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| MILITARY ENDORSEMENTS | |
 September 25, 2000  |
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Should former high ranking military officers endorse a presidential candidate? Gwen Ifill leads a discussion with two former military generals.
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GWEN IFILL: When George W. Bush stepped behind a podium earlier this month to discuss military readiness, he came prepared. Retired Generals Norman Schwarzkopf and Colin Powell were there to endorse him, along with other high-profile retired officers. But did these officers break an unwritten rule by venturing into partisan politics? We have two points of view. General Merrill McPeak was the chief of staff for the Air Force from 1990 to 1994. He is one of the retired military men who endorsed Governor Bush. And General Richard Neal was assistant commandant of the Marines from 1996 to 1998. Also now retired, he has endorsed no one. In the interest of full disclosure, Al Gore's campaign reports no high-profile endorsements from retired officers. General McPeak, you have endorsed Governor Bush. Can you tell us why? |
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| Politics versus party politics | ||||||||||||||||||||
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GENERAL MERRILL McPEAK: Well, I support him in general. I think he's right on the issues. GWEN IFILL: Is it appropriate for a military officer such as yourself, who served in the current administration that's still in office to endorse the opposition as it were?
GWEN IFILL: General Neal, you have made the opposite judgment call. You have decided not to endorse anyone in this presidential campaign. Do you think it's appropriate? GEN. RICHARD NEAL: I don't think the issue really is appropriateness. I think what... I think first I begin, Gwen, by saying, look at the list of the 93 admirals, generals, politicians and just rank and file folks that have endorsed Governor Bush. GWEN IFILL: Including members of Congress.
GWEN IFILL: And how does endorsing a candidate reduce people's faith? GEN. RICHARD NEAL: Well, I think it throws us into a fray, into a brawl that perhaps we don't want to get into. I think that if you look at that list again, you get down into Congress, and you're down to 24 percent. And you've got a great difference between the American military and the perception and degree of confidence the American people have on the American military -- have for the American military versus the politicians. We're throwing ourselves by forming a group, a coalition, into that fray, and I think we endanger that difference between advocacy and advice. And that worries me. |
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| The weight of a military endorsement | ||||||||||||||||||||
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GWEN IFILL: How about that, General McPeak, by endorsing as a group, are you saying to people who are currently still serving in the military that it's okay to be partisan?
GWEN IFILL: We just lost General McPeak. We'll get back to him in a moment. Does it matter, however, when George Bush calls -- General McPeak or calls another officer and says, we want you to endorse us, are they saying... What are they hoping to get out of that? What weight do they hope to deliver? GEN. RICHARD NEAL: Well, I think obviously... I think a general or admiral who has risen to four stars brings to the table, to the political campaign, whichever side of the aisle it, is brings a certain degree of confidence, enjoys a degree of confidence by the American public. I think they bring some definite views as to different issues that are affecting the military, from readiness, as General McPeak pointed out, all the way to weapons systems and acquisition programs. I think all of those things come into view, and obviously their opinion is well-sought.
GENERAL MERRILL McPEAK: Gwen, let me conclude my thought there before I was interrupted. GWEN IFILL: Certainly. |
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| Military endorsements unfair to active duty troops? | ||||||||||||||||||||
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GENERAL MERRILL McPEAK: I draw a sharp distinction between people on
active duty, still at the head of forces, and retired general officers.
I mean, I just flew up here from Portland in a little airplane, home
built that I didn't put any guns in. I don't regard myself anymore as
a menace to the republic. GWEN IFILL: So why not ask him? Why shouldn't he be allowed -- as a group, as a military man, should be allowed to say what he knows? GEN. RICHARD NEAL: I think if you remember my opening comments. I didn't find fault with anyone that came forward and individually endorsed. I think what bothers me, again, is this idea of a coalition, of a group of generals and admirals coming together. GWEN IFILL: Why is that different?
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| A partisan military? | ||||||||||||||||||||
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GWEN IFILL: Now, there's a poll showed that 64 percent of the young men and women in the armed forces identified themselves as Republicans anyway. So what is the point? GEN. RICHARD NEAL: Well, that's dangerous. I hope that poll is wrong. And I hope we don't get into that thing that when one of those service chiefs goes or the chairman goes in front of a congressional committee to testify, as General McPeak said he's done 33 times and I've done on numerous occasions, I hope we don't get labeled as soon as we come and they sit down and they say, "well, this is a Republican one, so they're not going to be candid and frank. If this is a Republican administration, they're going to support whatever that administration tells them." GWEN IFILL: General McPeak, the harshest critics of the kinds of endorsements you have made say that a lot of retired officers are prostituting their prestige. They say that that is taking it too far. Obviously you don't agree with that? GEN. RICHARD NEAL: Nor do I.
GWEN IFILL: Okay. General Merrill McPeak and General Richard Neal, thank you both very much. |
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GENERAL
MERRILL McPEAK: Well, I would draw a sharp distinction really between
two kinds of issues here. One is the question of politics versus party
politics. Klauswitz said that war is a political act, that at the highest
level war is indistinguishable from policy. There's really no way that
senior military officers can avoid politics. It's always in the mix.
So the real question is: How can senior officers avoid party politics?
And too often many of these political issues have been made partisan
by politicians. If you take an issue like ballistic missile defense
or base closure or the current brouhaha about readiness, these are issues
that we ought to be able to decide with some objectivity that have been
politicized. So there you put senior military officers in a heck of
a position. I mean, they have to be very careful. It's always a judgment
call, and, for instance, I made 33 witness appearances in front of the
Congress, and nobody over there wanted to know how to win a dogfight.
They all wanted my testimony on highly charged political issues like
gays in the military. So this is a judgment call. We hire senior officers
hoping they're smart enough and have finesse enough to deal with these
issues, but they are forced on them. They have no alternative to deal
with them. 
GEN.
RICHARD NEAL: Including members of Congress. It's a wonderful list because
you look at it, and you know those men and women have served their country
well and ably. They hold the same core values that you and I have. They've
just made a conscious decision to come out publicly and support. I think
what would... I think what bothers me the most is I'm not really against
a personal endorsement, an individual coming forward and saying, "I
support this candidate or that candidate for the following reasons."
I think what causes me pause for concern is that the coalition of 93,
that includes probably fifteen or twenty very highly ranked officers
and former officers in the military, I think that kind of sends the
wrong signal. If you look at... I think it was a USA Poll that was run
by Gallup about a week ago, and they asked the question about the American
public and their degree of confidence in different vocations and professions,
and the top of the list at 64 percent was the U.S. Military. 
GENERAL
MERRILL McPEAK: Look, I think... this is another case where you have
to draw a distinction. These are not binary issues, black and white.
They're all judgment calls. But our founding fathers did make a binary
decision. They said that they were going to combine the office of head
of state with commander in chief -- thereby conferring the highest military
authority on a civilian. They did that because they were very aware
of the example of Oliver Cromwell or Julius Caesar, an enormously popular
figure that arrives in the capital city at the head of an army. We have
followed the rules. 
GWEN
IFILL: General McPeak is back with us. I want to repeat the same question
to him, which is this whole notion of what it is that you bring when
you endorse, do you think you're sending a signal that the candidates
you're endorsing is a better person militarily? 
So
my First Amendment rights to participate in the political process ought
not to be restricted in the way we've all come to think active duty
general officers should be restricted. Now, on the issue of what the
candidates hope to gain, I think there is a certain amount of expertise
that retired generals, admirals, people who know the business bring.
I mean, Candidate Bush has said our readiness is in decline. Candidate
Gore has said we have the world's greatest armed forces. Both gentlemen
are right. So in my neighborhood, if people want to know how to deal
with this subject, they come around and ask me. And I think that's a
pretty good idea. 
GEN.
RICHARD NEAL: The reason that bothers me specifically is I don't think
you can say that while I'm retired, and obviously we have inalienable
rights to be able to vote and to speak my piece, and I'm not going to
have any impact on the uniformed military. I think that's naive at best,
because I think what those generals and admirals do bring to the table
is they're mentors, they're former role models, they represent the institution
from which they came. They still have a significant impact on the uniformed
military. And I think it puts the uniformed military of today, those
that are on active duty, that puts a bigger burden on them and an unfair
burden on them, I think, as they go about their day-to-day business
of leading the young men and women of the armed forces.