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Keep My Military Out of Your Politics
Why politicizing the U.S. military is a road to disaster.
While public confidence in U.S. institutions has been steadily decreasing since the end of the Vietnam War, the U.S. military is the one government organization that a majority of Americans still trust — on both sides of the aisle.
The younger generations may not remember how poorly this country treated its returning Vietnam veterans, but the Baby Boomers do…
And right now, for better or worse, the Boomers still run this country.
Perhaps that’s why the public pendulum has swung so far toward the military’s favor over the past four decades. The idea is: “never again will we treat our servicemembers as poorly as we once did.”
Still, if we begin politicizing the military, public trust will erode.
But that doesn’t mean that the military should be completely apolitical. It should just avoid being used as props in partisan politics.
The military can never be totally apolitical
Servicemembers don’t lose the right to vote when they sign up.
Naturally, they are going to make their voices heard at the ballot box and vote for the candidate and party that most favorably impacts their lives.
Historically, this has meant voting Republican — a party which has expanded military funding in recent decades.
But what about today? Are active-duty military members more conservative or liberal?
A Military Times poll from 2020 found a drop from 46 percent in 2017 to 37.4 percent in 2020, for active-duty personnel favoring a Republican candidate (Here, Trump).
Indeed, one could argue that Trump was such a shock to the system that he actually drove servicemembers — who might have otherwise voted Republican — over to the Democrats or independent candidates.
A letter publicly denouncing Trump, signed by 780 former military officers, including retired Air Force General Paul Selva, former Defense Secretaries…
