Quote Originally Posted by Bill Moore View Post
Mike,

Thanks for popping my bubble . The good news is that his lack of combat experience helps explain his naivism to some extent. The bad news is my memory is failing me. I could of swore I saw commercials during the election of him manning a AAA weapon and firing at Japanese Zeros. That begs the question how many Presidents have actual combat experience? I'm thinking at a minimum you have George Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, Ike commanded in combat, not sure he saw any, JFK, and Bush Sr.

Definitely not a requirement, and the impact of the experience doesn't seem to be consistent. Washington and Bush emerged from combat and other life experiences more cautious and mature politically, while both Teddy Roosevelt and JFK remained risk seekers while serving as President.
There's also Grant (2 wars), Garfield, McKinley, Truman...

Eisenhower was a politician in uniform...one of the reasons he was selected to command Allied ground forces in Europe. His foreign policy judgement was always hazy, and we continue to pay for how he framed issues to this day. TR's risk seeking is in some ways over-emphasized, as he seemed to have a good instinct for when NOT to get involved with overseas things.