Pentagon George
| 🎖️ | |
| Era | The Sixties |
|---|---|
| Age | 45-60 |
| Home | Arlington, VA |
| Demographic | career military, white |
| Lean | cold_war_hawk |
| Race | white |
An Army colonel at the Pentagon who fought in the Korean War. He represents the professional military in the cast, judges every president mainly on his willingness to confront the Soviet Union, and observes the Vietnam War as a military insider.
Who they stand for
Defence spending took up about half the federal budget when Kennedy became president, and the officer corps and garrison towns around Norfolk, San Antonio and Honolulu were an established interest group. Its politics centred on containment of the Soviet Union, NATO, the Strategic Air Command, and distrust of civilians who favoured negotiation. Events tested this bloc's views. The failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 confirmed its belief that politicians would back down under pressure. The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was resolved without the strike the Joint Chiefs had recommended. The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963 was signed despite objections from General Curtis LeMay and the Air Force.
The Vietnam War caused this bloc to break with the Johnson administration. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara's analysts managed a war the generals never wanted limited, and General Westmoreland's request for more troops after the 1968 Tet Offensive was refused. By the decade's end, the officer class believed Washington had denied it a military victory. Its retired members went further, supporting George Wallace's 1968 campaign, which included LeMay as his running mate. Teamster Sal shares this bloc's anti-communism as a union member. George holds the same view as a military planner.
Playing to them
He responds well to a growing defence budget, a president who takes the advice of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and is seen to do so, firm stands at Berlin and in Cuba, and bombing North Vietnam directly rather than using bombing only as a signal. A Democratic president can keep his support as long as the money and the resolve are both there.
He does not forgive a negotiated retreat, a bombing halt that achieves nothing, an arms treaty presented as based on trust in Moscow, a reduction in military forces, or a Secretary of Defense who publicly overrules military leadership. A president who courts anti-war protesters earns his strong disapproval. Winning his support loses the support of Campus David and Faculty Eleanor at the same time, frightens Suburban Betty when the risk of confrontation becomes visible, and worries Wall Street Henry and Country Club Richard, who fund wars but fear the resulting deficits and crises. Goldwater Barry Jr, Teamster Sal and GI Bill Bobby support a president alongside him.
Where they live
The five states where Pentagon George makes up the largest share of the electorate in the sixties:
- Hawaii
- Alaska
- Maryland
- Virginia
- Arizona