Donald Trump on history: what the evidence says · JRE #2219
SUBJECT: HISTORY
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
So in the office of the presidency over the years, all those presidents you've had, 92% were politicians and 8% were generals. General Eisenhower, General Washington. Right. General George Washington. He had generals. So it's 8% generals, no admirals, 8% generals and 92% politicians.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
Trump stated that across U.S. history, 92% of presidents were politicians and 8% were generals, citing Washington and Eisenhower as the only generals. Standard historical tallies do not support this figure: of the 45 individuals who have served as president, roughly 12 to 13 held general officer rank before or during their presidency (about 27 to 29%), more than three times the 8% Trump cited. Besides Washington and Eisenhower, presidents who held general rank include Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Chester Arthur, Benjamin Harrison, and William McKinley. The claim also implies a strict politician-or-general framework, but several presidents, such as Reagan, an actor and California governor, fit neither category, a point Trump himself raised about a minute later in the same conversation. The 92%/8% figures do not correspond to any standard historical count and appear to be an invented statistic used for rhetorical effect.