AHC: Vietnam vet US president

It strikes me it's actually a bit odd that there has never been someone who served in Vietnam (in country) who made it to the presidency and we've probably passed the point now where that will ever happen.

I believe every president from Eisenhower to George H.W Bush served in WW2?

Who would have been the best shot to get a Vietnam veteran into office?
 

Gaius Julius Magnus

Gone Fishin'
It strikes me it's actually a bit odd that there has never been someone who served in Vietnam (in country) who made it to the presidency and we've probably passed the point now where that will ever happen.

I believe every president from Eisenhower to George H.W Bush served in WW2?

Who would have been the best shot to get a Vietnam veteran into office?

Gore in 2000 is probably the best option of the Vietnam vets who became nominees, with a close Kerry victory in 2004 as a runner up.
 

Delta Force

Banned
George W. Bush inquired about the Palace Alert program which could have resulted in him being deployed to Vietnam, but he was told he lacked enough experience in the F-102 and would be unlikely to accumulate enough prior to the type being retired (more here). Perhaps he could have flown a different type of aircraft and deployed to Vietnam?
 

Delta Force

Banned
Of course there's also John McCain. He was in the A-4 next to the one that was hit by the Zuni rocket at the start of the USS Forrestal Fire, and he later spent years in captivity after being shot down over Vietnam.
 
well the obvious choice is John McCain, who could be elected in 2000. i wonder how he'd deal with 9/11 and the subsequent War on Terror?
 
Al Gore, John Kerry, and John McCain were all Vietnam vets; so we've got:
  • Al Gore elected in 1988 or 1992
  • Clinton dies in or leaves office 1993-2000
  • John McCain in 2000
  • Al Gore in 2000
  • John Kerry in 2004
  • John McCain in 2008
I believe every president from Eisenhower to George H.W Bush served in WW2?
I don't think Carter or Reagan served; Carter joined the Naval Academy during but graduated after the war, while Reagan did very limited service working in films due to poor eyesight.
 

Delta Force

Banned
I don't think Carter or Reagan served; Carter joined the Naval Academy during but graduated after the war, while Reagan did very limited service working in films due to poor eyesight.

Jimmy Carter would have been unlikely to have served directly in combat. He served on diesel-electric submarines between 1946 and 1952, and then he went into Naval Reactors before resigning in 1953 to take over the family farm. Without changing what Carter did too much, he could possibly have served in Korea on a diesel-electric submarine, assuming any were deployed to the combat zone. USS Seawolf didn't enter service until 1955 and nuclear ships didn't enter service until the 1960s, so he wouldn't have been able to deploy during his final year in Naval Reactors. There were far more nuclear submarines than ships too, so it's more likely he would serve on one of those, especially since he was a submariner.
 
Al Gore, John Kerry, and John McCain were all Vietnam vets; so we've got:
  • Al Gore elected in 1988 or 1992
  • Clinton dies in or leaves office 1993-2000
  • John McCain in 2000
  • Al Gore in 2000
  • John Kerry in 2004
  • John McCain in 2008

I don't think Carter or Reagan served; Carter joined the Naval Academy during but graduated after the war, while Reagan did very limited service working in films due to poor eyesight.

Ok so Carter didn't serve but even with his limited role I believe Reagan was still officially designated a WW2 veteran.
 

Delta Force

Banned
Ok so Carter didn't serve but even with his limited role I believe Reagan was still officially designated a WW2 veteran.

You don't have to serve in combat or even necessarily in country to be a veteran. If you are in theater it counts. One of my professors served in Seoul during Vietnam and is officially a Vietnam veteran.
 
You don't have to serve in combat or even necessarily in country to be a veteran. If you are in theater it counts. One of my professors served in Seoul during Vietnam and is officially a Vietnam veteran.

Yes but there is a debate among those who throw around the term of "Vietnam Veteran" especially when politicians bring it up. I believe there was a candidate for senate or congress perhaps who played up his image as a Vietnam vet eluding at least that he served in Vietnam itself but it came out he never left the US and there was a public backlash.

I specified "in country" here for a reason. George W. Bush may technically be a "vietnam-era veteran" but in terms of public perception he is not a "Vietnam veteran".

Reagan however was actually lauded for his war contributions with his war time propaganda.
 
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