# Can retired Admirals and Generals dis' the President without being court-martialed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 26, 2002, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-retired-admirals-and-generals-dis-the-president-without-being-court-martialed/133978 "2002-10-26T13:29:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-retired-admirals-and-generals-dis-the-president-without-being-court-martialed/133978/1 "2002-10-26T13:29:14Z")
IIRC military personnel are restricted from saying anthing blatantly disrespectful about the Commander in Chief. [According to a post by Polycarp in this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=141160) Generals and Admirals are never really become true civilians even if they are 80 years old and retired. If this is the case, is even a retired Admiral or General legally restricted from saying disrespectful things about the President of The US? Polycarp - > [@](#): > > In the case of general officers (generals and admirals), however, the rule and the reason for it are different: They are not “retired” but “on the retired list” – meaning that they are no longer required to serve on a daily basis and can plan their lives without reference to superior officers’ wishes, etc. But they are not “out of the service” – they are subject to call on reasonable terms whenever the country has need of their skills and training. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-retired-admirals-and-generals-dis-the-president-without-being-court-martialed/133978/2 "2002-10-26T14:49:24Z")
I dunno, but it does raise certain tantalizing issues when a retired general runs for office. George McClelland ran as a Democrat vs. Lincoln in 1864, shortly after Lincoln replaced McClellan as commander of the Union forces. Some of McClellan’s speeches were vitriolic. More recently, Eisenhower (Rep) managed to avoid direct confrontation because the incumbent, Truman (Dem), was retiring in 1952, though you might be able to find some pseudo-attacks against Truman’s policies. Ridiculously hypothetical Republican nightmare scenario: GWB loses to Hillary Clinton in 2004 and Colin Powell is persuaded to run against her in 2008. Attack ads are televised in his name, destroying his nice-guy reputation. A President who tries to silence a retired general/political opponent is asking for headaches. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-retired-admirals-and-generals-dis-the-president-without-being-court-martialed/133978/3 "2002-10-26T15:08:16Z")
If an officer is retired, then he’s not part of the army and can say whatever he wants. ---
**Author:** ![Turbo\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Turbo\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turbo_Dog)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-retired-admirals-and-generals-dis-the-president-without-being-court-martialed/133978/4 "2002-10-26T15:16:36Z")
Once retired, they aren’t subject to the UCMJ and can speak against the President. Many do. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-retired-admirals-and-generals-dis-the-president-without-being-court-martialed/133978/5 "2002-10-26T15:18:26Z")
“On the retired list” = Retired. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-retired-admirals-and-generals-dis-the-president-without-being-court-martialed/133978/6 "2002-10-26T22:40:43Z")
Right. Until and unless recalled – and it has to be for a legitimate military reason-- those on the Retired List, Standby Reserve, etc., are civilians with all the rights. About Eisenhower: Ike resigned his commission in July 1952 in order to run for and be President – and was reinstated though an act of Congress, PL 87-3, in March 1961. His case is particular: after WW2 was over Congress made the ranks of the 5-star GOTAs/FADMs lifetime appointments, with no mandatory retirement. They could retire if they wanted, or they could, like George Marshall did, commute between the Active and Retired Lists in order to take another remunerated government job. Bradley, AFAIK, never left the Active List. ---
**Author:** ![starfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@starfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starfish)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-retired-admirals-and-generals-dis-the-president-without-being-court-martialed/133978/7 "2002-10-26T22:44:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > \*\*IIRC military personnel are restricted from saying anthing blatantly disrespectful about the Commander in Chief. > > [According to a post by Polycarp in this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=141160) Generals and Admirals are never really become true civilians even if they are 80 years old and retired. If this is the case, is even a retired Admiral or General legally restricted from saying disrespectful things about the President of The US? > > Polycarp - \*\* See **Polycarp** ’s site. They can say whatever they want to while retired. If the President calls them back to active duty, then they have to be respectful. I believe they can completely retire, but would lose benifits.