President Obama and Michelle Obama are attempting to forge a strong relationship with military leaders and their families, a move that could recast the Democratic Party’s current reputation for being weak on defense policy.
Defense experts say the charm offensive is paying off and that Obama has gotten off to a much better start as commander in chief than his Democratic predecessor, President Clinton.
{mosads}Obama impressed soldiers and veterans from the get-go by learning the crisp precision of a proper salute. Clinton, by contrast, drew fire for what some critics derided as a sloppy salute.
But Obama seems less motivated to avoid Clinton’s mistakes and more driven to fulfill his role as commander in chief at a time of major conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Clinton became embroiled in controversy early in his administration after he stumbled into a bitter clash with senior military leaders over allowing gays to serve in the military.
After first pressing for gay service, Clinton backed down in the face of stiff opposition to accept the now-famous “Don’t ask, don’t tell” compromise policy.
Obama is considering allowing gays to serve openly in the military, but is starting the dialogue with military advisers to make sure they are involved early in the decision.
Democrats familiar with Obama’s thinking on defense issues note that the president showed concern for military families well before he announced his presidential campaign. He made it one of his highest priorities in the Senate, where he served on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
He surprised many on Election Day by winning the votes of an estimated 44 percent of people who had ever served in the military — particularly noteworthy, given that his opponent was a decorated veteran.
Obama appears to be making sure that support continues during his first term — and his wife is lending a hand.
First lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, Vice President Biden’s wife, met for over an hour on March 5 with the spouses of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to White House aides.
Michelle Obama told her guests that she wanted to bring more military families to the White House.
It was the first time in recent memory the first lady met with the wives of the nation’s top military leaders.
The next day, Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden met with the spouses of the senior enlisted advisers of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. These advisers are the most senior noncommissioned officers in the armed forces, and keep generals in touch with the concerns of grunts, sailors, airmen and their families.
President Obama recently invited the senior enlisted men to a meeting in the Oval Office, the first time a president has done so since Lyndon Johnson in the midst of the Vietnam War.
Obama is scheduled to deliver a speech at National Defense University, a graduate school for military officers — another symbolically significant step.
“It’s an important audience and very symbolic,” said Peter Singer, who coordinated Obama’s defense policy task force during the presidential campaign.
“If you think about this in terms of symbolism and substance, they are definitely putting a strong effort on both.”
Singer said that both Obama and his wife have made a strong personal connection to military families.
Obama flew down to Camp Lejeune, the Marine Corps base in North Carolina, with the family of a Marine killed in Iraq a few days after his address to Congress. There he spoke to 2,000 troops and visited wounded soldiers.
{mospagebreak}Mrs. Obama visited Camp Lejeune last year during the campaign. She visited Fort Bragg, home to the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne division, during the North Carolina and Indiana primaries.
Singer said that relations between the Democratic Party and the military have been strained since the Vietnam War, when the party became associated with the liberal anti-war protesters who flocked to former Sen. Eugene McCarthy’s (D-Minn.) presidential campaign. (McCarthy ran on an anti-war platform.)
{mosads}The ensuing awkwardness has weighed down Democratic presidential candidates ever since. For example, Obama elected not to give a major speech on defense — as he did on race — during the campaign because some senior Democrats were leery of the issue.
“What he is trying to cut is that anchor,” said Singer. “Democrats can actually be smart on defense; they don’t have to be ignorant. There doesn’t have to be a partisan relationship where one party is privileged over another when it comes to defense issues.”
While aides to former President Bush ensured that his visits to soldiers in the field and hospitals were well-publicized — such as Bush’s surprise 2003 Thanksgiving visit to troops in Iraq — the new president has taken a more low-key approach.
Shortly before the inauguration, Obama quietly visited wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesman, said the meetings with senior enlisted men and their spouses gave the president and first lady a chance to understand the workings of the military on various levels.
“It’s a chance to know people on a personal basis — it makes for a more effective working relationship,” said Vietor.
Vietor said the first lady met with military spouses to “hear directly from them what they’re hearing from military families.
He said the meetings provided the president and first lady a “better sense” about the needs of the military.
Obama has also changed the policy that forbade photographing the caskets of dead soldiers returning home to Dover Air Force Base. He now allows photos, if the families give their permission.
P.J. Crowley, a former special assistant to President Clinton on national security affairs, said that Obama has made sure to address the concerns of military families in his speeches.
“He’s taking a very aggressive approach to introducing himself to the military,” Crowley said.
Crowley said this is important because the armed services are facing a “readiness crisis” as a growing number of mid-career officers drop out of the service.
Obama has proposed large increases in military funding aimed at improving the lives of soldiers and wounded veterans.
The $787 billion stimulus he signed last month includes $7.4 billion for the Defense Department, including $4.2 billion to repair and modernize military facilities and $1.3 billion for military hospitals.
The package also spends $240 million on military childcare centers and $200 million for troops’ housing.
Crowley acknowledged that Clinton got off to a “very awkward start” but built a strong relationship with the armed forces after his first term.
Obama has no intention of waiting that long.
“First impressions matter,” said Singer. “Symbolically and substantively, Obama is making a strong effort and succeeding on starting the relationship on the right foot.”