charles E. Hughes	1916	X	n/a	n/a
Warren G. Harding	1920	X	n/a	n/a
James M. Cox	1920	X	n/a	n/a
Calvin Coolidge 13	1924	X	n/a	n/a
John W. Davis	1924	X	n/a	n/a
Robert M. La Follette	1924	X	n/a	n/a
Herbert C. Hoover	1928, 1932	X	n/a	n/a
Alfred E. Smith	1928	X	n/a	n/a
Franklin D. Roosevelt 14	1932, 1936, 1940, 1944	X	n/a	n/a
Alfred M. Landon	1936	X	n/a	n/a
Wendell L. Willkie	1940	X	1st Lt.	1917-18
Thomas E. Dewey	1944, 1948	X	n/a	n/a
Harry S. Truman 15	1948	X	Capt.	1917-19
J. Strom Thurmond	1948	X	Lt. Col.16	1942-46
Presidents & Nominees	Election Years	Veteran Yes / No	Highest Rank	Period(s) of Active Duty
Henry A. Wallace	1948	X	Capt.	1917-19
Dwight D. Eisenhower	1952, 1956	X	Gen. of the Army	1915-48, 1951-52
Adlai E. Stevenson	1952, 1956	X17	n/a	n/a
John F. Kennedy	1960	X	Lt. (j.g.) (Navy)	1941-45
Richard M. Nixon	1960, 1968	X	Lt. Cdr. (Navy)	1942-46
Lyndon B. Johnson 18	1964	X	Lt. Cdr. (Navy)	1942
Barry M. Goldwater	1964	X	Lt. Col.19	1941-45
Hubert H. Humphrey	1968	X	n/a	n/a
George C. Wallace	1968	X	Sgt.20	1942-45
George S. McGovern	1972	X	1st Lt.21	1943-45
Jimmy Carter	1976, 1980	X	Lt. (Navy)	1946-53
Gerald R. Ford, Jr. 22	1976	X	Lt.Cdr. (Navy)	1942-46
John B. Anderson	1980	X	n/a	n/a
Ronald W. Reagan	1980, 1984	X	Capt.23	1942-45
Walter F. Mondale	1984	X	Cpl.	1951-53
Michael S. Dukakis	1988	X	Spec. 3d	1955-57
George H. W. Bush	1988, 1992	X	Lt. (j.g.) (Navy)	1942-45
William J. Clinton	1992	X	n/a	n/a
H. Ross Perot	1992	X	Lt. (Navy)	1953-57

Return to "U. S. Presidents, Military Service, and the Electorate"

END NOTES

1. The names of those who became President in italics.

2. Including brevet, or temporary, ranks sometimes not awarded until completion of service.

3. The First Continental Congress elected Washington "to command all the Continental forces. . ." without specifying his precise rank. Journals of the Continental Congress, II, 91.

4. Elected Vice President 1840, assumed Presidency 1841 upon the death of William H. Harrison.

5. In 1848, Congress voted Scott the rank of lieutenant general, but the promotion did not become effective until 1855, after his run for the Presidency.

6. FremontÕs Civil War rank was major general.

7. Elected Vice President 1848, assumed Presidency 1850 upon death of Zachary Taylor.

8. Breckenridge's Civil War rank was major general.

9. Elected Vice President 1864, assumed Presidency 1865 upon the death of Abraham Lincoln.

10. Elected Vice President 1880, assumed Presidency 1881 upon the death of James A. Garfield.

11. Arthur's functional title with the New York militia, not a military rank.

12. Elected Vice President 1900, assumed Presidency 1901 upon the death of William McKinley; elected President 1904.

13. Elected Vice President 1920, assumed Presidency 1923 upon the death of Warren G. Harding; elected President 1924.

14. Held senior civilian position as assistant secretary of the Navy, 1913-1920.

15. Elected Vice President 1944, assumed Presidency 1945 upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt; elected President 1948.

16. Attained the rank of major general in the reserves after his run for the Presidency.

17. Held civilian position in the Dept. of Navy during World War II.

18. Elected Vice President 1960, assumed Presidency 1963 upon the death of John F. Kennedy; elected President 1964.

19. Held the rank of Air Force brigadier general in the reserves when he ran for the Presidency in 1964; retired as a major general of reserves in 1967.

20. U. S. Army Air Forces.

21. U. S. Army Air Forces.

22. Appointed Vice President 1973 upon resignation of Spiro T. Agnew, assumed Presidency 1974 upon resignation of Richard M. Nixon.

23. U. S. Army Air Forces.

American Diplomacy

TABLE 1 -- U. S. Presidential Candidates Prior Military Service, 1789 - 1992

(Army Service Unless Noted Otherwise)

END NOTES