Should the President Be Required To Have Served in the Military GP Essay

Should the President Be Required To Have Served in the Military GP week5 - Essay Example As the leader of the free world, our military servicemen look towards the man or woman sitting in the White House for leadership, guidance, and moral support. Our military has seen a long line of active or war veteran presidents stemming from George Washington who fought in the earliest civil war battles that freed our country from the British empire, all the way to George H.W. Bush who, although only a member of the Air National Guard (â€Å"Should Presidential Candidates and Elected Officials be Required to Serve in the Military?†, n.d.) , proved to be the last great American president who knew that there was a lot more at stake for the United States after the 9/11 attacks than just a vendetta upon those who took American lives in an act that rivaled the bombing of Pearl Harbor back in World War II. It is of the utmost importance that the American president have some sort of military service tucked under his belt, whether as a veteran of an international war effort or simply as a stateside based serviceman because our countrys history is steeped deeply in these â€Å"war efforts†. By actively serving the interests of the American military even during what is perceived to be â€Å"peacetime† America, the next president of this great nation ensures that he has a thorough understanding of the importance of the United States as a peacekeeping nation on the world stage, and also has a thorough grasp of the international foreign relations of the United States. By actively serving in the military, the next U.S. president will have an advantage over his non-active opponents, that of actually having been in the center of the great â€Å"wartime† political debate. He will have a greater knowledge and understanding that being an American is a privilege and should be r epaid by service. He will have come to the conclusion that, as a military veteran, he understands the needs of the international community in terms of U.S.