The Sunshine Patriots
The GOP's champions of this war had a hard time finding their own way to the battlefield
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President
Age 58
Born New Haven, Connecticut, July 6, 1946
Military service Texas Air National Guard 1968–1973 (Removed from flight status in 1972 for failing to take annual flight physical. Honorably discharged in 1973.)
Quote "I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself by learning how to fly airplanes."
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Vice President
Age 63
Born Lincoln, Nebraska, January 30, 1941
Military service None
ReasonFour student deferments and one deferment for married men with children.
Quote "I had other priorities in the '60s than military service."
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Senator, Tennessee; Majority leader
Age 52
Born Nashville, Tennessee, February 22, 1952
Military service None
ReasonStudent deferment (Princeton 1974).
Quote "We must stay the course, keep true to our principles, have faith in our armed forces, and know that history, in the end, will be on our side."
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Representative, Illinois; Speaker of the House
Age 62
Born Aurora, Illinois, January 2, 1942
Military service None
ReasonRejected from advanced ROTC at Wheaton College for bad shoulder stemming from sports injury. A college wrestler and coach, Hastert is in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Quote [Responding to ex-P.O.W. Senator John McCain's "Where's the sacrifice?" criticism of Bush's plan for wartime tax cuts.] "If you want to see the sacrifice, John McCain ought to visit our young men and women at Walter Reed and Bethesda [hospitals]. There's the sacrifice in this country."
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Senior White House Adviser
Age 53
Born Denver, Colorado, December 25, 1950
Military service None
ReasonStudent deferment (University of Utah; George Mason University—no degree).
Quote "We're fighting a different kind of war, and no negotiation can bring it to victory."
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Attorney General
Age 62
Born Chicago, Illinois, May 9, 1942
Military service None
ReasonSix student deferments and one occupational deferment (teaching law at Southwest Missouri State).
Quote "I would have served if asked."
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Deputy Secretary of Defense
Age 60
Born Brooklyn, New York, December 22, 1943
Military service None
ReasonStudent deferments (Cornell University 1965; University of Chicago 1972).
Quote "I think all foreigners should stop interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq."
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Senator, Mississippi
Age 62
Born Grenada, Mississippi, October 9, 1941
Military service None
ReasonStudent deferments (University of Mississippi, B.S. 1963 and J.D. 1967).
Quote "I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years, either."
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Representative, Texas; House Majority Leader
Age 57
Born Laredo, Texas, April 8, 1947
Military service None
ReasonStudent deferment (University of Houston 1970); high draft-lottery number.
QuotedTold press in 1988 that there was no room in the military for people like himself because minority youths took all available slots to escape poverty.
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Ex-mayor, business consultant
Age 60
Born Brooklyn, New York, May 28, 1944
Military service None
ReasonStudent deferments (Manhattan College 1965; NYU Law School 1968); special deferment at request of federal judge for whom he was clerking.
Quote "Freedom is about authority."
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Governor, California
Age 57
Born Thal, Austria, July 30, 1947
Military service Drafted Austrian Army; went AWOL to compete in body-building competition. Jailed for a week.
Quote "I didn't care if they locked me up for a whole year. It had been worth it." (Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder)
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Senator, Pennsylvania
Age 46
Born Winchester, Virginia, May 10, 1958
Military service None
ReasonTurned 18 after draft ended (Pennsylvania State 1980; University of Pittsburgh 1981).
Quote "In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever, to my knowledge, included homosexuality. That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be."
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Senator, Kansas
Age 47
Born Garnett, Kansas, September 12, 1956
Military service None
ReasonTurned 18 after draft ended (Kansas State University 1979; University of Kansas 1982).
Quote "We are in a battle for the soul of the nation, make no mistake about it."
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Senator, Georgia; Armed Services Committee
Age 60
Born Warrenton, North Carolina, November 10, 1943
Military service None
ReasonFive student deferments (University of Georgia 1966; University of Tennessee College of Law 1968) and 1-Y medical deferment for bad knees (football injuries).
Quote "Max Cleland says he has the courage to lead. But the record proves Max Cleland is just misleading." (Campaign ad questioning patriotism of Democratic opponent Max Cleland, who lost both legs and an arm in Vietnam.)
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Senator, Kentucky
Age 62
Born Tuscumbia, Alabama, February 20, 1942
Military service Army Reserves, dismissed after serving five weeks in 1967
ReasonEye condition; student deferments (University of Louisville 1964; University of Kentucky Law 1967).
Quote "This issue ranks right up there with static cling as a matter of concern to the American people." (Calling campaign finance reform "stunningly stupid.")
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Director of Middle East Affairs, National Security Council
Age 56
Born New York, New York, January 24, 1948
Military service None
ReasonBad back; student deferments (Harvard College 1969; Harvard Law School 1973).
Quote "Our military strength and willingness to use it will remain a key factor in our ability to promote peace."
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Governor, New York State
Age 59
Born Peekskill, New York, June 24, 1945
Military service None
Reason Student deferment (Yale 1967); medically unfit (poor eyesight).
