Reagan was technically a veteran, as was Dubya. Neither Coolidge nor Lincoln was. Al Gore is a “veteran” so is he in the mix?
I don’t know about Gore, at this point in time there are two (2) veterans running. I just find it fascinating that now that the race is in full swing and our favorites are not veterans, we have just discarded that argument.
A veteran is a veteran; no “technically” about it. Either you are one or are not one. The difference is if an individual was a tip of the spear warfighter or a REMF. Depending on the Service, there are 3-4x more REMFs than warfighters (teeth-to-tail ratio).
Lincoln was a captain of Illinois militia in 1832. Short service & no combat, but he did serve.