That is NOT true. Most cadets are nominated by members of Congress, but the law allows the President and the Secretary of the Army to appoint people. General William Westmoreland was the Chief of Staff of the Army from 1968 to 1972 and his boss was the Stanley R. Resor who was the Secretary of the Army.
Title 10 of the United States Code, Chapter 403, Section 4342 states that the Secretary of the Army can appoint 85 cadets from the ranks of the active duty Army, Navy, or Air Force; 85 from the reserve components of the A/N/AF; and 20 from schools deemed by the Secretary of the Army to be superior.
In short, one need not be nominated by a member of Congress to be admitted to the US Military Academy (or the US Naval Academy or the US Air Force Academy.)
What people believe to be true is often false. In this case your belief that a person must be appointed by a member of Congress is and always has been false.
Good post!
He told me he was allocated 3 appointments a year to West Point. I said do you really mean appointments and not nominations?
He said, yes appointments.
Thank you for your informative, fact based post. One of the problems with public forums is that so many think their opinions are fact regardless of actual facts. You actually went to the trouble of showing why your information was true. I appreciate that.