why do we have a civilian as the commander and chief?

Answer 1

To keep the country from becoming a military dictatorship.

The founders wanted an elected official to be the commander in chief so everyone in the military would serve the civilian government.

I agree with this.

An Apolitical Military is key to a Free Republic.

Answer 2

Honestly, simply because of the power they hold. If the military ran the country, then alot of changes would be made. For instance, in the Chosin Reservoir that was a proposed plan to nuke the river separating China and Korea to isolate the Chinese Army from providing aid to the North Koreans, Many high military officials agreed with the plan, but the president saw it as an unpopular move and did not go through with it. Could you imagine if this was a military dictatorship? It would eventually turn into a conquest to take over the world, I am kind of glad the military is ran by a civilian with political goals, in a sense it makes the actions of the military a little more controlled

Answer 3

Because we don't live under a military dictatorship. A military leader such as Eisenhower or Powell is free to run for president as soon as they leave the service. It's not a constitutional requirement that they be civilians but from a practical standpoint you can't have a president who is also subordinate to the military chain of command.

Answer 4

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Civilian rule and the rule of law. The people are the government, the people control the military. It is a basic part of Democracy.

Answer 5

Civilian control of the military is a doctrine in military and political science that places ultimate responsibility for a country's strategic decision-making in the hands of the civilian political leadership, rather than professional military officers. One author, paraphrasing Samuel P. Huntington's writings in The Soldier and the State, has summarized the civilian control ideal as "the proper subordination of a competent, professional military to the ends of policy as determined by civilian authority" [1].

Civilian control is often seen as a prerequisite feature of a stable, liberal democracy; use of the term in scholarly analyses tends to take place in the context of a Western state governed by democratically elected officials, though in fact the subordination of the military to political control is not unique to these societies. One illustrative example are the words of Mao Zedong, who stated that "Our principle is that the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party", reflecting the primacy of the Communist party as a decision-maker in Marxist-Leninist and Maoist theories of democratic centralism [2].

As noted by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor Richard H. Kohn, "civilian control is not a fact but a process" [3]. Affirmations of respect for the values of civilian control notwithstanding, the actual level of control sought or achieved by the civilian leadership may vary greatly in practice, from a statement of broad policy goals that military commanders are expected to translate into operational plans, to the direct selection of specific targets for attack on the part of governing politicians. Leaders with limited experience in military matters often have little choice but to rely on the advice of professional military commanders trained in the art and science of warfare to inform the limits of policy; in such cases, the military establishment may enter the bureaucratic arena to advocate for or contest against a particular course of action, shaping the policy-making process and blurring any clear-cut lines of civilian control.

Answer 6

Because that's how our founding Fathers set up our government it is called checks and balances and at one point President Bush was in the National Guard.

Answer 7

checks and balances. can't let the military get too cocky, so at every level there is a civilian that 'checks' the military. and most presidents have actually been past military, so kinda pointless, huh?

Answer 8

We should have a constitutional amendment that states that all presidental canidates have to have a history of loyal service to there contry by haveing some amount of time in the military...preferably after graduating from a military academy.

Answer 9

Because it works . In most countries where the head man is the army's hightest general , be becomes a dictator , and refuses to leave office when his term is complete .

Answer 10

Article Two of the Constitution. It keeps us from turning into some "banana republic".