By sacking General McChrystal for humiliating the presidential team in a rock magazine, Barack Obama reasserted the American Founding Fathers’ principle: ‘The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy.’ Quite right too: the military must be subservient to (civilian) state control.
By sacking General McChrystal for humiliating the presidential team in a rock magazine, Barack Obama reasserted the American Founding Fathers’ principle: ‘The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy.’ Quite right too: the military must be subservient to (civilian) state control.
The Roman republic collapsed in the 1st century bc because this principle was compromised. That the political top dogs also led the armies raised the danger that the nominal ultimate authority, the Senate, could be overridden by popular assemblies. As Romans expanded their empire, overworked troops looked to their generals for a fair reward for service, especially at discharge.
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