Four times military service has defined a campaign

Gov. Tim Walz’s (D-MN) military record has come under scrutiny, repeating a theme that has taken over several presidential campaigns.

The vast majority of U.S. presidents served in the military, with military service becoming central to many campaigns, for better or for worse. Several for worse cases have occurred in the past few decades.

Here are four times when a president or vice president’s military service, or lack of it, came under harsh scrutiny:

John Kerry

Perhaps the most famous example of scrutiny over military service affecting a campaign was that of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in the 2004 campaign. A group of veterans formed the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, questioning Kerry’s claims about his service record and military awards.

Kerry served a single four-month tour as commander of a Patrol Craft Fast, also known as Swift Boats, in Vietnam, during which he won three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, and a Silver Star. He became a vocal anti-Vietnam War advocate upon his return home, receiving national attention.

He later used his service as a central part of his campaign for president in 2004. Republicans attempted to undercut this by hitting his record, with scores of fellow Swift Boat veterans questioning his record. The group, organized into the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, launched a series of damaging ads undercutting his service record.

The ads were extremely effective in an election characterized by national defense, coming four years after 9/11 and amid the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I remember being in Ohio and listening to that ad. And I called my campaign headquarters and said, guys, I just heard an ad. And if I heard that ad, I wouldn’t vote for me,” Kerry told NPR in a 2018 interview.

Kerry’s campaign struggled to effectively respond to the attacks, fearful that aggressive denunciations would only elevate them. The attacks caught on and played a part in Kerry’s eventual defeat.

The counterclaims themselves came under scrutiny, with nearly all of Kerry’s crewmates backing up the recounting of his service. Of the scores of signatories of the letter questioning Kerry’s service, most weren’t deployed during the same time or place as Kerry.

The campaign became infamous in political history, spawning the term “swiftboating,” describing an unfair or untrue political attack.

Bill Clinton

Clinton was a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War, participating in anti-Vietnam War protests and organizing a protest for the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam in 1969. He organized the protest at Oxford University in the United Kingdom, where he was studying as a Rhodes Scholar.

He received two educational draft deferments for education, but these expired upon his return.

Throughout the war, he tried several different avenues to avoid the draft, including his uncle putting him in the naval reserve and enlisting in the National Guard, both of which were unsuccessful.

Clinton then looked to apply for the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program. He was accepted after a two-hour interview with Colonel Eugene J. Holmes, the head of the program. He later reneged on this, saying that it wasn’t an honorable way of avoiding the draft. Other critics argued that he only reneged after receiving a high draft number, all but guaranteeing he wouldn’t be picked.

According to the Washington Post, the most damaging part of Clinton’s story was his campaign’s handling of it — the campaign was “tight-lipped” about the sequence of events leading to him not being drafted, leading to widespread suspicion. Clinton initially denied knowing about his uncle’s attempt to put him in the Navy reserve, before admitting soon after that he had been made aware.

Despite the questioning of his patriotism, Clinton won his election and reelection by significant margins.

Donald Trump

Trump gained scrutiny not for his military service, but rather for lack of it. Despite being of age during the Vietnam War, Trump never entered the military, raising questions. He was able to avoid the draft due to five deferments, one for bone spurs and four for education. It was the first deferment that raised eyebrows.

The nature of his ailment gained scrutiny, with several openly questioning whether it was made up in order to allow Trump to dodge the draft. An August 2016 report from the New York Times poked holes in Trump’s story.

During the 2016 campaign, Democrats and other critics attempted to get the label of “draft dodger” to stick, a long-standing taboo in American politics. Despite this, the attack never stuck, with Trump largely shrugging it off. The Clinton campaign never made the attack a centerpiece, resulting in it slowly fading into the background.

Trump went on to win an upset victory, with his alleged draft dodging playing little role in the campaign.

Trump, for his part, maintains that he did have bone spurs. In a 2019 interview with Piers Morgan, the president said that he would’ve been “honored” to serve in Vietnam.

“I would not have minded that at all. I would’ve been honored, but I think I make up for it right now,” Mr. Trump told Morgan. “I think I’m making up for it rapidly because we’re rebuilding our military at a level that it’s never seen before.”

The episode was later brought back to the forefront by former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley during her doomed primary run in 2024. Once again, the allegations failed to catch fruit, with Haley getting crushed in nearly every primary.

George W. Bush

Bush’s military service record was the focus of scrutiny in the 2000 election, then even greater scrutiny in the 2004 election. A July 1999 article from the Washington Post found that in 1968, Bush was admitted as a pilot in the Texas National Guard, a unit shielded from service in Vietnam, despite him scoring 25% on the pilot aptitude test, the lowest acceptable grade. He was accepted on the same day he applied, buoyed by his prominent father.

Scrutiny over Bush’s military service played a much bigger role in the 2004 campaign, particularly regarding whether he fulfilled the requirements of his six-year contract, and whether he purposefully enlisted in the unit in order to avoid service in Vietnam.

The climax of the scrutiny revolved around the so-called Killian documents, supposed memos from Bush’s commander, Lieutenant Colonel Jerry B. Killian, alleging preferential treatment and accusing him of failing his duties. After being obtained and published by CBS News, observers noted several technical inconsistencies. The documents were later found to be forged, dealing a major blow to CBS News and reporter Dan Rather’s credibility.

Bush was able to triumph in his reelection campaign, partially due to the dual scrutiny of Kerry’s military record.