Lessons From the Front Line
George Washington
Top military rank: General
Presidential term: 1789–97
Lessons learned: After the Revolutionary War, Washington knew the British remained a serious threat. As president, he signed an unpopular treaty that kept the country safe from British invasion.
Andrew Jackson
Top military rank: Major general
Presidential term: 1829-37
Lessons learned: Jackson stood up against a strong British Army and won. That David-vs.-Goliath battle gave him the courage to take on foes like the Second U.S. Bank.
Theodore Roosevelt
Top military rank: Colonel
Presidential term: 1901-09
Lessons learned: He returned from the Spanish-American War strengthened politically as a national hero. He understood the power of personality and how much it can aid a president's success.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Top military rank: General
Presidential term: 1953-61
Lessons learned: After serving in Europe, he knew commanders inflated budgets. When pressured by the Pentagon for an increased defense war chest, he said no and kept the budget balanced.
John F. Kennedy
Top military rank: Lieutenant
Presidential term: 1961-63
Lessons learned: His service during World War II gave him an appreciation for details, how one thing gone wrong can cause larger problems. That mind-set served him well during the Cuban missile crisis.
George H.W. Bush
Top military rank: Lieutenant
Presidential term: 1989–93
Lessons learned: His experience as a naval aviator— he was shot down and lost two crewmen—made him aware of the risks of war. That may have encouraged his presidential support of the Powell doctrine.
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Sarah Kliff covers the intersection of heath and politics for NEWSWEEK, reporting on a range of topics from assisted suicide to federal health care reform to reproductive rights and abortion politics. In the summer of 2009, she profiled embattled, late-term abortion doctor LeRoy Carhart and his plan to open a new clinic in the wake of George Tiller's murder. Sarah is a frequent contributor to the Gaggle, Newsweek's political blog, where she has covered health care reform and the ensuing battle over abortion language.
Sarah joined NEWSWEEK in the summer of 2007 as a health intern. She spent 2008 as the assistant to the national affairs editor, contributing reporting to eight cover stories and spending a week on the road with Vice President Joe Biden, and joined the health team in March 2009. She is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where she served as editor in chief of her campus newspaper, Student Life, and majored in Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology.
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