That proves conclusively that you don't have to serve to be a great leader, even in wartime. You left someone off your list who I consider to be very important:
FDR: Did not serve.
Isn't it more interesting to see what the record is of Presidents, since that's what we're electing?
Bill Cli'ton did not serve (in the military, anyway).
Funny how Bush and his father's military records BOTH exceed those of Cli'ton and FDR, isn't it? Really ironic for all you new warhawks.
Here's the whole scoop: 12 presidents did not serve in the military---John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Van Buren, Polk, , Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, FDR and Clinton. Cleveland actually paid someone to fight in his place during the Civil War which was legal and not all that unusual at the time--a kind of pay as you go family deferment).
For an interesting chart of all of them, go to
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