[August 6, 2016] There was a time when U.S. military personnel refused to participate in anything that was political or even register to vote in elections because it would be seen as inappropriate interference. Basic rules that govern military behavior today provide some restrictions on what currently serving military members can and cannot do politically when in uniform. But things are changing.
The social and political pressure for military members, both currently serving and retired, to participate fully is growing. The on-going U.S. presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump has brought new levels of competition that is being played up in the media. Each candidate has asked for and received “endorsements” from high ranking, retired military officers.
Nothing is illegal about it, nor is it unethical. Yet there are many of us in the military community that are opposed to our retired personnel giving public help to those candidates. The reason? Opinion polls continue to rank U.S. military as high and politicians low on respectability, trust, and confidence scales.
This may seem like a small issue but it brings risks. All the risks are on the reputation of our military because of our association with politicians. One of the fundamental truths about being in service to your country is that we must, at all times, have the trust of the American people. Without this trust, we could never defend the nation in times of peril.
When a retired senior officer says that “I’m General (or Admiral) John Doe and I endorse Candidate X,” we are implying that the values of the military are the values of that political candidate. General Dempsey said it best, “If somebody asks me when I retire to support them in a political campaign, do you think they’re asking Marty Dempsey or are they asking General Dempsey?”1
Retired U.S. Marine General John Allen recently endorsed Hillary Clinton.2 This caused quite a stir and forced into the public a long simmering debate within the military on this very issue. Clinton needs the endorsement of as many military personnel as she can get. Senior military officers have high trust while Clinton ranks low. Will this pull Clinton up or will it pull the military down?
On the one hand, by endorsing political candidates, the U.S. military will begin to lose the trust of our nation. But on the other hand, by failing to let their viewpoints known and their preferences, the military may also be failing the nation that it has promised to defend.
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- http://www.moaa.org/Content/Publications-and-Media/Features-and-Columns/MOAA-Features/Military-Political-Neutrality.aspx
- http://www.npr.org/2016/07/31/488122796/retired-gen-john-allen-weighs-in-on-campaign-with-hillary-clinton-endorsement?ft=nprml