From the article: "Ronald Reagan was the first president to take his career path to get there. No legislator or military man,..."
So RR was NOT Ike or Grant, etc. Could someone give a brief overview of Reagan's service in the US military. Army Air Corps...?
Re the question of Reagan’s military service...
Reagan did serve in WWII, in a way, but they kept him close to home. He made training films and propaganda films for the military during the war.
The reports I’ve seen indicate that he was willing to serve normally, but his eyesight was so bad, this healthy, robust man failed the physical. They said if they sent him into battle, he’d shoot a general, and not necessarily the enemy’s!
So he stayed here in-country and did what his country asked him to. The crummy films they had him make during the war did irreparable damage to his movie career.
So my point wasn’t that he hadn’t served in the military at all, just that he didn’t take the usual paths to the White House of coming up through politics or from being a famous general, that’s all. For a Republican candidate to have been an actor and a union president was a mighty strange career path!
Cheers,
JFD