WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans view prior military service more positively than prior government or business experience when considering political candidates’ credentials.
Fifty-five percent of U.S. adults say that military service on a candidate’s resume makes it much (16%) or somewhat (39%) more likely they’ll vote for that person, compared with 7% who say it discourages them from doing so. Thirty-eight percent say it makes no difference to their vote.
Americans are about as likely to value prior government experience (52%, including 16% much more likely). However, significantly more view government experience negatively (15%) when assessing candidates, giving military service a clear edge when considering the net benefit (percentage more likely minus percentage less likely).
Prior business experience is viewed less positively than either military or government experience, attracting fewer and repelling more Americans.
These results are the first in a new partnership between Gallup and With Honor that seeks to comprehensively examine Americans’ perceptions of military veterans. Gallup interviewed more than 2,000 members of its probability-based U.S. panel Aug. 1-15 for this study.
Americans View Veterans as Strong Leaders
The study also finds that Americans attribute a number of positive qualities to veterans, which likely explains why they see veterans as particularly qualified for elected office. Foremost among these are strong leadership qualities, something 83% of Americans strongly agree (31%) or agree (52%) applies to those with military experience. Nearly as many also believe veterans are able to put the country’s interests ahead of their own personal or partisan interests (78%), to work well with people from different backgrounds (77%), and to understand complex global security challenges (75%).
Veterans Trusted More to Assist With Disaster Relief Efforts
Americans trust people with military experience more than people without it to serve honorably in a variety of leadership roles. Chief among these is assisting with responses to natural disasters, something 83% of Americans say they would trust veterans more than others to do.
Two-thirds also trust those with military experience more to help U.S. leaders make good foreign policy decisions (70%) and to serve honorably in community leadership roles (68%). Veterans are also trusted more to serve when representing the U.S. in international talks or forums (64%) and when teaching or mentoring youth (62%).
People with military experience do not generate greater public confidence in two of the situations tested — conducting business with international partners and developing public policies that appeal to people from all political viewpoints. On these, Americans are no more likely to trust veterans than other people who might serve in those roles. It is unclear from the data whether people do not view military experience as conferring a special advantage in handling these tasks or — particularly when it comes to fostering bipartisanship — they are answering in terms of how challenging the task is for anyone, regardless of their background.
Older Americans, Republicans View Veterans More Positively
Across all measures of veterans in the survey, older Americans and Republicans are more likely than younger Americans, Democrats and independents to regard military experience advantageously.
Whereas about two-thirds of U.S. adults aged 50 and older say they are more likely to vote for candidates for public office with military service, less than half of adults aged 30 to 49 (48%) or younger than 30 (39%) agree. Instead, younger adults are more likely than older adults to say a military background makes no difference to their vote.
At least 65% of all age groups believe veterans possess strong leadership skills, put the country’s interests ahead of their own personal or partisan interests, work well with people from all types of backgrounds, and understand national security challenges, but older Americans are more likely to hold these views.
These consistent age differences in positive evaluations of military experience could result from younger and older Americans’ personal experiences with veterans. Most older Americans either personally served in the military or know an immediate family member such as a parent, sibling or other close relative who served in World War II, the Korean War or the Vietnam War during the military draft era. In recent decades, the U.S. has been engaged in fewer large-scale wars and the armed forces are filled on a voluntary basis. As such, fewer younger adults probably have close connections with someone who served in the military.
More than three-quarters of Republicans see military experience as a desirable qualification for candidates for office, compared with about half of independents and four in 10 Democrats. Larger shares of Democrats and independents say military service makes no difference in their evaluation of candidates.
All three groups believe veterans possess positive personal qualities to varying degrees, with Republicans most likely to think this.
Similar age and party differences are seen in Americans’ trust in veterans to handle various civic responsibilities, such as assisting with natural disaster response efforts or serving in community leadership roles.
As would be expected, military veterans themselves rate people with military experience more positively than non-veterans. Seventy-seven percent of veterans, compared with 52% of non-veterans, say that candidates with military backgrounds are more likely to earn their vote. Significantly more veterans than non-veterans believe that people with military experience possess strong leadership skills and other positive qualities, with these differences typically around 10 percentage points higher among veterans.
Bottom Line
Americans associate many positive personal attributes with military service, and those characteristics can give veterans an advantage if they seek political office or aspire to other leadership roles. Americans are especially likely to believe that the skills and experience people learn in the military lend themselves well to honorable service when assisting with natural disaster response, suggesting that elected officials would be well served to choose veterans to lead such efforts. Fewer but still solid majorities of Americans see military experience as promoting honorable service from veterans when discussing and developing foreign policy.
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