Military historians, Thailand has me wondering: Could a military coup ever happen in America?

Question

The situation in Thailand got me wondering, A.) who controls the military in countries where a coup has taken place, B.) could that ever happen in the U.S., and C.) how is our government set up differently from theirs if it COULDN'T happen here?

Thanks.

Answer 1

The long and short of it is, No a coup could not happen here in the US. There are four main reasons it could not. First, as defined in the US Constitution, the President of the United States is the Command-in-Chief of the US military. He outranks all military officers, and has complete cart blanche to promote or fire anyone in the military. Case in point would be when General of the Army, Douglas MacArthur over stepped his authority during the Korean War, President Truman fired him. Over and above this, before anyone becomes a member of the US military or National Guard, he/she must make an oath of fealty, pledging to obey the orders of the President and protect and defend the US Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, the very document that defines the President as Command-in-Chief of the military. So even if a rogue general or admiral were to attempt a coup. The men under his/her command would be compelled to follow the orders of the President, not the treasonous maverick officer or officers.

The second reason is that the US Armed Forces and Nationalized National Guard units are forbidden by the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, and several amendments to it over the years, from operating on US soil. Only the President (or Congress) can suspend this Act and only in cases of rebellion and great civil unrest. This prevents the US Military from even having a charter to operate within the confines of the US and its territories. This is the precise reason the terrorist detainees are being held on a US military base in a foreign country and a country the US has no diplomatic relations with, I might add. If the suspects were brought onto US soil the military would have no authority over them the moment they arrived.

The third reason is the power structure setup by the US Constitution. The President cannot be a Military officer and can only be removed from office by the Congress. In fact in order to serve as President, after General Eisenhower was elected, he had to resign his commission as General of the Army of the United States (a five star General), which is a position you retain for life even after retirement. Moreover, the US Congress is not dissolvable and likewise members of the House and Senate can only be involuntarily removed from office through impeachment and trial or by being recalled by the people of the state he/she represents. Even if a General where to "arrest" the President, he would not have any authority over Congress. Furthermore, the military is beholden to both the President as Command-in-Chief, and Congress for funding. This would put any military officer in a very awkward situation to explain to his men that both the President and Congress had to taken over by the military.

Beyond the power structure framed in the Constitution, the US Armed Forces are not a monolithic entity. Though, they fight as a cohesive force on the battle field, the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps are rivals that constantly jockey amongst themselves for power and position. So, if a general or admiral from one branch, even if it were the Chairman of Joints Chiefs of Staff, were to attempt a coup, it is very unlikely the rest of the branches would back him.

The last reason is that the US has no overshadowing monarch that a potential usurping General could beguile citizens into believing he was loyal to over a supposed corrupt, elected Prime Minister. In the US, a renegade General arresting the President would be seen for what he is, just a treasonous dragoon.

I would say a coup could more likely take place in European countries like the UK. Where for argument's sake, a General could arrest Tony Blair in the name of the Queen (keeping her under house arrest of course), dissolve Parliament, and take absolute control over the country. Before any British people start writing bad things in response. I am NOT saying that this could likely happen, I don't think it could EVER happen. I am just saying more of the elements that could make a coup possible exist in the UK than in the US. Remember the Founding Fathers who framed the US Constitution were deathly afraid of concentration too much power into any one person's or one governmental body's hands for fear an individual or group could seize control of the country, placing the people back in the same situation they were as colonists.

Answer 2

A.) I am not familiar with what is going on in Thailand.
B.) A military coup could not take place here.
C.) Some reasons have already been mentioned. Our military structure is well organized and divided over a large force. The Commander in Chief is our nation's president. Our military is all volunteer at this point in history. Anyone wanting to commit treason would face a large number of military personnel loyal to the current United States government.
I suppose that if something happened to immediately polarize the nation including the military, that a very bloody civil war would occur. I cannot imagine anything so dividing this nation that I would be willing to start killing my neighbors let alone military people.

Answer 3

No it could not happen. Countries like Thailand have one person in charge of the military. We have to many people in charge of the military and there is not just one person who can make decisions on were troops go and what to do with them. I could not imagine if my Commander came in today and said "Alright guys we are going to take over this country, Get ready we leave for Washington tomorrow!" He would be arrested before he made it back to his office. If anyone tried to organize a coup they to would be arrested! And even if he did get some organization most of his troops would go on leave.

Answer 4

If it happened in US it would be a great thing for everybody.
Just for your information. here is a letter from a mate in Thailand, just 1 hour ago
'When my wife finally stopped singing and dancing around with our son at 7.45am this morning, she shouted out "Damn good!"
a) few people outside Thailand really know how Taksin has so cleverly usurped, benefitted from financial corruption instead of tackling it, bought up enormous tracts of his own country in areas of future development, bought foreign homes while barring foreigners from doing the same here, sued every major media outlet that criticised him and done NOTHING for the poor, and especially the hilltribes. Smiled at foreigners while restricting visas even further and pursuing policies which may ultimately be seen to be xenophobic. Full of promises and no delivery. Even his home city Chiangmai has waited a year in vain for his promised 53m baht to tackle flooding.
b) yes, he was democratically elected. The second time. Like another western premier we could name. At the first one he bought his way in with the "million baht per village" offer. That turned out to be a loan, not a gift of course, but it did the trick. Literally!
c) In my personal view this bloodless coup would not have taken place so smoothly, if at all, without the tacit consent of His Majesty. Maybe the writing was on the wall days ago? It is reported that Taksin took his whole family to the UN conference - unprecedented.
d) Dancing in the streets? Well there should be wherever thinking people are to be found (ie mainly in Bangkok). What we have in the streets here are lots of armoured personnel carriers and soldiers with rifles slung, looking a little bored and confused. But they don't mind having their photos taken as I proved on the way into the office this morning. Not allowed to talk, though, and many don't know what is happening.
e) Next? One of many responsible comments by General Sonthi was that the army would not hang on to power for very long. A coalition government, maybe with the promising young Democrat Abhisit to the fore, could be great!
f) We live in quite exciting times, but feel totally safe and very curious about the spin-off effects. Prayerfully this can only be good for Thailand!'

Answer 5

Here in the U.S.,we have a system of "Checks and Balances" where all the federal agencies and branches of the military see what the others are doing so no one person oragency or branch of the military can form a coup d'etat to seize power and overthrow the government.

Answer 6

I'm so cynical now, I think the US might be better off if the military ruled for a while. At least they know what honor means and they care for their troops, and can assess whether a war is win-able. On second thought, this isn't such a good idea. What usually happens is that they declare permanent martial law, rig the elections, or fail to call for elections.

Answer 7

Sure a coup could happen here. The problem with its success is that our country is so large it would be hard to contain. State governonrs command police and military in their own state, so there are alot of people that have to be involved.

I personally believe that there are too many people necessary for it to succeeed for it to actually succeed.

Answer 8

We already have an an executive branch that ignores the Supreme Court and ignores Congressional orders or laws at will, executive branch that issues illegal orders to the military, and a currently-serving military officer running the CIA.

Bush has already violated the constitution, ignored Supreme Court orders to obey the Constitution, had Congress suspend habeas corpus, declared that he will ignore any law that he doesn't like.

If Bush decided to suspend 2006 or 2008 elections, and the Supreme Court ordered him not to -- what enforcement is in place to ensure that elections would be held? He's already ignored other Supreme Court orders and other constitutional requirements in the name of national security.

We're rapidly going over the cliff in terms of whether the current administration can be legally contained by anything less than force.

The only question is -- how much of the army would go with him.

Answer 9

Ever is a very strong word. Things can change over a long time like "ever" and yeah I guess anything can happen anywhere. The reason people wanted us to study history as children is because history has a way of repeating itself. The reason they wanted us to study American Government is because we have a very special country. We just need to be aware of history and aware of what is really going on in the present. No it is not pleasant to know the truth, but it is essential to our life as Americans as we know it.

Answer 10

Our coups consist of killing the president, it has happened in several occasions in our history. if a coup is to change the government tragictory, than we have had coups in our country.