From the At War Blog: The Role of the Military and Veterans in Politics

The recent death of Senator Daniel K. Inouye, a celebrated World War II veteran, coincided in many ways with the waning influence of veterans in American politics. There are now only three World War II veterans in Congress: Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, Representative Ralph Hall of Texas and Representative John D. Dingell of Michigan. Over all, the number of veterans joining Congress has perpetuated a four-decade-long slide.

But military veterans still have significant political clout. Former Senator John Kerry, a Vietnam veteran, was recently confirmed as secretary of state, and former Senator Chuck Hagel, also a Vietnam veteran, has been nominated for defense secretary. If Mr. Hagel is confirmed, President Obama’s cabinet will have three Vietnam veterans (the third being Eric Shinseki, secretary of the Department of Veteran Affairs.)

Left, Courtesy of John Kerry, via Associated Press; right, Library of Congress, via Assoc! iated Press John Kerry, left, in 1969 and Chuck Hagel in 1968 during their service in the Vietnam War. Mr. Kerry is President Obama’s choice to lead the State Department, and Mr. Hagel the Pentagon.

Although the overall number of veterans in Congress has decreased, the election of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is on the rise. Of the 89 military veterans in the House, 17 are veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan. Of the 18 senators who are military veterans, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is the only veteran of Iraq or Afghanistan.

The interplay between politics, the military and veterans is a complicated subject matter. Although war is supposed to be an extension of politics, we don’t want service members associated with politics. Some historians surmise that Lincoln removed Gen. George B. McClellan, the top Union Army general, partly because General McClellan showed too great of an < href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/03/the-mcclellan-problem/">interest in politics.

Throughout American history there have been notable American political leaders who have served in the military. Some veterans turned legislators played down their military backgrounds or made it a point that they could also view the military through a critical lens. Eisenhower is remembered for his warning of the “military industrial complex.”

This trend continues. Joyce Tsai, in Stars and Stripes, found that many veterans who ran for office this past election played down their military experience. Chris Fields, a Democrat who ran for a House seat, said, “We don’t try to wrap ourselves in the flag and say the opposition is less patriotic because they didn’t go into the military service, because! that, in! my opinion, would be false.”

In the past, some veterans have highlighted their military service when running for office, including Senator John McCain in the 2008 election. But Senator Bob Dole did not make it a point when running for the presidency in 1996.

Veterans and military service also played a significant role in the past election cycle. Many observers noticed that Mitt Romney did not bring up the topic of the war in Afghanistan during the speech in which he accepted the Republican nomination. William Kristol, a conservative writer, questioned “the civic propriety of a presidential nominee failing even to mention, in his acceptance speech, a war we’re fighting and our young men andwomen who are fighting it.” By contrast, the Democratic National Convention prominently highlighted a tribute to the nation’s veterans.

Nevertheless, a vast majority of veterans in Congress identify as Republicans. More military veterans ran for election to the current Congress â€" and won â€" as Republicans than as Democrats. Out of the 89 military veterans in the House, only 20 are Democrats.

Additionally, of the newly elected Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans, 14 are Republicans and only 2 â€" both female â€" are Democrats. In the past election cycle, according to Joyce Tsai of Stars and Stripes, there were 42 candidates for Congress who had war zone experience (38 House and 4 Senate candidates). Of the 42 candidates, 13 were Democrats.

Interestingly, in the last presidential election, Ron Paul received more in donations from military veterans than any other candidate.

Although there is a prepo! nderance ! of military veteran members of Congress who are Republicans, some recent research suggests that political affiliation among current service members is more diverse. Jason Dempsey, an Army officer and a former White House fellow, found from his research that “there is no monolithic ‘military vote.’” He found that “on most social issues and questions of how the government should spend money, the attitudes of service members largely tracked those of the civilian population.” Although “older generations of veterans remain solidly Republican,” “among the youngest service members and veterans … there is an even split in party identification with 36 percent identifying themselves as Democrats and 41 percent as Republicans.”

Heidi Urben, an Army officer and American politics professor at West Point, found that of the officer cors, “60 percent identify with the Republican Party,” but that a “majority of those who called themselves Republican were less partisan and more centrist.” Ms. Urben states that most service members “are weak partisans or independents. And that’s something you don’t hear reported as much.” Ms. Urben also found that “people are leaving the military with pretty much the same views they had going in.”

Jim Golby, Kyle Dropp and Peter Feaver have done research on the impact of high-profile endorsements from retired military personnel on presidential campaigns. The study is important because the trend of candidates’ seeking endorsements of general and flag officers is only likely to continue, given the overall decrease of prominent veterans in politics and as military service becomes a more rarefied career. Their research found that:!

While military endorsements do not provide a statistically significant boost in overall support for candidates, our research indicates that they may persuade a small but significant portion of two groups - independent voters and voters who report low levels of foreign policy interest - to favor President Barack Obama.

These researchers also say that their survey suggests that such high-profile general officer endorsements “do affect the way the public views the military and that endorsements may undermine trust and confidence in the military over the long term. The public already views the military as having something of a partisan cast.” They also believe such endorsements may “undermine military recruiting efforts and hinder effective civil-military relations.” They support eliminating veteran endorsements because veterans â€" “be they prvates or generals â€" always cross a line when they claim to speak for the military institution itself … by attaching their partisan political causes and candidates to the reputation of the military.”

In recent decades the number of military veterans in Congress has greatly diminished, but this trend will somewhat reverse as Afghanistan and Iraq veterans come of age. Although this past election cycle was focused on domestic issues and the economy, it will be interesting to analyze whether veterans running for office place a great emphasis on their military service in an election cycle in which foreign policy is a major issue. It will also be interesting to note how veterans of my generation contextualize their service and explain what lessons they learned from our recent wars. Veterans are not a homogenous group, and every veteran takes away a different lesson from military experience.

Tim Hsia is pursuing a J.D./M.B.A. at Stanford. He is currently in the Army Reserves as an R.! O.T.C. in! structor at Santa Clara University, which offers training for Stanford cadets. The views expressed in this post are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense or the United States government.