# When did political generals stop being a thing

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-political-generals-stop-being-a-thing/767674>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 4, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-political-generals-stop-being-a-thing/767674 "2016-10-04T23:59:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-political-generals-stop-being-a-thing/767674/1 "2016-10-04T23:59:45Z")

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In the many wars a general would be appointed due to the persons political standing rather than because they were good generals who had spent a lot of time in the military. By this I mean if you were a duke the king would appoint you the head of the Navy or if you were good at getting votes or volunteers the president would make you a general.

Today, at least in the United States, it would be inconceivable for President Obama to appoint a chief campaign contribution bundler as the four star general in charge of Iraq. When did such political appointments end being acceptable? Are there still countries that behave this way?

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**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-political-generals-stop-being-a-thing/767674/2 "2016-10-09T23:24:02Z")

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Reported for forum change.