# Relieving the President of Military Command **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 26, 2007, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relieving-the-president-of-military-command/416978 "2007-08-26T06:38:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relieving-the-president-of-military-command/416978/21 "2007-08-27T09:59:21Z")
According to an article in the Washington Post, Barry Goldwater retired as a Major General in the U.S. Air Force Reserve in 1967. That was well after he was elected to the Senate and had made an unsuccessful run for the presidency. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relieving-the-president-of-military-command/416978/22 "2007-08-27T12:01:08Z")
[QUOTE=Civil Guy] My guess: the other officers resigned their commissions before taking political office because George Washington did so (no?), and to do otherwise - while we may for now set aside the question of the legal necessity - would cause no end of historical stink. [/QUOTE] I don’t think the army of which Washington was general of existed by the time he was made president. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relieving-the-president-of-military-command/416978/23 "2007-08-27T15:49:33Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] I just saw (somewhere–I closed the window already) a crazy suggestion by a crazy person that one of the Generals in the joint chiefs of staff could legally relieve Bush of command of the military. [/QUOTE] I think the term you are looking for is coup d’état. If successful it automatically becomes legal. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relieving-the-president-of-military-command/416978/24 "2007-08-27T15:58:13Z")
[QUOTE=Malodorous] I don’t think the army of which Washington was general of existed by the time he was made president. [/QUOTE] Of course it did. General Washington was commander of the Army of the United States of America. The fact that it was operating under legislation passed by a body which existed from a previous constitution is of no consequence. One of the unfortunate confusions about our early history is assuming that anything done before the adoption of the Constitution of 1787 was somehow not done by our current country. This, of course, is wrong; the country was born in July of 1776, which we celebrated the bicentennial anniversary of in 1976. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relieving-the-president-of-military-command/416978/25 "2007-08-27T17:35:00Z")
> [@Founding Fathers](#): > > The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them. Does that mean that he can’t receive any federal monies _whatsoever_ or simply that he can’t receive any additional money from the US or any state government for being President? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relieving-the-president-of-military-command/416978/26 "2007-08-27T18:51:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Does that mean that he can’t receive any federal monies whatsoever or simply that he can’t receive any additional money from the US or any state government for being President? It looks to me like he can’t receive any at all, else why would the limitation extend to the individual states? So the President can’t receive food stamps, he can’t take a job as a plumbing inspector, and he can’t be awarded a Gugenheim grant for his artwork. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relieving-the-president-of-military-command/416978/27 "2007-08-27T19:32:54Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] I think the term you are looking for is coup d’état. If successful it automatically becomes legal. [/QUOTE] Or assassination. That is, only if you think the [VP](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/21/wcheney121.xml) would be a better commander. :dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relieving-the-president-of-military-command/416978.md?page=1)