How many US Presidents have killed people?

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-01-11 07:40pm

I'm not talking about ordering deaths or declaring war, I'm talking about personally killing, pulling a trigger or dropping a bomb from an airplane. Many of our Presidents were in the military before being elected or lived in very frontier-rugged regions.

So, which of our Presidents killed? I am willing to assume if the man was in a heavy battle and firing his weapon he probably hit someone.

Teddy Roosevelt did, taking San Juan Hill.
U.S. Grant probably did, during the Civil War.
George Washington, both before and while he was a General.

FDR probably didn't, and not Bill Clinton or Ronald Regan.

Can anyone help me out here WITHOUT bashing Presidents?

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2004-01-11 07:41pm

Andrew Jackson certainly must have.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-01-11 07:44pm

Harry Truman was an artilleryman in WWI

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-01-11 07:45pm

George Bush I most likely did.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2004-01-11 07:47pm

John F. Kennedy most probably.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-01-11 07:48pm

What was Truman on the crew? Just a shell-handler or what?

I'm just gonna toss out some names:
Eisenhower ( a general, but was he in WWI?)
Woodrow Wilson
Coolidge
Hoover
Heck, Rutherford B. Hayes anyone?

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-01-11 07:48pm

Iceberg wrote:John F. Kennedy most probably.

I thought he was a lieutenant on a boat for most of WWII, wasn't he?

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2004-01-11 07:54pm

CaptainChewbacca wrote:
Iceberg wrote:John F. Kennedy most probably.
I thought he was a lieutenant on a boat for most of WWII, wasn't he?

He was a PT Boat commander - you may recall that he was the captain of USS PT-109.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-01-11 07:58pm

Found a list of military veteran Presidents:

George Washington
James Monroe (I stand corrected)
Andrew Jackson
William H. Harrison
Zachary Taylor
James Buchannan
Abe Lincoln
Ulysses Grant
Rutherford Hayes
James Garfield
Ben Harrison
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
Harry Truman
Dwight Eisenhower
John Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
Richard Nixon
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Regan
George Bush Sr.
George Bush Jr.

Now I know some of these guys were Navy and never did anything, like Carter and Kennedy, and Bush Jr. never went into action.

Anyone else want to contribute?

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-01-11 08:00pm

CaptainChewbacca wrote: I thought he was a lieutenant on a boat for most of WWII, wasn't he?

PT109 in the Solomon's during late 1942 and early 1943. As I recall he served in a rear area role after that.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-01-11 08:02pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:
CaptainChewbacca wrote: I thought he was a lieutenant on a boat for most of WWII, wasn't he?
PT109 in the Solomon's during late 1942 and early 1943. As I recall he served in a rear area role after that.

Yeah, but did he kill anyone himself, or did he just see his people doing it?

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2004-01-11 08:49pm

Jackson, in addition to being military, was also a duelist. he killed people...

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-01-11 08:56pm

I heard Washington killed a French Diplomat.

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2004-01-11 09:05pm

CaptainChewbacca wrote:I heard Washington killed a French Diplomat.

Sure that wasn't GWB?

Yeah, I'd definitely vote for him if he did that.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2004-01-11 11:04pm

Shinova wrote:Andrew Jackson certainly must have.

Shit the man got in a duel with a man who later became a Congressman during his term.

The bullet came out and he mailed it to the Congressman.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2004-01-12 01:05am

Illuminatus Primus wrote:
Shinova wrote:Andrew Jackson certainly must have.
Shit the man got in a duel with a man who later became a Congressman during his term.

The bullet came out and he mailed it to the Congressman.

I don't understand. Are you saying that a duel was fought but no-one died, or that a "duel" was fought and no-one died?

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-01-12 02:10am

Stofsk wrote:
Illuminatus Primus wrote:
Shinova wrote:Andrew Jackson certainly must have.
Shit the man got in a duel with a man who later became a Congressman during his term.

The bullet came out and he mailed it to the Congressman.
I don't understand. Are you saying that a duel was fought but no-one died, or that a "duel" was fought and no-one died?

A duel was definitely fought. But you seem to be under the impression that a real duel was meant to be to the death, that was very, very rarely the case. In most cases it was simply an exchange of a single shot each. People did die but the intention was not necessarily to kill.

SyntaxVorlon · Post by **SyntaxVorlon** » 2004-01-12 02:12am

IIRC hasn't W. Bush killed someone in a car accident?
It was either him or Laura, can't remember which.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-01-12 02:13am

SyntaxVorlon wrote:IIRC hasn't W. Bush killed someone in a car accident?
It was either him or Laura, can't remember which.

No. You're thinking of Ted Kennedy I believe.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-01-12 02:30am

CaptainChewbacca wrote:I heard Washington killed a French Diplomat.

Doubtful, since they were allies fighting against the British.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2004-01-12 08:12am

CaptainChewbacca wrote:What was Truman on the crew? Just a shell-handler or what?

Truman was captain of his artillery unit, Battery D, during World War I.

Generally, I don't think you can count acts of war in quite the same category. If you want an exceptional example, Andrew Jackson is reputed to have shot a man off the White House portico during the inauguration celebrations; the man in question was apparently taking aim at Jackson himself when Old Hickory pulled his own pistol and fired.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-01-12 02:22pm

SyntaxVorlon wrote:IIRC hasn't W. Bush killed someone in a car accident?
It was either him or Laura, can't remember which.

Ted Kennedy did kill someone like Storm said, but you're right. Laura Bush ran a stop sign when she was 17, resulting in an accident that killed her friend who was in another car.

LordShaithis · Post by **LordShaithis** » 2004-01-13 01:14am

Each President ritually murders a little Indian boy on the night of his inauguration.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-01-13 02:40pm

GrandAdmiralPrawn wrote:Each President ritually murders a little Indian boy on the night of his inauguration.

Can I just say you have the best... name... EVER!