Eisenhower was best military commander

Mr. Lirette’s letter (Bee, July 6) brings up an interesting issue — that of serving in the military under different presidents and why one might have been better than others to serve under. He indicates it was good to serve under President Reagan, but not under President Carter.

He mentions FDR, who won re-election to a fourth term over Wendell Wilkie (not  Thomas Dewey), and Harry Truman, who defeated Dewey in 1948. Truman had served as a captain in the Army during World War I, and had to fire Gen. McArthur  during the Korean War.

In the 1972 election, George McGoverrn, who had flown in combat for the Army Air Corps in World War II, lost to Richard Nixon, who was forced out of office shortly thereafter. Mr. Lirette then mentions Jimmy Carter, who was the first Naval Academy graduate to be elected president in 1976, and had pulled duty on a nuclear submarine.

On the other hand, Carter’s successor, Ronald Reagan, opted to stay out of harms way during World War II by making movies in Hollywood.

It was my particular privilege to serve, as an Air Force pilot, under one of the greatest American military commanders of all — President (Gen.) Dwight Eisenhower.

JAMES W. RAMSEY

Kootenai