Can a Commander-in-Chief serve in the military (in Guard or Reserve Status) at the same time? Could a US President be in a Reserve or Guard status? Has this ever happened? Is it possible? If not, why not? If, hypothetically he or she did, then who would they answer to?

Can a Commander-in-Chief serve in the military (in Guard or Reserve Status) at the same time?

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LTC Yinon Weiss

Edited >1 y ago

Posted >1 y ago

Yes, President Truman served in the Army Reserve as a Colonel while he was President. He served for a total of 37 years. He did this despite starting as a private in the National Guard and never finishing college!

More info:
https://www.trumanlibrary.org/lifetimes/military.htm
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hstpaper/rg407.htm

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LTC John Shaw

>1 y

LTC Yinon Weiss

I see he was Retired from duty prior to becoming CoC.
But he was a Senator and attended at his own expense, how many of us would do that today!
I love this part of the link...
Forging Ties in the Reserves
Truman's military ties during World War I continued long after his experiences on the battlefields of France. Following his discharge in 1919, he missed army life and decided to return to Federal Service through the Officers' Reserve Corps. Although Colonel Truman completed his final stint of active duty in 1933, he was appointed commanding officer of the 379th Field Artillery and attended unit training during the summers of 1936 through 1938 at his own expense. Truman's own military service formed his views on security and defense. He became a strong advocate of military preparedness as the best method to deter future conflicts.

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LTC Yinon Weiss

>1 y

LTC John Shaw - He may have retired from active duty, but he continued to serve in the Army Reserve until 1953 (the last year of his Presidency). More details: http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hstpaper/rg407.htm

Truman Library - Records of the Adjutant Generals Office: Military Personnel File of Harry S....

Size: Less than one linear foot. Access: Open. Copyright: Documents created by United States Government employees in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interests in documents that do not fall into this category are presumed to remain with the authors of the documents or their heirs. Processed by: C.W. Orhvall (1977). Updated by: David Kreidler (2005) as part of the Truman Library Internship Supervising...

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SSG Carlos Madden

>1 y

I highly recommend this biography. He really was the epitome of US progression into the 20th Cent and working oneself from the bottom to the top. https://books.google.com/books/about/Truman.html?id=8fp1A2s6aQwC

Truman

The Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Harry S. Truman, whose presidency included momentous events from the atomic bombing of Japan to the outbreak of the Cold War and the Korean War, told by America’s beloved and distinguished historian.The life of Harry S. Truman is one of the greatest of American stories, filled with vivid characters—Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Wallace Truman, George Marshall, Joe McCarthy, and...

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LTC John Shaw

>1 y

I have more reading to do!

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1LT Aaron Barr

Posted >1 y ago

I wouldn't have thought so given that the Constitution mandates civilian control over the military but it looks to me that that's not the case. Then again, George Washington led a force against the Whiskey Rebellion as President and was the only one to ever lead an army in the field so I guess so.

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LTC Yinon Weiss

>1 y

Reserve Component service members fall into a different category... it's how you can have currently serving reserve component members in Congress and Senate for example. Technically the conflict of interest would occur if they were called to active duty, but that seems like a major edge case. LBJ was send on active duty when he was a Congressman. https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/military-members-serving-in-active-political-positions

Military members serving in active political positions? | RallyPoint

We all should know that service members cannot express political opinion in uniform, or as a representative of the US Armed Forces. However, there are many examples in history when members of the Armed Forces were not only politically active, but were even serving in full time political jobs. For example, take former Senator Scott Brown, who served as Senator of Massachusetts while simultaneously serving as a Lieutenant Colonel in the MA...

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CAPT Kevin B.

Posted >1 y ago

Nothing prohibits it but it's more than a rank confusion problem. How can a military unit function when there's a 100+ man augment, screenings, etc. all bee hiving around and into everything? A good President wouldn't wish him/herself onto an organization like that.

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CPO Norman Mauldin

>1 y

No, conflict of interest. Imagine the C in C getting orders to the front line....

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SGT James Elphick

Posted >1 y ago

Eisenhower resigned his commission as a 5-star but was re-instated by Kennedy after he left office

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LTC Bink Romanick

>1 y

A 5 star never retires....I used to walk by GA Bradley's quarters at Bliss in 75.

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COL Vincent Stoneking

Posted >1 y ago

Technically, this would be possible. Many sitting elected officials are members of the reserve components. I know of no law that would specifically deny the President the ability to serve. Like any other serving member, they would answer to their chain of command....

That said, it would practically be a horrible, very bad, not good idea. First, there is an inherent conflict of interest (if nothing else, presidents approve promotion lists...). Second, there is the chain of command issue (as others have pointed out, bossing around the President, or issuing him a bad OER is probably going to end poorly...). Third, the job of President is more important than anything else this person can be doing with their time. If the President is spending enough time to maintain his military proficiency, what is not being done in its place? All of the above could be logically extended to anyone in elective office (and I do!), but with the President, it steps up several levels of magnitude.

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1LT Aaron Barr

>1 y

There's also the issue of the President, as Commander-in-Chief, 'outranking' any officer 'over' him.

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CPT (Join to see)

Posted >1 y ago

Conflict of interest comes to mind, or at least fear of retribution for those who dare order him around.

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LTC Bink Romanick

Posted >1 y ago

I am pretty sure that the POTUS cannot

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Capt (Join to see)

Edited >1 y ago

Posted >1 y ago

Like, who would give him/her orders?

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SFC Everett Oliver

Posted >1 y ago

I don't see how it could work.

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SrA David Steyer

Posted 10 y ago

When John F Lehman was SECNAV he still held a commission in the Navy Reserve and I think when Donald Rumsfeld was the SECDEF the first time around I think he still held a commission in the Navy Reserve, or was IRR. Now, would it work for the president? Hmmm no idea.

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Can a Commander-in-Chief serve in the military (in Guard or Reserve Status) at the same time?

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