Updated at 5:30 p.m. on 9/3/15 to include Sanders’ remarks to the editorial board of the Des Moines Register.
When he was the mayor of Burlington, a congressman, and even after he became a U.S. Senator, this tidbit didn’t lead to any raised eyebrows: Bernie Sanders applied for conscientious objector status back during the Vietnam War. Hardly seems out of character.
Now that Vermont’s independent senator is vying to be president, that’s getting a little more attention. The president, after all, has his or her finger on the button.
Can a conscientious objector be the commander in chief of the United States? That’s the question Vietnam veteran Steve Wikert of Iowa asked in a column published Tuesday in the Des Moines Register. Some national media outlets have picked up the story.
Sanders’ application for conscientious objector status was denied — but not before he was too old to be drafted. That’s not breaking news, having been included in a Burlington Free Press profile in 2006, the year Sanders won a seat in the U.S. Senate. CNN also has included it in a list of “fast facts” about Sanders.
Sanders’ spokesman, Michael Briggs, confirmed that Sanders applied to be a conscientious objector. He told ABC News that Sanders was a pacifist as a college student in the 1960s but no longer is today.
Pacifists oppose war and violence. Sanders, who spoke strongly against the war in Iraq, is apparently not that. Sanders supported the U.S.-led bombing campaign against Serbia in 1999 after massacres in Kosovo.
Asked Wednesday how he would define Sanders’ stance further, Briggs wasn’t sharing. “I don’t have any more for you,” the spokesman said.
Sanders clarified his stance in an interview Thursday with the editorial board of the Des Moines Register. “War should be, in my view, the last resort of a great nation. We should explore every other option,” he said. “It is an option, and I, as president of the United States, certainly would have that option available.”
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Don’t worry. Everyone will be quick to call him a warmonger because of the F-35. Seems to me a pacifist is the best person to have with his hand on the button.
A ‘C O’ might not be our best bet in dealing with ISIS. As I see it, Bernie as Commander in Chief vs. ISIS, Russia, China, Pakistan, etc. is out of his league. There’s also the Congress to deal with. I see gridlock.
If something gets going, the USA cannot depend on discussions to avoid war.Forget coalitions, so far, no go. See if ISIS is up for a peace summit…
It’s a very scary world and Obama’s chatting it up to date is a disaster. We are the most powerful nation on the planet, but Obama’s military cuts and keeping our boots away from trouble has weakened our standing.Then, there is the terrible Iran deal that only 1 in 4 US citizens support, according to a recent poll.
We’re gonna need a major build up, creates jobs and we can again lead with a strong defense. Bernie’s views don’t match up with reality and what needs to happen to ‘protect and defend’ us peeps, and the Constitution!
Sorry, but this is what it is.
Most thinking people eligible for the draft considered pacifism during the Vietnam War period! It made no sense then, and it doesn’t now! Given the attempted military solutions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, etc., it would appear that multi-country diplomacy is the best starting point. Maybe the military is necessary…but it should be the last, not the first resort!
Sanders had voted to CUT the Military, he has voted to CUT the Military retirements and benefits.. These are the men and women who have fought and even died..This is not a socialist I want to run my country and destroy the Military.. Far as I am concerned he is a COWARD..!!! He’s a FISH who flip flops every time he turn around..He’s not a true Vermonter, go back to NY where you came from..I’m a TRUE VERMONTER!! 6 Generations of true Vermonters
He also thinks old people on SS should consider themselves lucky to get SS cause the government has every right to use the SS any way they see fit!!! He told me this!!!
The military is the purest application of Socialism there is, says Wesley Clark, former Commander of NATO forces. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/opinion/…
From it’s single payer health insurance plans which produces far better care at a lower cost than the open market, to its childcare plan which is a model to be emulated. The Defense Department, said that the military sees child care as a strategic necessity to maintain military readiness and to retain highly trained officers. All this works well for the military. It’s high time it was put into practice for the rest of the nation.
@Donna – What? You obviously know nothing about Bernie Sanders.
@Mark: Do you have sons and daughters, grandsons, or granddaughters you’d be willing see sent off to the next war? Anyone who so apparently strongly supports boots on the ground ought to be willing to do so. (Few, if any, members of Congress who allowed Bush-Cheney-Rumsfield to send our kids to the Iraq disaster, were putting any of their own kids at risk….So easy to support war when putting someone else’s kids at risk…)
@Donna: The record on Bernie’s support for veterans and those in the armed services is absolutely clear, and puts the Republicans to shame. No one in the Senate has been a stronger advocate of taking care of our armed services. He might be against the wars, but he completely recognizes the sacrifices that have been made, and our country’s enormous debt and duty to them. e.g. This recent article in the Boston Globe pointing out the strong support for his campaign by war veterans.https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/…
And then the story about how he brokered the Senate deal to fix the VA health scandals: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/201…
Some of us believe that opposing senseless wars is actually standing up for the military — they are not there for the nation to waste……
I’d rather have my child in the military than drifting through life and doing time. They can learn job skills, discipline, responsibility and respect for others. The Viet Nam war was unique and tore this country apart. A lot of my friends and schoolmates served and they were thinking people, who made a tough decision, as did the ones who chose not to go. Mr Smith’s comment is insulting and demeaning to Veterans.